Hi I’m Lauren – Holistic Health Coach behind Free Your Fork and I’m here to help you with healthy living without obsessing.
I help people make simple swaps for real food recipes, safer beauty, and a healthier home.
One of the BEST places to start is by looking at the foods you eat + the products you use every single day. Some of these choices might feel small, but shifting these daily habits can add up to some seriously significant change.
Be sure to grab the free checklist below + then read on for 3 top real food swaps to simplify the transition towards a healthier fridge + pantry.
This checklist gives you the same foundational swaps that I walk all my clients through.
Making these 3 high-impact swaps will help you:
- Eat more nutrient-dense, whole foods
- Avoid harmful pesticides + chemicals
- Decrease risk of chronic inflammation + illness
- Reduce overall toxic load
- Advocate for industry-wide change + better food standards
Under each one I’ve listed what to avoid + what to use instead to help make the switch even simpler.
Here are my top 3 simple real food swaps!
1. HEALTHY COOKING OILS
Cooking oils go into almost every dish we make at home – whether it’s morning eggs, roasted veggies, grilled goods, stir fries, baked goods, salad dressings, or sauces. So swapping over to healthy, anti-inflammatory oils is the number one place I recommend clients start. This one change has the potential to create a positive ripple effect.
Minimize
- canola (rapeseed) oil
- grapeseed oil
- soybean oil
- corn oil
- peanut oil
- cottonseed oil
- sunflower oil
- margarine
- vegetable oil blends
Swap to
- extra virgin olive oil
- avocado oil
- coconut oil
- grass-fed butter
- grass-fed ghee
2. GO ORGANIC
Start with the fruits + veggies listed below – the produce that tests highest for pesticides and harmful chemicals aka the Dirty Dozen (plus peppers!). Pick 1+ to swap at your next grocery run. You don’t need to memorize the list.Here’s an easy way to think about it – if it has a thin-skin, is a high-spray crop, or you eat it skin-on (like berries, apples, or cucumbers) – choose the organic option.
Minimize
- conventional strawberries
- conventional spinach
- conventional kale
- conventional nectarines
- conventional apples
- conventional grapes
- conventional peaches
- conventional cherries
- conventional pears
- conventional tomatoes
- conventional celery
- conventional potatoes
- conventional peppers
Swap to
- organic strawberries
- organic spinach
- organic kale
- organic nectarines
- organic apples
- organic grapes
- organic peaches
- organic cherries
- organic pears
- organic tomatoes
- organic celery
- organic potatoes
- organic peppers
3. NATURAL SWEETENERS
The sweeteners you use in your morning coffee + tangy sauces + baked goods + jams + sweet treats don’t have to be eliminated or even restricted. Swapping over to natural alternatives is so simple and lets you still enjoy all the foods you love while getting rid of icky chemicals in artificial sweeteners, GMO ingredients, and reducing inflammation from cane sugar.
Minimize
- white sugar (cane sugar)
- brown sugar
- evaporated cane juice
- corn syrup
- high fructose corn syrup
- aspartame (Equal)
- saccharin (Sweet n Low)
- sucralose (Splenda)
Swap to
- coconut nectar
- coconut sugar
- pure maple syrup
- raw honey
- stevia
- blackstrap molasses
- fruit juice
- dates
Tips for Making Healthy Swaps Without Obsessing
Progress > Perfection
Don’t worry about making all these swaps overnight.
Just pick out one that excites you the most & focus on making that single swap first. Then pick your next “what matters most to me?” swap from the list until you’ve mastered all three.
Try not to go all Marie Kondo on yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, I adore her. And her show. But this list is not asking you to Kon-Mari your kitchen. You don’t have to gut your cupboards. Or let your already-paid-for products go to waste. Use up whatever you’ve got and replace it with a better option once you run out. No guilt necessary.
Swaps ≠ Rules
These swaps are just simple ways to up-level what you do / eat / use most of the time. Not to limit and restrict the things you do sometimes.
That other small percentage of things you do every now and then? Let. It. Be. It’s not gonna be what actually moves the needle.
So if that bakery you love doesn’t use organic fruit in their scones? No big deal.
If your airport latte is sweetened with refined cane sugar syrup? Totally fine.
Not ready to switch your full grocery haul over to organic? It’s all good! Start where you are.
Pin this image to save these real food swaps for later!
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