STEP #1 - *Exercise*

It's not possible to be healthy without being fit. We know that, at least intuitively, even if we tend to forget the importance of fitness in a healthy lifestyle, by focusing too much on the importance of diet. But more importantly, your physical condition has a major impact on your digestion, assimilation, and so many other amazing health benefits.

STEP #2 - *Eat Raw Fruit and/or Vegetables Before Each Meal*

One of the easiest ways to start eating healthier and feel better is to start eating raw fruit or vegetables before every meal, including lunch and dinner. The idea is to eat fruit/vegetables when you are the most hungry, which is at the beginning of the meal. Eat as much of these health building foods as you desire then, and you will find that you will eat much less of the meal itself! This is what I call an “automatic transition strategy.” Just start getting the healthy food in by eating fruit/veggies before each meal

STEP #3 - *Learn to Make 7 Healthy Recipes That You Enjoy*

It's been found that most people know about 7 to 10 good recipes very well, and just rotate them throughout the months, adding in other stuff occasionally for variety. Or look at when you buy a recipe book. You might try many recipes but eventually you'll only retain a few that you'll continue making for the years to come.
Ideally, I'd like you to know:
About 2 dressings
About 2 great salads
2-3 smoothies you really enjoy
1-2 more gourmet recipes
Those 7 or 10 recipes should be things you can make often, with ingredients that are easy to find, and some of them should have an instant appeal to your friends and family.You'll find that once you know what those recipes are, and you can make them without opening a book, that you'll be wondering a lot less often “What should I be eating now?”

KRISTIE'S FAVORITE SUMMER SALAD-
2-3 mangoes or Peaches, chopped.
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
1 small sweet red onion, chopped (when mixed with the other ingredients, the “spiciness” goes away.)
Mix all ingredients together. You can serve as it as is or mix in an avocado dressing, and serve onto lettuce leaves.

# 8. Simplify Your Meals (Food Combining)

(Check in Next Week for more on Food Combining)

We're used to making big meals with hundreds of ingredients and spices. Going back to the simplicity of eating just one food at a time may seem impossible, but I must say that it's one of the most important steps towards eating a truly natural diet. My lunch these days usually consists of just a big (I mean big!) fruit smoothie. Morning is just fruit. My lunch usually starts with fruit or a smoothie, and is followed by a vegetable meal, which is the most fancy meal of the day. Nonetheless, I really enjoy this simple way of eating! I don't necessarily expect you to follow my steps and eat a simple healthy diet too, but there's some things you can do to simplify your meals. First, realize that it's okay to do that. You don't need to have dozens of foods at every meal to eat a balanced diet. The important thing is to eat a varied diet through the course of the month and year, but not necessarily at every meal! Then, you can pay attention to really simple food combining rules. Generally speaking, you can follow the 5-5-5 rule: a good simple meal should have 5 ingredients or less, be ready in 5 minutes and cost less than 5 bucks!


#9. Read at least one health building book each month.

I still get a lot of questions from people who are interested in losing weight and becoming healthier, yet have not read any book on the subject and therefore have little clue as to how to do it. They are trying to get by on the free information they can find on the Internet. Unfortunately, that can only go so far.
If you're new to eating healthy, you need to make sure you have access to as much quality information as possible on the subject. We're talking about a major lifestyle change here - so it's important to do this with quality tools and guidance.

#10. Decide to try 100% fruit and vegetable diet for 7 days.

Take it easy. One day at a time! Just commit to 7 days - everybody can do that. Get as much information as possible before you do that, and then jump in for a 7-day challenge, with no commitment to do this any longer. That experience will teach you a lot. This will show you how addicted we all are to food, and how often we eat for other reasons besides hunger. It’s a great way to break food addictions, which is what we all need to do to be successful in losing weight and keeping the weight off for good.