5 Tips for Staying Motivated to Eating Healthy

Last Updated on December 3, 2023 by Cathy

Were you recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS)? Or you are sick and tired of the awful side effects of the medications? If so, you are probably wondering how to start eating healthier and start feeling better. And, how to stay motivated to eat healthy for a lifetime.

Completely changing everything you’ve been taught can be overwhelming at first. Some people like to jump right in and try to change all at once but it can be a shock to your body. This could make it more difficult from sugar cravings to digestive problems.

Some people can go “cold turkey” but most people aren’t that strong. When I first started I changed everything I ate (and didn’t eat), all at once. I only did this out of fear from a horrible flare and I was terrified I would continue to get worse. It was the fear that kept me going.

I don’t recommend this, it was extremely hard and I felt deprived because I wasn’t exactly sure what I should be eating. To make sure I wasn’t eating something I shouldn’t I didn’t eat at all. I was depressed, confused, and hungry.

Instead, I recommend taking baby steps. Completely changing your diet is a HUGE learning process. If you don’t take the time to learn you may fall back into your eating habits. And you don’t want that to happen. Unhealthy food is everywhere, you can even smell it as you drive down the street. Before I changed my diet I used to think fast food smelled good. Now, all I smell is the grease, which isn’t a pleasant smell.

I’m not going to lie. Completely changing your diet isn’t going to be easy and every time you cheat, you’re only hurting yourself. However, there will be slip-ups, we’re all human, just don’t make it a habit. Are you ready to get started? Me too!

1. Staying Motivated to Eat a Healthy Diet

So, you’re motivated and doing awesome. You start seeing improvements like more energy, sleeping better, and less brain fog. Then birthdays or the holidays come around. You start remembering how much you enjoyed eating these unhealthy foods. Be strong and remember why you’re doing this.

You’re doing this to improve your health. There’s one thing I have learned if a person isn’t motivated to permanently change then it’s not going to happen. This is a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet. You can’t do this until you feel better because MS never goes away, it just goes into remission.

You’re not changing your diet to lose weight, you’re doing this to feel better and to stop the progression. Stopping MS is the number one reason you are doing this. To keep you motivated write down all your symptoms, even if you don’t think it’s MS-related.

Since many people are visual learners, you’ll be able to see if you’re progressing. Even if it’s a small improvement, it’s still a win.

Keep track of your symptoms using a Symptom Questionnaire, you can find one at the bottom of this post.

2. Quit Comparing Yourself to Others

Comparing yourself with others steals your energy. If you think you’re going to heal in a few months as others claim, you might be in for a big disappointment. It’s great to get inspired by other people’s stories plus it’s very motivational and keeps you moving forward.

But don’t compare your story with other people’s stories since everyone is on a different level. It depends on how long you’ve had MS, the level of damage, and the level of toxins you’re dealing with.

Unfortunately, I did the same thing. When I heard Dr. Terry Wahls was able to reverse her MS using food. I couldn’t wait for her book, The Wahls Protocol, to come out plus I had already been using food as my medicine for many years so it would be an easy change. I figured if she could get out of her wheelchair in nine months I could start walking normally within a few months.

However, that didn’t happen. I strictly followed her diet but I didn’t see the results she did. Granted I was able to stop my MS from progressing even before I started her protocol. But my symptoms weren’t reversing either.

Then I realized I had MS much longer than she did, so I had YEARS of damage compared to her. And what triggered my MS probably wasn’t what triggered her MS. Plus, she was a doctor and had resources that I didn’t like other colleagues to talk with and physical therapy.

All of these things matter, sure we all need to clean up our diet, sleep better, and relieve our stress load. While one person’s trigger could be a yeast overgrowth while someone else it’s heavy metal toxicity. The bottom line is to stop playing the comparison game and focus on yourself.

3. Set Your Goals Into Smaller Ones

Sure, you want to be eating 100 percent healthier starting today and feeling much better. But this is a HUGE goal and it can make you feel overwhelmed and confused. Instead, break it up into smaller goals. As you’re learning new ways to cook, it might help you feel better and more confident to take smaller steps.

Start by eliminating gluten. Once you’re feeling more comfortable then eliminate grains, then dairy, and so on. It’s still a huge change but by breaking it up into smaller goals, it’s way less overwhelming.

4. Get Your Family On Board

Getting your family on board will help you stay motivated. They don’t need to be as strict as you do but it’s a huge help if they keep junk food out of your house. Even your friends can help if you let them know you’ve changed your diet for health benefits.

You can also take classes such as going gluten-free or starting a plant-based diet. You can find these through community education classes, co-ops, or natural food stores. Your local hospital may even hold certain education classes. You never know, you may find someone else to whom you can be accountable. And they may be in a similar situation with their diet as you.

5. Remember How Far You’ve Come

When you’re first starting out it’s easy to feel stuck, like there’s nothing to eat. But over time you’ll find new favorite recipes and how easy it is to eat real food. Making the decision to change your diet and lifestyle is a huge commitment.

Keeping track of your symptoms as you go along is a great way to mark your improvements. You can find a Symptom Questionnaire to help you keep track at the bottom of this post. Go back over your tracker every now and then to keep you motivated and your spirits up.

Staying Motivated to Eat Healthy to Manage MS

Changing from the typical American diet to a nutrient-dense diet is hard. It can even feel overwhelming knowing this is a lifestyle change. But it doesn’t have to be hard.

The key is, to learn everything you can and be prepared. Planning ahead will make everything much easier. I don’t mean planning out every detail. You can do something like this:

• Monday – chicken
• Tuesday – fish
• Wednesday – red meat
• Thursday – chicken
• Friday – fish
• Saturday – leftovers
• Sunday – leftovers

Every day is vegetable day whether it’s a salad or a specialty dish such as Lemon Roasted Asparagus. Keep it simple so you won’t feel like giving up.

Staying motivated to eat healthy doesn’t have to be hard. If you do have a setback don’t get on yourself for slipping up – no one is perfect. Just make sure you get back on track and work on moving forward.

This is a lifetime commitment but stay positive and believe you will heal! 

Get Your Symptom Questionnaire

Get the password for the library with my Symptom Questionnaire here by filling out this form:

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5 Tips for Staying Motivated to Eating Healthy