How to Clean Up Your Eating Habits for Sustainable Fat Loss

It never fails— Every Spring the calls start rolling in from potential clients wanting to know how to clean up their eating habits to reach fat loss in a more sustainable way. Their intense “New Year, New Me” diet regimens have drained their energy, made them obsessive about food, and left them wondering why in the world they’re not able to lose that last amount of stubborn body fat. And they feel like they’re killing themselves to get there. 

If you’re over there screaming “Yes Sister, this is so me!”, listen up because I’m about to lay out six habits you can start implementing today to reach your goals without the stress and crazy restriction!

Why is it So Important to Create Healthy Eating Habits?

Have you ever looked at the foods you’re eating and thought, “I’m so sick and tired of eating like a bird, without any real results to show for it”? Same girl, same! I’ve been there, done that, and got all the t-shirts to show for it! 

It’s frustrating and it’s not sustainable. It makes you want to give up everytime!

When you don’t create healthy eating habits you’re constantly forced to start over and you default to avoiding most foods to lose weight because you think it’s the only way.

I know the overwhelm that comes from not knowing how to eat to reach your goals in a healthier, more effective way. I also understand the mess that poor nutrition can leave behind. That’s why I’m all about keeping it simple, sustainable, and effective when it comes to teaching you the power behind real food.

The best thing about learning how to eat healthy is that you actually get to enjoy food, WHILE you crush your fat loss and performance goals in the process. When women come to me with an open mind and a commitment to step away from dieting, they’re able to experience a massive shift in their results and the way they approach fat loss forever.

So let’s get down to business!

How to Clean Up Your Eating Habits in 6 Easy Steps

1. Ditch the fad diets, detoxes, metabolism boosting pills, and juice cleanses:

I don’t blame you for trying it all. There’s a lot of noise out there and big promises from quick fixes and dieting, but most of it is total nonsense. This is intentional because the diet industry wants to keep you coming back for more. Diets that don’t get down to basics and teach you how to eat real food to reach your goals, are like slapping a bandaid on a broken limb. Those bandaids don’t fix the real issue, in fact they make it worse by damaging your metabolism and hormones, and overtime things only escalate and get harder for you.

2. Set realistic expectations for yourself with the 80/20 rule:

Most women feel like they’re always getting on and off of a wagon. That’s because they’re trying to stick to clean foods 100% of the time. This is pure madness and an all or nothing mindset that leads to failure time and time again. The 80/20 rule means you can eat healthy and have your cake, too! Eat healthy whole food nutrition 80% of the time and treat yourself the other 20% of the time. This will not sabotage your progress, and it will keep you on track because it’s much more sustainable than trying to be perfect. The 80/20 rule + consistency wins the race every time!

3. Start each day with water:

This seems pointless and boring to some but here’s the thing…if your feet hit the floor and coffee is the first thing you go for, you are dehydrating yourself BIG TIME. You’ve gone all night with nothing to drink and the coffee is dehydrating you more. Dehydration is a stressor and stress on your body will sabotage your body’s ability to burn fat! Fill up a water bottle and keep it on your nightstand. Make it a priority to drink that bottle of water each morning before you reach for the coffee.

4. Skip the pre-made shakes, bars, “protein” chips, and other packaged foods:

One of the biggest things women struggle with is releasing body inflammation and puffiness that is hindering fat loss. They think they are eating healthy by filling up on all of these “healthy” supplements all day. When you supplement your way to hit your food intake everyday and rely too much on foods from a package for the sake of convenience, you are basically eating some food and a lot of chemicals. These chemicals that are used in the packaging process are inflammatory and cause you to look and feel bloated. There is NOTHING like real food. It’s ok to supplement with a protein powder or bar once or twice a day but other than that you should be eating real food protein, carbs, and fat to meet your nutritional needs.

5. Prioritize protein and eat your fruits and veggies:

Fat loss is less about calories and more about the nutrients you’re consuming. Most women have a hard time eating enough protein and vegetables because they’re busy and they don’t have time to do a lot of cooking. Build every meal you eat around a real protein source so that you’re getting in enough through the day. Spread veggies out through your week by cooking a huge pan of roasted veggies with your Monday night dinner each week. Utilize the extras for leftovers–add them to breakfast and lunches throughout your entire week.

6. Commit to simple meal planning each week:

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Carve out 30 minutes every weekend to write down a weekly lunch and dinner menu, and then head to the store with your grocery list one time. Even if you make a plan and don’t stick to the plan you will be more intentional about making better food choices when other things are out of your control. For tips on how I keep meal planning super simple and how I set myself and my clients up for success each and every week, visit my Instagram Meal Planning highlight where I break it down in 5 easy steps. If you’re not a bigger “meal prepper”, this will be a game changer for you! 

You absolutely have the power to create healthier eating habits in your life! 

Start by following these 6 super simple steps. This will help you to step away from diets and reach your results in a much healthier, sustainable way.

Spring cleaning your eating habits is just the beginning for you! Summer is right around the corner and that typically means lots of travel and being out from your normal routine. Whether you’re planning to be home or out to dinner, my new Macros on the Fly DIY mini course will teach you exactly how to put healthy carbs, fats, and proteins together to boost your energy and metabolism, and help support your goals when you’re always on the go.