By Leo Babauta

There was a time in my life when I was addicted to junk food, fast food, comfort foods. These days, I still enjoy the taste of those foods, but nothing tastes as good as healthy, whole foods.

The switch for me was gradual, not instant. It was also intentional. And I’m so glad I made the change.

These days, I eat mostly whole plant foods (I’m vegan): beans, nuts, seeds, lentils, tofu and tempeh, whole grains, lots of veggies, lots of fruit. And it’s delicious.

I also mostly cut out sugar and fried foods, and completely cut out meats and other animal products including dairy, and am currently not drinking alcohol (for the last 5 months). These changes don’t feel like sacrifices to me.

If you’d like to make the switch to loving healthy food, let’s look at how to make it painless, delicious, and very much not a sacrifice.

What We’re Moving Toward

It can be really helpful to start by envisioning what you’d like to move toward — what would a healthy diet look like for you? What kinds of healthy foods would you like to include? (Don’t limit yourself to what you already like.)

You don’t have to envision a vegan diet (although maybe consider it!) … just think about what would be healthy for you. I encourage you to think about whole foods over processed.

For me, I love to include healthy bowls: grains with proteins (tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils) and veggies and a simple sauce or hummus. Maybe some nuts or seeds to go with it. I also love huge salads with all of these things included, or soups or chili full of beans and veggies. But you could think of healthy tacos, stir-fries, or wraps.

Envision the healthy meals, and try to think of them in a positive light — not only will these help make you healthier, they are delicious and lovely!

Making a Slow, Lovely Transition

Now that we have the vision, I encourage a slow transition. You might be tempted to go for the whole enchilada (so to speak) right away … and if that feels super doable to you, go for it. But sometimes it can help to go slower.

For example, maybe there are some healthy foods that you don’t really like — green vegetables, tomatoes, beans, for example. Maybe you’re interested in tofu or tempeh but aren’t used to them. Maybe you are used to lots of sugar and fried foods and eating foods that don’t have added sugar and aren’t fried seems terrible to you.

In that case, here’s what I suggest:

• Start with the healthy changes that would be easy for you. If you already like apples, feel free to just add apples for now. Maybe you also like carrots. Add those too! Get some easy wins.

• Gradually add the other things that don’t feel so intimidating. No need to buy everything you hate and try to thug it out. Go with the ones you can tolerate reasonably well, and start to acclimatize yourself in them.

• Focus on savoring and enjoyment. As you pay close attention, and try to find the elements of the textures and tastes that you enjoy, you’ll start to appreciate the food more.

• Harder foods: there will be foods you don’t love — but you can grow to love them, if you slowly acclimatize yourself and start to appreciate the more subtle qualities of the food. I have grown to love so many healthy foods that I didn’t before. Sometimes it helps to season them in a way that’s more palatable, or try different ways to prepare. Give yourself time.

There’s no rush. You have a lifetime to learn to enjoy these foods.

The Role of Identity

This kind of shift requires a shift in identity. You might think of yoursef as someone who doesn’t like these kinds of foods, or someone who “has to have” their sugar drinks or snacks, for example. This is your old identity.

A new identity could be someone who love all kinds of healthy, delicious foods, and someone who doesn’t need junk food to be happy or to deal with stress. It’s a new identity that’s resilient in the face of stress.

So my encouragement is to start to shift how you see yourself. Let go of the old, limiting way you think about yourself in relation to food. And start to craft a new version, that is empowered and ready to enjoy a new kind of life.