September 10th, 2008 by Jason
I may have been a little over zealous in my “eat this” and “don’t eat this” postings lately. It’s important to remember that life should be as enjoyable as possible, and so should your eating habits, which is another reason I don’t like restrictive diets (think lifestyle instead – see the archives). Eating healthy can be a lot of fun and very rewarding, but it’s also fun to walk on the wild side sometimes and eat something that you know you shouldn’t.
There is no reason that you can’t let yourself stray once in a while and have a piece of cake. Just make sure that your idea of once in a while isn’t too often (i.e., DAILY). I myself don’t eat perfectly every hour of every day, nor do I want to. It’s very, very important to realize that each person is unique with different tolerances. Some individuals can be perfectly happy eating measured foods at specific times each day without straying and even exercise continuously for added measure.
If you’re like me however, I have to make myself exercise, although I must admit I usually enjoy it immensely once I get started. If I can’t seem to get in the groove, I’ve been known to pare down my time spent exercising that particular day or take days off altogether. In fact, I rarely exercise 7 days per week, although I try to always do some enjoyable physical activity on my off days. The point is to not look at taking a day off as a failure or you run the serious risk of giving up altogether.
A day off is just that – one day off or a break, if you will. If you have weekends off from work, you don’t quit on Monday because you failed at going in on Saturday and Sunday. They are your regular days off and you enjoy them regularly. Do the same thing with your nutrition and exercise if you want. Take regular breaks, but just keep the breaks in perspective. Like work, you need to go back on Monday.
As an example, I allow myself to splurge once a month on a meal that might include a huge steak and dessert or perhaps one of my favorites for some strange reason: a quarter pounder with cheese from McDonald’s. I LOVE that hamburger. Sometimes I even order a double. Each of us is different with our own unhealthy obsessions. Moderation is a fantastically appropriate word here that should apply to your unhealthy eating habits, while variety is one that would be better to describe your ideal healthy eating habits.
In addition to my once per month splurge which I thoroughly enjoy, I also allow myself a daily treat of dark chocolate. I am a recovering chocoholic, so I had to be especially creative when I made my own lifestyle choice to be healthy. I used to consume milk chocolate and sweets every day and in unhealthy quantities. I had to wean myself from sweets and milk chocolate slowly, and I’m happy to say that it worked very well.
I carefully started by switching to quality 50-60% dark chocolate instead, and then I gradually increased the percentage. These days if I feel like it I’ll have one piece of pure dark chocolate mixed with one piece of 75-85% chocolate. It has very little sugar but is still high in saturated fat, so I’m careful with my portions – I allow myself up to two pieces per day, although I don’t feel like it every day any more, so I indulge perhaps just 3-4 times per week. There have been countless studies highlighting the benefits of dark chocolate, so this was a no-brainer for me to get away from sweets and milk chocolate specifically, which is loaded with sugar.
I’m very curious to know what some of you do to satisfy your inner demons. Dark chocolate certainly isn’t for everyone, nor is it the only way to reasonably accommodate your desires. Some of you are no doubt recovering saltoholics instead. I’d especially like to hear about some of those situations, since they would be so different from mine. What’s your story?
0 Responses to “Be Bad. It’s okay (once in a while).”