Why You Can't Stick to Healthy Eating (It's Not Willpower)

There's healthy eating and then there's "healthy eating."

And the difference between the two might be exactly why you can't stick to it.

When you eat real whole food, it triggers a hormonal signalling system that tells your brain you're satisfied, full and nutritionally topped up. You stop thinking about food. You stop hunting for something more. You're just content between meals.

I hear it from clients all the time. "I don't even want the chocolate anymore. I'm just not looking for food."

That's not willpower. That's hormones doing their job.

The problem with "healthy" food

When you eat foods that are sold to you as healthy; think overnight oats, toast with avocado, granola...the macronutrient breakdown is often carb heavy, high in sugar and low in protein. This destabilises your blood sugar, leads to cravings later in the day, and leaves you feeling full but somehow depleted. Like something is missing but you can't quite name it.

That feeling is not weakness. It's your body telling you it's undernourished.

When your diet is full of diet foods, they're often calorically full but nutritionally empty. Which is why you have to constantly white knuckle it and rely on willpower. Your body thinks it's starving so it keeps sending hunger signals. You keep fighting them. Eventually you break. And then you blame yourself.

It was never about willpower.

What to do instead

The first week of eating real food can be tough. Your body goes through a withdrawal and detoxification process, your gut microbiome begins to shift, and your body starts switching from burning sugar to burning fat. This is where the magic happens.

But it's also where most people stop. Because you start eating better and feel worse. To an uneducated brain it makes no sense. So you quit.

Knowing what your body is going through in this phase is everything. It's not failure. It's recalibration.

Here's where to start:

Step 1. Get off processed foods.

Step 2. Start your day with whole food protein. Eggs, bacon, beef mince, chicken, steak. At a pinch I'll accept a clean protein powder, but try to make most of your breakfasts meat or eggs.

Step 3. Eat 4 meals a day, each featuring protein. This is what quiets the food noise and takes willpower out of the equation.

Step 4. Move your body daily. It supports detoxification, lifts your mood and reduces cravings.

The Only Food Rule You Actually Need

The advice out there is overwhelming. Peers, the internet, social media — it's so hard to filter truth from someone selling you something.

So here's my rule.

If it comes from a factory, don't eat it. If it comes from the earth, it's real food and it's good to go.

Want to be stepped through this exact process? The Reset Program takes you through the full recalibration from processed food to real food eating. Find out more at jennapoole.com/the-reset