You might have read that title and been like, yeah girl! and gotten excited because you feel like sticking with healthy eating might now be doable for you. Or, you might’ve read it and thought, girl, you are nuts.
Whichever camp you’re in, I hope you’ll hear me out.
When it comes to eating, I don’t think of being on or off the wagon. Rather, I think of it as our life. Eating is something we do for nourishment and for pleasure… this fun thing we get to experience multiple times a day. Like, seriously, think about that for a second. How amazing is it that we get to taste these satisfying flavours, put together any combination we want, and enjoy the heck out of these foods that are (ideally) nourishing our body?! And we get to do it All. The. Time! Like, it’s truly awesome.
So with that context of eating in mind, my aim is to super-nourish my body while enjoying my food. And I do enjoy it, hugely so, in fact. Healthy foods and ingredients taste fantastic. At the same time, though, I recognize that I’m not going to have healthy foods available to me 24/7. Nor am I going to opt for them every single time, believe it or not.
A healthy lifestyle should include treats.
This is where the treats come in. While I aim to eat the healthiest foods most often (I’d say around 80% of the time), I also enjoy the heck out of treats. And while I often choose the healthier option where available (for example, making cookies with spelt flour and sucanat), I also won’t always turn down a homemade, sugar-containing and white flour-filled slice of cake. And I’ll make it a big one, too.
That may surprise you… but does it? Really think about it. This is our entire life we’re talkin’ about… my goal isn’t to be absolutely perfect in my diet 100% of every day, forever and always, until the end of time. If that’s your goal, then you go, sister, and I’m behind you all the way. But for me, to be able to enjoy whatever I want? While truly wanting to choose healthy most of the time? That right there is my sweet spot.
Now while treating it up, I try not to go nuts (as in, eating everything in sight and then raiding the pantry in search of more), and I also know my triggers.
Randomly, chocolate almonds are one of them. Once I start on those, I find it hard to stop (anyone who’s seen me with a bowl — or ahem, bag — of ’em beside me can attest to that), which can then lead me down a sugary pathway that is anything but sweet. Been there, don’t wanna look back. So for that reason, I do avoid those pretty much altogether, but most other treats are “safe”.
Some of us have a zero tolerance for sugar, meaning if we eat even the tiniest amount, we slide so fast down that hill that there’s no stopping us, never mind a hope for climbing back up. In those cases, sugar might be out completely (but of course, you can include treats other than the sugary ones).
We each have our own triggers, as well as our own tendencies. If you find yourself on that sugary slope more often than not, then I’d encourage you to evaluate just how many treats you’re eating (they’re pretty sneaky), and to watch out for those trigger foods that make you need more and unable to stop. Once you figure that out and you start living realistically and with your best health in mind, then you are golden.
Because you see, it’s not actually a healthy eating “plan”… it’s your life.
I call it a plan with my clients because it’s often a different way of eating than they’re used to, and it feels good and motivating to have a written-down guide to follow. But my hope for them (and for you) is that what starts as a plan becomes a new lifestyle, a healthier, upgraded way of living that will help them truly feel awesome and show up for life in a happier way.
And my friend, that is oh-so-possible when your body is floating happily through the day, truly nourished by the foods you’re feeding it. When you fuel your body and brain in this way, you make it possible to enjoy treats. Include treats here and there while still sticking with your awesomely healthy lifestyle. That, for me, is realistic living.
Well, I’m off to have an ice cream… no really; my husband and I are heading out for a fun afternoon with our almost-1-year-old daughter (who won’t be having ice cream, for the record — guys, at this point she doesn’t know what she’s missing and I’m gonna keep it that way for as long as I can), and I can’t even wait.
How do you feel about a healthy lifestyle to include treats? Is this how you aim to live, too? Let me know in the comments. Talk soon!
Laura Lima CNP, RNCP
Laura is a holistic nutritionist, stay-at-home mompreneur, wife to Hamilton Realtor, Miguel Lima, and mama to Cutest Babies Ever, Ellie and Maggie. (Ha.) She loves teaching women that focusing on real foods can help them feel fantastic and have more energy so they can take on the many calls of mamahood (and life in general). She spends much of her time in her free Facebook group where she teaches how to do just that. Are you a new(ish) mama? She’d love for you to join her there.