The 4 Amazing Benefits of Eating A Whole food Diet
For a long time I ate junk food mindlessly like an animal. Life got in the way of a healthy diet and other things become more important to me. Things such as work, family commitments and my time-consuming hobbies meant I was far less focused on what I was putting into my body.
As a result, I grabbed ready-to-go creamy pasta dishes for lunch, chocolate bars for snacks and ready-meals for dinners. Over time this made me put on unwanted weight, feel more sluggish and decrease my overall energy.
I was eating the typical diet many of us eat on a daily basis and I was miserable. It took one sobering day in front of the bathroom mirror to really noticed how bad things had got.
I used to work an active job but four years sitting at a desk had certainly taken it’s toll on me. My chest was flabbier, my love handles wider and my stomach was bloated and uncomfortable.
I tried to kid myself and tell myself I was just having “one of those days” but the truth was I had let myself go. And this is so easy to do…if you’ve ever been there, you’ll know what I mean.
I think everyone should live how they want to, but for me personally, I’ve always enjoyed being in shape, I feel better, more confident, and clothes feel better against my body.
So it was time to get serious about my diet. But I didn’t want to ‘go on a diet’ I wanted a new diet. This meant something long-term, a whole new lifestyle. And, it had to be sustainable and keep me full so I didn’t fall back into eating junk.
Enter my whole food diet…
I used to eat pretty well when I was younger but I did indulge on occasion. I suppose I could get away with binging every now and again back then but it’s quite a different story these days.
I decided I needed to go back to basics, back to real foods, and that meant going to whole foods. My idea was to only eat foods that came from plants or animals — the things that your body recognises as food, not the food-like products we’re advertised endlessly.
I’ve spent the last three years eating this way (mostly) and this has helped me to get back into shape along with the many perks I’ll tell you about in this post.
This diet has changed everything for me and it’s given me a new appreciation for nutrition.
So, with that in, mind, here are 4 amazing benefits of eating a whole food diet.
1. Whole foods changed my whole composition
Eating a whole food diet changed my whole body. Those dangling love handles I talked about earlier? Not so much now. My flabby chest? Much slimmer now. Eating whole foods has helped me to change my whole body composition.
You’re always told; “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet,”
I never took much notice of this but it is 100% true. Diet is going to affect 99% of your efforts. I still exercised during the first three years of this new whole foods diet but I know the bulk of the results came from eating my new healthy foods.
Eating whole foods allowed my body to use up fat reserves because I was eating the kind of stuff my body evolved with. Whole foods just made my body work more efficiently and cut out all the excess bloating and fluff.
All in all I lost 21 pounds of weight and now I am at a stable 194 pounds.
2. Whole foods are incredibly hard to overeat
One of the biggest benefits of eating a whole food diet is the fact they are incredibly hard to overeat. How often do you find yourself stuffing your mouth with fries only to finish and wonder what happened?
I’ve been in that blackout many times myself.
Processed foods are easy to overeat, they stimulate your tastebuds and encourage your gut bacteria to crave them, keeping you coming back.
Enter the humble banana…
Have you ever tried to eat more than one banana in one sitting, for example?
I find it almost impossible.
Personally, I find all whole foods very filling and very satiating.
And it’s the same with high quality meats and vegetables. Once I’ve eaten a steak or some minced beef with vegetables I feel satisfied for hours, sometimes 10 hours straight!
This helps me because I don’t have to be so disciplined with my food. If I’m fuller for longer, it’s easy to say no when someone offers me a ‘treat’.
3. Whole foods makes meal times super simple
When you think of a whole food diet you might think you need to start making crazy complex recipes with food that lasts in your fridge for two days. In my experience, that’s not the case at all.
In fact, eating a whole food diet has made food so, so simple. Meal times are now something I barely even think about…
Whilst it’s easy to order processed food, making whole food can be as simple as boiling some vegetables, putting some meat in the oven and serving a sauce.
My biggest advice would be to get comfortable in the kitchen — cooking food is as easy as you make it.
Making whole food recipes means you’ll be using similar ingredients every day, therefore, there doesn’t need to be much (or any) food waste in the bin.
For example, if you make a simple bolognaise, you can use the rest of the bell peppers in your chicken wraps the next day.
Sure, you may find yourself in the store buying fresh foods more often but once you get used to it, it’s a super easy routine.
4. Clearer mind, more energy
In my own experience, one of the biggest benefits of eating a whole food diet has been the energy surge I feel throughout the day. But it’s not just surges, it’s the stable energy over the entire day.
I used to feel a slump in my energy levels after eating a big processed breakfast or lunch but when eating whole foods like eggs, avocado, and other vegetables, I don’t experience that.
My mind feels clearer, as if everything is fuelled properly. When you start to think about food as fuel, it’s easier to make better choices. I wanted to be in better shape but I also just wanted to feel ‘good’ or at least better and less foggy.
It makes me realise how rubbish I used to feel as I walked the Earth with a stomach full of processed food.
Here’s a tip: the next time you east a meal, be mindful of how you feel in general during the following few hours. If you feel tired, sore or bloated, cut each of the foods you ate out one by one to see which item is causing you these problems.
So if you feel rubbish much of the time, look at what you’re eating, it could be having a bigger effect on how you feel than you realise.
What you can do
If you’re willing to try a whole food diet, I would recommend loading your diet with lots of plants like fruits and vegetables and meats like fish, beef and chicken. You can also eat things like beans and nuts for more variety.
Keep your spice racks fully stocked and you can make some truly amazing homemade dishes that could make you feel 10x better, help you lose that stubborn weight, keep you fuller for longer, make eating easy and boost your energy!
