Gretchen Rubin Quote + Healthy Foods List = My Diet Plan

{ image + recipe Kath Eats Real Food }

A while back, I posted this mug featuring a quote by Gretchen Rubin from the 2012 ALT Design Summit: “If I cram my life full of the things I love, there is no room for the things I don’t love.”

Ms. Rubin was speaking about the work-life balance, but I think her philosophy can apply to anything. Including what to eat. I always have big plans for healthy eating, but sometimes my plans fall to pieces when I’m confronted with real life.

But what if I change the way I think a little? Instead of saying “I shouldn’t eat this or that” or waiting until I can sit down and really come up with a brilliant plan, what if I focus on eating as many healthy foods a day as I can?

To paraphrase Gretchen’s quote: “If I cram my [mouth] full of [healthy foods], there is no room for the [unhealthy foods] I [shouldn’t] love.” Or something like that.

I scoured through some magazines I have around the house and did a quick search around the web to put together a list of 20 of the most popular healthy foods. None of these foods came as a big surprise, but I’m hoping that listing them in one place and sticking them on the fridge will keep them forefront in my mind. (I can tell you right now that I’ll be eating the entire egg because the yolk is where most of the good stuff is. And I’ll be substituting romaine lettuce for spinach, just because I love romaine lettuce.)

So here are 20 fantastically healthy foods, in no particular order:

• oatmeal
• apples
• lentils
• green tea
• yams/sweet potatoes
• walnuts/almonds
• edamame
• red bell peppers
• strawberries
• eggs
• pumpkin
• Greek yogurt
• blueberries
• olive oil
• kiwi
• broccoli
• quinoa
• salmon
• tomatoes
• spinach

So instead of thinking about all the food I shouldn’t be eating, I’m going to concentrate on eating as many of these nutritional powerhouses as I can. And maybe then I’ll be too full to say “yes” to the donut.*

(* I’m all in favor of donuts, by the way. I’ve just let life’s busy-ness get me a little off-balance lately and need to re-group. The donuts will have to wait.)

Let me know if I left your favorite healthy food off the list! [Update: As requested, here’s a printable list for you: Healthy-Foods-List. It’s not fancy, but it’ll work!]