6 Easy Ways to Clean Up Your Diet Today

This year, I've made some changes to my diet in an attempt to better myself as well as an elimination experiment to confirm some things for me (I'm working on a whole, detailed post about what's been going on, so be sure to look out for it). I've always grown up hearing about healthy ways to do things as it was always very emphasized at home, at school and even at church and it never occurred to me that some people may not know about some of the basic things our bodies need for optimal health (I wrote about these things here). Today, I will just share some easy food switches you can make to help reach your health goals.

This post was updated in March 2022 from April 2018 and includes affiliate links.

Related: Spring into Health this Spring

 

Skip the sugary drinks and drink more water. Sugary drinks are delicious, don't get me wrong, but it's too easy to overlook the effects of sugar on your body. Skip the addictive substance, and drink water - our bodies need it anyway! I also really enjoy unsweetened herbal teas. The bottom line is that since our bodies are made up of over 70% water, it is absolutely necessary we drink it. It supports our systems and flushes it out. 

Add vegetables to your meals. Your mama was right - veggies help you grow strong! Eat your vegetables! Add a side of broccoli or opt for a side salad (or make it your main course!). You can start small, but add more vegetables to your diet. The best vegetables are the ones that are fresh and in season (or frozen from their season), but any vegetable is a great start. Fresh, nourishing food is essential! I love meals that are full of vegetables!

Choose fruit over sweets made with refined sugars and empty calories. Again, the side effects that come with sugary treats will harm you more than do you good. Choosing fruit when you have a sweet craving is a better choice than fatty desserts. Again, with the summer close, in-season fruit is becoming more readily available!

“It’s not hard to clean up your diet! Here are some easy tips you can start using today!”

TWEET IT!!

Pick steamed or raw over fried. I know, I know. Fried foods are so delicious - but they are really not good for you. Because of the added calories and health risks involved with commercially fried foods, it is best to avoid consuming them (or avoid when possible). If you must have fried, try oven frying or air frying at home for crispy food, but with less oil and the calories that come with it.

Make your own meals. I know it's fun to eat out, but save your wallet and your bodies by making your own food. When you cook or prepare your meals yourself, you have total control over what goes onto your plate. On top of that, it is also much cheaper to buy your own groceries. 

Related: Eating Cleaner on a Budget

Listen to your body. For me, when I eat dairy or other heavily processed foods, I'm noticeably more lethargic. Then again, I likely would not have even noticed had I not decided to cut it out. When I am intentional about drinking enough water and eating fresh foods and avoiding "empty calories" (calories that add no nutritional value), I feel my best - energetic and ready to go. Listen to your body - it speaks louder than you might imagine!

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What are some ways you make healthy switches?

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Can I Become a Morning Person? (Ask Amanda)

Question: Help! How can I become a morning person? Do you have any tips?

If you have been following Maple Alps for a while both here and on Instagram, you know that I am a morning person. So many of you have asked this question in the Ask Amanda, that I figured I’d best get onto answering it!

A little bit of background before I go into this: I was not always a morning person. In fact, I hated getting up in the mornings because I was not getting enough sleep. I would stay up all hours of the night with thoughts running through my mind on full speed. As a result, my sleep was not restful, and mornings were a drag. I could sleep in for hours if allowed to. I could even sleep through the most dramatic of situations and fall asleep anywhere.

It wasn’t until I was forced to unplug from everything that I finally trained my body to wake up early. Now, I know that sleep is a pretty complicated thing and not everyone is designed to be a “morning person” but here are some things that helped me get a handle on waking up earlier and more refreshed on a regular basis.

Create Routines around Bedtime and Waking Up

Having evening and morning routines can trick your body in profound ways. Waking up at the same time - even during vacations and on the weekend can help! I read somewhere that even if you went to bed late the night before, you should wake up early the next day. I’ve been doing this for years and find that I’m greatly productive in the mornings - especially on the weekend because I’m less stressed about my usual schedule. Eventually, like me, you won’t even bother setting your alarm anymore because your internal clock knows what’s up!

Do Something Positive or Productive

I like to start my day out spending time with Jesus. It sets the tone for my day and helps me be productive later. Once I’ve spent some time meditating on the Word and noting what I’m grateful for, and journaling and praying, I feel more ready to take on my day. In fact, once I started doing this, I began getting up even earlier because I wanted more uninterrupted time to do it. 

Make Your Sleeping Area Your Haven for Relaxation

My parents always told me that I shouldn’t study or read or work in my bed so that my brain would associate my bed with sleep. They must have been talking to some experts about the insomnia I was suffering from. Turns out they were pretty much right (okay, okay, see parents?). While I am guilty of even typing out this post from my bed right now, I have experienced the benefits of making sure my bedroom is a haven for relaxation. Making your room cozy and having your brain associate it with relaxation will make for better sleep. 

Sleep When You’re Tired

Listen to your body at night when it tells you it’s tired and go to bed. If you wait too long, you won’t be tired anymore. Kind of like when you take Melatonin and stay awake too long and force your body up and it’s not effective anymore. No one else? Just me? Okay. 

Try a Smart Alarm

I’ve had little success with smart alarms - alarms that wake you up during a specific frame of your sleep cycle rather than at a specific time of the day - but I know others who have. Doesn’t hurt to try it and see if it wakes you up feeling more refreshed than usual! I’ve also heard of alarms that wake you up with light. 

Get Up and Out

When that alarm goes off, get up and out of your room ASAP. Go grab a drink of water or take a shower or exercise, but since your brain is going to be associating your warm bed with sleep now, you have to tell it that it’s time to get moving! 

Don’t Stress

Life happens. Don’t stress when you can’t sleep when you want to. From experience, it keeps you up even longer. Don’t stress when you sleep a little later than you wanted to. Even if it makes you late. Life happens, and taking it in stride will make you happier and healthier.

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How do you make early mornings more desirable?

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If you have a question, feel free to leave one below for a future segment of "Ask Amanda!"

Teaching or Blogging?

Question: Do you want to keep teaching or is your goal to make your blog a full time job?

Well, at this time, I definitely don’t see me making blogging a full-time thing. I do love teaching. I’ve always wanted to teach, so as much of a headache as it is sometimes, it really is a dream come true to be able to do so now. 

Because of my husband’s work as a pastor, however, we are prone to move around every few years. In fact, if you’ve been following along on Instagram and if you subscribe to the Good Intentions Guide, you know that we recently made a transition. I have started a new position in this fall teaching middle school math, which really excites me since I do love math!

If in the case there is no school where we move, I would definitely consider switching to blogging full-time if I could or had to. Blogging is a really fun and a great creative outlet for me and I enjoy it (which is probably why I go through the effort to keep Maple Alps running during the school year). If the opportunity arose to blog full-time, I would seriously consider it, though I wouldn’t want my fun hobby to become stressful because of the pressure to make an income... 

I have actually recently begun to extend Maple Alps. Maple and Math will be a branch of Maple Alps launching completely very soon aimed towards intentional teachers!

One thing I try to live by in my life is always making sure that everything I do glorifies God. Whether that be teaching children or serving my blog audience, I want Him to be glorified first and foremost!

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On Adding Value

The other night, my husband turned to me and said the sweetest thing:

“You add value to my life.”

It really got me thinking. I’m always trying to be intentional about what I add to my life, but am I intentional about what I add to the lives of those around me?

I’d like to think that that I always try to be considerate and intentional with my interactions, but sometimes it’s easy to let our words or behaviour slip through the cracks. Today, I want to explore a few broad guidelines to keep in mind when interacting with others intentionally that will help you add value to their lives.

Consider Your Words

This may be obvious, but being careful of the words we choose is important. Do we inspire and encourage, or do we mock and tear down? Are our words too few or too many? Are we too quick to speak or accuse?

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29, ESV)

It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. (Proverbs 21:19, ESV)

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.(Proverbs 17:5, ESV)

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

(1 Thessalonians 5:11, ESV)

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; (James 1:19, ESV)

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.(Proverbs 17:28, ESV)

Consider Your Actions

Think about your actions and interactions. What we DO is louder than what we SAY. How do we treat others and how might they perceive our actions? How do we act even when we don't think others are watching (by the way, someone is always watching). Do our actions stem from our hearts - or do we just "act good" without having our heart in it?

Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:5, ESV)

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:23-25, ESV)

Consider Service

What do we do for others that can add value to their lives? It could be as simple as a smile, a hug, a cup of tea. Maybe some time together sharing that cup of tea. Do we meet greater needs too? Do we have an ear that listens, an eye that pays attention to basic needs that need to be met...simple consideration for others? We may tell someone that Jesus loves them, but do we show them Jesus' love?

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17, ESV)

Consider Everything

What you put into your life, you’ll get [and give] out. I think I'll just let Paul finish off this one:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8, ESV)

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How do others add value to your life? How do you try adding value to others?

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Intentionality Spotlight: Naida of Meaningful Word

Readers. I am so excited today to introduce you to Naida, of Meaningful Word! I met her a few years ago at an expo and fell in love with her designs. We even have some of her work on a couple of tees we own! She has a true gift of making words come to life! I won’t say much more other than her story moved me, and I can’t wait to share it will all of you today!

First some easy stuff, tell us a bit about yourself. What is your
work, your passions and interest?

Hello, I’m Naida. I’m a Melbourne based Graphic Designer and Illustrator with a passion to create colourful pieces and experiences. When I’m not drawing or thinking about design concepts, you’ll find me taking photos, finding new brunch locations or exploring nature with like-minded individuals.



I absolutely love your work! How did you get started with art and ultimately Meaningful Word and your shop?

Thank you, I’ve always loved to draw ever since I was young. When I think about my art journey it took me a while to understand that 1 - this ability was a gift from God, and 2 - that it can be use for the church and ultimately for His glory.

The first time I ever thought of God having a part in that area of my life was when I was in high school. It was Friday night during lifegroup when the youth pastor said “Praise God” after I told the group about an award I received. I was brought up in the church, but I didn’t have a relationship with God so I was unsure why she said it. It actually rather annoyed since I did all the work – Silly me.

Fast forward to my final year of University where I focused all my attention on getting a job after I graduate because the design industry can be very competitive. It’s not just about having an amazing folio, but your industry experience and who you know that sets you apart. It’s funny how scripture says ‘Man may plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps’ (Proverbs 16:9) – because this was very much the case for me. I landed an internship with a design studio in the city where I got to work on some exciting projects for clients like Melbourne Fashion Week, Australia’s Next Top Model and for other up-coming fashion designers in Australia – It was a dream!

I had a lot of fun and learnt a whole lot, however, the more projects and more time I surrounded myself in that atmosphere, the more I found myself changing and what little connection I had with God was fading. I was in a dream role, but something wasn’t right and I was watching many things fall apart. But little did I know that God was working on me – out of the mess He was able to make something beautiful. I had to see all my plans crumble, to be at a point where I was left alone crying to God for Him to speak comfort into my life and redirect my path. He was asking me to surrender my career to Him.

Thus then Meaningful Word and a new career path were born as a result of my encounter with God. Meaningful Word started as a small challenge for myself to memorise verses – hoping that if I spent enough time and make it look visually appealing enough, I’d store it somewhere in my mind. It was also a means to create something for God rather than what I was doing in the past (helping the rich get richer, and creating things that looked beautiful, but had no substance to it). God was asking me to trust in Him and to use the gift He had given me back to Him to help others. Ever since then I’ve seen first-hand the fruits of surrendering to God. When you give it to Him, He blesses it, multiplies it and lets it be a blessing to others. I had planned my own way, but God’s plan exceeded it all – far more than I could have hoped for, and for the better.


I love how your art really brings Biblical truths and stories to life. Where do you get the inspiration for it? Is it hard, or does it come easily?

Well I guess it comes naturally. The verses, quotes or stories I post are actual reflections and thoughts from my devotionals that week – the things I’ve read, heard or experienced. I like to post scripture because I truly believe that the messages in it are just as relevant now as they were then. I just love how Hebrews 4:12 describes the word as ‘living, powerful, sharper than any two-edge sword’ and is a ‘discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ – yep, still relevant!

My process starts with the message/text and then I consider what are the key parts of the text that I what to highlight. Vibrant colour palettes, patterns and nature drive my style and approach on each piece I create.

What is one other specific area in your life you find that intentionality is absolutely critical? How do you exercise mindfulness in it?

Investing my time wisely. This is in the form of time with God, time I spend with others and on my health and wellbeing.

Devotional time is super important for me because I just know I’m going to have a lousy day if my priorities aren’t right. Time with others is investing in solid relationships and to also empower the next generation. I’m a strong advocate that the Creative Arts has a place and can be used for the church – we need to encourage this more!  We all have a talent that can we used for God, we just have to give it back to Him.

And lastly, rest. In the past I used to think that ‘resting’ is for the lazy, but God has shown me that rest is just as important. Our mind, body and soul need to recover, and the best way I like to rest is on the Sabbath in nature with others – far, far away from a computer screen.


If you would give one piece of advice about {this area of intentionality} so someone who struggles with it, what would you tell them?

Ensure that your relationship and time with God is your first priority, because the rest follows. Start small. It’s not always easy to know where to even begin and yea, you may find you don’t want to pray or read your bible, but the beautiful thing about God is He meets you where you are. Start small, and have a conversation. Open your heart and ‘taste and see’ His goodness - you will not be disappointed. Start small & be consistent – After all, habits are formed in 30 days.

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Find Naida at her Etsy shop or on Instagram

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