“Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live.”
– Jim Rohn
Eating healthy food has become over-complicated but it doesn’t need to be. Real whole foods are what our bodies need. However, we live in a time where fast food is convenient for our busy schedules but extremely inconvenient for our health.
I believe that small changes can eventually lead to big outcomes. When it comes to our health, what we put in our body each and everyday has a big effect on us physically, mentally and emotionally.
Three small but mighty swaps Chris and I made close to a decade ago were making our own salad dressings, buying natural peanut butter and using butter instead of margarine.
Homemade Salad Dressing
When you look at the ingredient list on the back of most store bought salad dressings, it’s surprising how long and unrecognizable that list actually is. Making your own salad dressing is quick and easy so long as you have a few household staples. Our go-to is a balsamic dressing that consists of EVOO, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Throw everything into a small mason jar and you’re good to go. You can either shake it up or use a handheld blender depending on the type of consistency you like. It’s great knowing exactly what’s going into your body when you top up your salads with a homemade dressing.
Natural Peanut Butter
When we first switched over to natural peanut butter, it took a little bit of time for me to fully enjoy this healthier switch. However, soon enough it became second nature and now I wouldn’t want to ever go back to the other. Sure, you have to keep it in the refrigerator and give it a little stir before spreading it but the simple fact that I’m putting clean and natural ingredients in my body is good enough for me.
Butter
There was a time when Chris and I would buy margarine at Costco for 2 reasons: It was always soft when you spread it and we liked the Rubbermaid container it was sold in (great reusable container for leftovers or organizing art supplies like markers and pencil crayons). After taking more of an interest in our nutrition and health, a Naturopath we were seeing described margarine as being one step away from eating plastic. After that meeting, we have never bought it again. Even though butter is a saturated fat, it is still better than consuming margarine. Fats have been given a bad rap over the years yet our bodies need healthy fats that come from good quality sources such as coconut oil, EVOO, avocados, nuts and seeds to only name a few. By switching to butter, we try to make sure we’re getting most of our fat from healthy sources.
These habits weren’t difficult to maintain and quickly became second nature. I know I have more areas that could handle some good swaps but for today I’m going to celebrate these small wins, making a conscious choice with 3 kinds of foods I consume quite regularly.
At the end of the day, if we are eating foods in their natural state with real ingredients, we’re doing our body good. What healthy food swaps have you turned into daily habits? No matter how small, these choices are helping you lead a healthier lifestyle one day at a time.
Keep up the great work!
Jillian
