If you’re reading this blog, I’m assuming that you’ve had your ‘penny drop’ moment. That moment where you realise that what is considered commonplace these days isn’t actually normal. Our lack of movement, the number of chemicals we are inundated with each day, the packaged pseudofoods we consume, our irregular sleep patterns and the status quo of negative self-talk and limiting beliefs. For the sake of keeping this post as brief as possible, let’s just focus on the pseudo-food side of things for now. If you haven’t already had an a-ha about what real food actually is, then perhaps this post might just open your mind up a little.

Let’s dive in.

I used to think that healthy food was low in fat, salt and sugar (but mainly fat). I didn’t read ingredient listings, and even when I did, I didn’t understand what was good, bad, right, wrong or indifferent. Heck, I used to pick up an Up&Go, see words like corn syrup, synthetic vitamins, vegetable oils etc. and think that these were good things! My logic was that corn was a vegetable, vitamins are vitamins and vegetable is “heart-healthy”. Dun-dun-dun …

Goodness help my 12 year old self!

I didn’t question mainstream dogma becuase it just didn’t occur to me that I needed to.

I never felt too flash, I couldn’t breathe properly, I wasn’t growing, wasn’t going through puberty, felt sick and tired most days and was prone to depression and anxiety.

Sadly, I thought this was just my “normal”.

The doctors and dietitians I saw just assumed I wasn’t eating enough and told me to up the breads, cereals and dairy even more. Not surprisingly, this just perpetuated my health expressions and I was left feeling lonely, uninspired and powerless.

Then in January 2012 I had my a-ha moment. I was watching The Circle and there was a segment on edibal beauty masks (cleary it was the summer holidays and I felt I had nothing better to be doing that flicking through morning television shows). That was the first time I saw Lola Berry in all her sparkling glory. I’ll never forget her wise and measured words.

“Don’t be afraid of the sugars in whole fruits … your body thrives on them!”.

I knew fruit was healthy and didn’t subscribe to a low sugar diet anyway, but it was the principle of what she said that struck a chord for me. I realised that we (as a society) have been taught to fear macronutrients and macrominerals, rather than ingredient listings.

We are so busy eating low fat, low carb, low salt, low sugar, or a combination of all those principles, that we forget to look at whether the food is real or not and whether it has strange additives to enhance it’s colour, taste, texture or shelf-life.

My diet didn’t change much this month, but a seed had been planted and I started to think more critically and began questioning what I’d always taken for granted as ‘fact’. I started talking to the halway mirror, pretending that I was on television, educating others on not being afraid of real foods. I had found my purpose in life; get educated on real food and then become an educator myself. I wanted to make real food playful, fun and common sense. And I still do today, it’s a passion that lights me up like nothing else, becasue everyone deserves to make informed choices about their health!

Although at this time I still wasn’t completely sure how to discriminate against real food and pseudo-food, I was learning and willing to be open minded. I started to make food choice based on common sense and what my body was asking for, rather than what ‘experts’ (or the latest healthy food guide magazine) had told me.

I suppose I did a lot of growing up this month and started taking responsibility for my own health. Instead of playing victim, I questioned, thought, journalled and read. Sure, looking back I was still so naive but I was getting there and my mind was evolving.

Tip #1 for transitioning to a whole foods diet …

Just start thinking differently. You don’t have to spend a whole heap of money on ‘health’ foods or order a library’s-worth of books on nutrition. Focus on eating simple meals (meat and salad, sushi, fish and veggies, homemade porridge, trail mix with plain yoghurt and fresh apples were some of my faves at this time) and minimising packaged foods.

The more gentle the changes, the more organically they happen over time. The more you make them out of love, passion and interest, rather than fear or obligation, the easier they will be to sustain.