R&R Nutrition Week 4: 3 Keys to Being Your Healthiest You

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R&R Nutrition Week 4: 3 Keys to Being Your Healthiest You

January 25, 2019 Megan Adams Brown

You’ve made it to week four - Congratulations are in order. Way to go!!!

That means you’ve made it over the hump and the new practices you’ve been implementing through the #RRChallenge2019 are hopefully now feeling more like regular habits.

Way to stick with it. And even if you don’t feel like you’ve been sticking with it as much as you like, just the fact that you’re here reading this post means you’re in this thing. You’re doing it, whether you like it or not. ;)

So you’ve made it four weeks (whatever that looks like for you), you’ve got yourself up and running with some new healthy livin’ momentum, now how do we keep those wheels turning so you can keep going and going with it? You can do anything for a few weeks, it’s making it last where it gets tricky.

Today I want to share with you three tips for long-term success. Each of these are key pieces in turning what you’ve started here in the #RRChallenge2019 into a lasting healthy lifestyle.

Stock Yourself Up for Success

Set yourself up so you have whole food staples on hand and ready to go. Buy your pantry foods like whole grains (ie. brown rice), quinoa, beans, whole grain pasta etc. in the bulk section of the store and keep them stocked so you always have them to add to a meal. You can do the same with canned and boxed items like beans, tomato sauce and coconut milk. Even heartier vegetables like sweet potatoes, squashes and onions can last several weeks or even months when properly stored (that is at room temperature and away from each other - onions make potatoes sprout!). Keep these types of veggies stocked in your pantry too for easy meals. And don’t forget about frozen foods too - I always have a bag or two of frozen broccoli stashed away for emergencies!

With these items on hand, you’re always 30 minutes from dinner. Throw a sweet potato in the oven, saute some frozen veggies, open a can of black beans and you’ve got a meal. Or cook some whole grain pasta, saute frozen veggies and add some tomato sauce for a quick, healthy pasta dish.

Want more help making quick, healthy whole food meals? Check out Dinner in 10 - my virtual cooking class and meal plan in one - it will teach you everything you need to know to be as efficient as possible in the kitchen so you can make dinner in 10 minutes any night.

Eat Detox Foods Everyday

Detox diets and cleanses have become so popular in the last few years and while I think they can have a lot of great benefits when done correctly, I’m afraid they ignore the bigger detox picture. These diets are kind of like when you bring in a professional to do a deep clean in your house. That might happen once or a couple times a year? The rest of the time, you’re still cleaning though, right? It may even feel like you’re always cleaning… yet the house is never clean.

That’s sorta how your body’s detoxification process works, too. You do the detox or cleanse to get the deep clean, and the rest of the time, you’re doing that daily maintenance clean. One important way to do that is with diet and to make sure you’re eating the right foods that help your body do it’s detox thing. I just wrote a post over on my blog with the top 10 foods for everyday detox. Check it out here.

Ask What Else is Feeding You

I think the key to maintaining a long-term healthy diet and lifestyle is knowing that it’s not just about food. Food isn’t the only thing that feeds us. Sure it feeds us on a physical level - we have to eat food to live, but there’s so much more in life feeding you. Your relationships, your work, movement, faith or spiritual practice, creativity, the things you do for fun, etc. - these things feed you on a much deeper level. It’s just as important to make sure these areas of your life are nourishing you first.

So, I challenge you to ask yourself, what else is feeding you? Or not feeding you? What’s changed or shifted and come out of balance? And which of these areas do you get the most nourishment from? What changes do you need to make to get fed?

Remind Yourself Why

When you find yourself veering off, not feeling your best and in need of motivation, remember your “why.” What is it to you that’s worth feeling good for? What is it you want to feel great to be able to do? Because we’re not doing this for health’s sake. There’s no health report card, no one’s standing at the pearly gates handing out gold stars for eating kale!

It’s about what being healthy (and feeling like your very best self) allows you to do!

Thank you!

It’s been such a privilege to share in the #RRChallenge2019 with you. I hope you’ll stay in touch - it would be an even greater honor to be able to continue supporting you. If you haven’t already, join me on Instagram @meganadamsbrown and make sure you grab one or all of my FREE ebooks - The 3-Day Meal Plan, Healthy Sweets & Desserts and 40+ Snack Ideas.

Always in your corner,

Megan