Eat Better, Feel Better summary

If you’re afraid of going to the doctor, brace yourself: Giada recommends regular checkups as an integral part of monitoring your health. Her doctors monitor her kidney, thyroid, and liver functions as well as doing regular blood work to check that she’s getting the right nutrients and that her toxin levels are in check. She also consults her doctors before making any significant dietary changes.

If you experience issues such as stomach pains, sudden weight fluctuations, or diarrhea, changing your diet is not a substitute for the care of a doctor. But if you get the go-ahead for a new dietary plan, the first thing you need to do is figure out which foods to include. And this is all about listening to your body. 

Here’s a piece of good news: transforming your diet doesn't mean you have to give up the food you love. Unless you have a gluten intolerance, you won’t even need to give up pizza or pasta. If you eat healthy most of the time, your body will be able to handle inflammatory foods when you eat them.

The trick to eating healthy is shifting your focus to foods that are as tasty as they are nutritious. And when you see how good healthy food makes you feel, you might even start craving it, too.

According to psychologists, it takes three weeks to create a new habit. So to ensure that you change your dietary habits for the long run, Giada suggests you follow her meal plans rigorously for 21 days.

Having a pre-planned menu for the first three weeks will help you stay on track while you get comfortable with your new cooking routine. This will ensure that your system gets the break it badly needs and that you maximize the healing effects of eating clean. Once you start to feel more energy, notice smoother digestion, or see how your skin has improved, you’ll be more motivated to keep up your new healthy diet on your own.

When you cook at home, you decide what goes into your meal. So every time you choose to cook a meal instead of eating out is a win. But the reality is that most of us don’t have time to cook three meals a day from scratch – including Giada herself. 

So using improv meals could be a good solution. These are quickly improvised soups, salads, or grain bowls that combine prepped ingredients from batch cooking with leftovers or items in your pantry. The goal is to make yourself a healthy meal without the need for a recipe – and all in under five minutes.

Despite your best intentions, there’ll always be times when you drift away from your superclean eating. And while there’s no shame in telling yourself you’ll do better the next day, sometimes you need a special program to help you get back on track.

If you’re in need of an extra health boost, you might consider taking a mini-cleanse. Giada typically takes a three-day mini-cleanse after the holiday season and following her annual summer vacation. When she feels three days isn’t enough, she extends her mini-cleanse to four or even five days.

Giada used to suffer from digestive issues like cramps and acid reflux. But when she changed her diet, these quickly faded. Not only did this eliminate a lot of discomfort, but it also gave her energy for other health-promoting practices.

She’s Giada’s been receiving acupuncture treatments for over a decade, gets regular infrared sauna treatments, and aims for at least five to ten minutes’ meditation before bed each evening. She also makes sure to exercise regularly, and she takes nutritional supplements as recommended by her nutritionist.