Given that you’re reading this, for example, I bet you made a green smoothie for breakfast—or maybe brown-bagged a grain bowl for lunch. I bet you know that leafy greens are crazy nutritious and fatty fish are a powerhouse of brain and body benefits. You’ve probably even read an article that describes exactly what top nutritionists, doctors, and other wellness experts eat in a typical day! It can’t get more cut-and-dried than that. Hardly. We’re still a nation that’s nearly 38 percent obese, with a $66 billion diet industry that’s still going strong. Plus, an informal poll found that 99 percent of the women I know (and probably the men, too) wish they could lose at least 5 or 10 pounds. And I constantly hear my friends and family talk about cleaning up their diets the week after a particularly indulgent weekend. The dilemma is clear: We all know what foods we should be eating, but most of us have a much harder time actually choosing to eat them. So after years of writing about nutrition and weight loss, I’ve come to realize that healthy eating really is quite easy. Until it isn’t. In other words, healthy eating is easy, until… On a good week, for instance, I’ll grocery shop on Sunday, make a big pot of lentil soup, and prep grains and proteins for a week’s worth of dinners. And guess what? It works! On those weeks, I stick to my eating plan, and I always end up feeling much more levelheaded, healthier, and lighter by the end of the week. But then, life happens. Like when I took a five-day trip to California. I had a blast—but I also went a little overboard on the bread baskets and sides of fries and glasses of wine. In my opinion, that’s fine. You only live once, after all. And life really is too short to skip out on a delicious chunk of crusty bread. The only problem? My adventure off the healthy-eating bandwagon continued. I got home late on a Sunday night and then jumped into a busy week at work, without any time for meal prep. Gone were the pre-packed lunches and preplanned dinner that had kept me on track the previous week. And it showed: My digestive system got off track, I felt more anxious, and my jeans felt a little snug. One weekend in California is the perfect opportunity to throw out the notion of a “healthy eating plan.” Two weeks at home, however, is not. So what I’m saying is that it’s true: Healthy eating is really pretty easy, in theory. But it’s incredibly hard to put into practice. After my few weeks off, I finally settled back into my healthy routine. One Sunday, I stocked up on groceries for the week and made veggie-heavy meals and lots of nutrient-packed smoothies. I was back to feeling like my normal self after just a few days. And I didn’t let myself feel guilty for getting off track—after all, this whole “healthy eating” thing actually is a lot harder than it sounds. Want more? Here are 6 lessons that might just change your health forever.
