Now that the Christmas cake and Christmas pudding (albeit paleo) is finished I can let out a sigh of relief (at the same time as a notch in my belt!) and get back to eating clean.
It's a catch 22: you don't want all the Christmas cheese, pies and nibbles in the house because you will be tempted to eat it but it is in the house so you have to eat it to get it out of the house!
If you are not careful this will become a recurring theme during 2014.
Christmas throws into clear perspective how a lot of people eat all the time.
If you have read my blog before, then you should be aware that I don't advocate any diets ever and that detoxes are pointless - we have livers that do the job very effectively for us, you know! So how can you make a huge change to the way you live without dieting and detoxing after Christmas?
It is really very, very simple!
Stop buying crap!
Because if it isn't in the house, you can't eat it!
Don't pretend you're doing your kids a favour by still getting them crisps and chocolate and cakes and sweets because you aren't! You are setting them up for a life of rewarding a normal day with junk food.
You are your own enabler!
Stop using your kids as an excuse to buy foods you know are terrible for you! Why would you make an effort to eat clean but feed your kids that crap still? They seriously are not going to die by avoiding chocolate, crisps, biscuits and sweets! In fact, you will be aiding their concentration, levelling out their energy, hormone and mood levels and making sure their adult bodies are built on strong bones, teeth, neural pathways and healthy habits!
Why on earth wouldn't you do that?
Kids do actually like real food, given half a chance!
Look around you at the supermarket next time you are there. Pretty much everyone over the age of 50 looks ill. Overweight or underweight, tired, in pain, losing their hair, the list goes on. These things genuinely can be avoided with a change in nutrition and exercise! Why would you set yourself up for a life of pain and discomfort? Why would you knowingly leave that legacy to your kids?
If it isn't in the house, you can't eat it!
Don't torture yourself. You wouldn't expect a smoker to be able to give up smoking still with a packet of cigarettes and a lighter in his pocket. You wouldn't expect a heroin addict to stay clean with junk and a spoon in her pocket.
How on earth do you expect to eat clean with junk and a spoon in the cupboard?
If it isn't in the house, you can't eat it!
My husband actually had to leave his place of work before he was able to successfully give up smoking - all his coworkers were enabling him to continue smoking. At his new job, he is a non smoker and everyone sees him as that so no one asks him to join them for a sneaky ciggie.
Giving up smoking is hard. Giving up heroin or cocaine is hard but at least there is some stigma attached to these substances - there is no stigma attached to toast or crisps or chocolate or an evening glass of wine or two.
AA won't expect you to use willpower to give up an alcohol dependency - AA won't ask you to give up alcohol with a bottle of vodka sitting in the cupboard. It won't ask you to go the the pub every evening and sit with a glass of water, it will tell you to avoid situations and even people you know are going to put you right back to square one!
So why would you think willpower alone can cure you of a sugar, junk food and processed meal addiction?
The diet industry teaches you to rely on will power to succeed and that industry then relies on your guaranteed failure in order to return to them for more terrible advice. I'm telling you to forget willpower - only a very few, very strong-willed self-harmy types have that sort of willpower - most of us need to cheat!
So go ahead and cheat - stop buying the foods you know you shouldn't be eating!
It really is that simple. And it works!
For those of you who are unsure what you shouldn't be eating, here is a non-exhaustive list for you:
CUT COMPLETELY
- sugar (check labels on even savoury foods for added sugar)
CUT or at least LIMIT
- Flour (pastry, pasta, cakes, biscuits, pancakes, bread, pizza, crackers etc.)
- Alcohol
- Processed foods (ham, sausages, ready meals, take-aways etc.)
- Fizzy drinks (including diet varieties)
- Low fat yoghurts
If you must replace sugar, replace it with honey.
Replace wheat products, those made with flour with oats or extra vegetables.
Replace alcohol and fizzy drinks with fruit teas or watered down fruit juice.
Replace low fat yoghurts with Greek yoghurts and honey or fruit.
If you must have chocolate, get dark chocolate and gradually get darker.
For some of you, this will be an enormous shift in your eating habits - but that's ok. You have been brainwashed by food companies to think the stuff they are selling you, the stuff they are literally killing you with, that makes them huge amounts of money, is really food when there is actually very little nutritional content in there at all.
Sugar and processed foods are dramatically increasing your risk of diabetes. They are dramatically increasing your risk of heart disease and atheroscelrosis. They are dramatically increasing your risk of certain cancers. A lack of exercise is increasing your chances of heart disease, atherosclerosis and osteoperosis.
Is this what you want for yourself, for your families, for your children?
Make the change now! And if you need a helping hand, there is loads of advice on this blog - if you want more, I have tailored programs for nutrition and fitness to help you.
Now ditch the diets and cut the crap for 2014!
