Imagine sitting at your desk at work and the smells of buttered popcorn, leftover pizza, and chicken wings are permeating the air. Normally you would want to sneak off and visit the nearest vending machine or office café to get your 3pm fix, but THIS time is different. THIS time you said that you will just eat the beautifully colored medium sized salad with ripe juicy tomatoes, fresh green spinach and bright crunchy carrots you brought from home. The only problem is that you’ve eaten salad nearly every day this past week as your healthy snack and you are just plain TIRED of chomping on greens while your mind is fixated on pepperoni pizza with extra cheese. I would be lying to you if I said that even though I promote clean eating as a healthy lifestyle coach that I don’t sometimes trade in my salad for not one slice of pizza, but two or three delicious slices in one sitting.
Splurging on Indulgence Foods
So, how often do I splurge? I splurge on indulgence foods whenever my body feels like it really desires it. This does not mean that because I’m bored and there is pizza in my refrigerator that I’m going to immediately go grab a slice to warm up in the microwave. It also doesn’t mean that since my kids want me to take them to the local ice cream joint that I must get my fave cheesecake and cookie dough mixed ice cream since I’m already standing in line. What it means is that when the urge to eat one of my fave indulgence foods hits in such a way that I’d probably still be thinking about eating it 5 hours later I may accept the craving and enjoy it with zero guilt.
When I’ve shared this with other ladies some of them have said things like, “But Ebonie, you don’t have all this weight to lose like I do. So, of course you can say that.” Or, “I’m not sure you understand how strong my addiction to food really is!” Or, “I gain weight just by thinking about food.”
Creating Long-Term Sustainability
As I’m listening to these concerns I sometimes think about how many of my ladies were in very similar or more challenging situations and once thought it was impossible to enjoy their fave craving foods while still losing weight. A few of them initially did not fully believe that they could even lose weight. Later, they realized that they were able to sustain a healthy lifestyle for the long term when they actually included some of these indulgence foods in their diet.
It IS possible to create a body and lifestyle you love by enjoying healthy foods, being physically active, and STILL enjoying foods you know are not healthy. As I’m typing this I’m even thinking about how I’d love to indulge on a vanilla cupcake with cream cheese icing right about now since I ate relatively healthy earlier today (haha). But that’s just the thing! Since I eat pretty well and maintain a semi-consistent level of physical activity eating a cupcake is NOT going to change the way I generally look and feel about my body! Eating one cupcake won’t significantly change yours either!
So, let’s not worry about guilt-eating and instead enjoy life in a way that shows that we understand that eating food is meant to nourish our bodies and provide energy and not meant to over-consume our mind. What I’m basically saying is, “If you want the cupcake. Eat the doggon cupcake!” and then get back on track to eating a more nutritionally balanced meal the next time you sit down to eat.
This weight loss journey can be simplified by changing your perception that it MUST be rigid and involve math calculations every time food enters your mouth. If you have not had an opportunity to listen to how some women in my circle of influence have experienced significant weight loss while not depriving themselves I invite you to take a listen to at least one of their success stories. Apple users click here to listen on iTunes and non-Apple Users click here. You’ll be amazed at how making just a few simple tweaks every day helped them become more confident in who they are as their emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical health improved.
Be selfless and share this article with friends and family who sometimes struggle with taking better care of their bodies because they believe it is too difficult to achieve a sustainable method that works for them. Then invite them into my Nutrition 4 Busy Women Facebook group where they can receive a complimentary clean eating guide that I authored with tons of quick, healthy meal and snack ideas they can consume when they’re out of ideas of what to eat next!
Thanks for reading!
To Our Health & Happiness,
Ebonie
xoxo
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