30 days of healthy living: Day 19

Confession time: I cheat. I mean, I’m all for fidelity but then I come home to THIS

And, well, I um, gee, I ate 5 of them. So let’s talk cheat days!

Just like on holidays, I think we all need a break sometimes. While rewarding yourself for hard work with non-food items is great for your waist line, sometimes you just need to eat the cookies.

Some of you may have someone in your life who is a sabateur. This person will cos tangly entice you to eat food they know you don’t want to eat or that isn’t part of your healthy lifestyle. This might be your Italian mother (guilt) or a friend who is perhaps jealous or a spouse who is insecure or a coworker who is just ignorant. Don’t give in to these people!! Do not allow their pressure or guilt or whatever to derail your health. They have nothing to do with cheat days and are a topic for a different day.

A cheat day is something that is ideally planned for like a holiday. When you are in full weight loss mode and have a way to go, I suggest making cheat days far a few between in order to keep your momentum going. Once you are at your goal however, it’s ok to loosen up slightly and plan for more decadent treats.

So to be fair, today wasn’t planned. I actually was going to go buy some cookies and then didn’t today only to come home to these on the table! My husband decided to surprise my daughter and I with a treat. He swears he likes the skinny me and has been generally supportive of my eating patterns. Plus I probably would have bought some later this week anyway. I’m cool with him getting the credit 😉

I am not going to be Debbie Downer and not eat a cookie. Instead, I may have said the heck with it and had cookies for dinner… I followed my usual eating pattern today so in the end I likely didn’t eat too many calories for the day but I surely went over my typical sugar “budget.” My evening “snack” is a cup of “detox” tea with a scoop of chai protein powder in it to get back on track. It’s not a compete free for all.

And that’s the point. I picked out the cookies I like the best and only ate those. I plan to eat a couple more in the next couple of days and then that’s it. I am maximizing my enjoyment by savoring them and limiting it to what gives the greatest pleasure. Pleasure in eating is what a cheat day needs to be about. It should be something to be savored and enjoyed. It shouldn’t be a stop at McD’s when you’re hangry. That’s what green apples in your purse are for!

One way to plan for smaller cheats is to reduce your daily intake a little so you can have something on the weekend. Another way is to set a rule about your treats. Mine is that I don’t drink alcohol Monday-Thursday and then I can have one drink Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday. I’m free to choose and usually I have 2 drinks on the weekend. I keep dark chocolate on hand and will have a square here and there. I find this cuts down on feeling like I’m missing out and is also like a mini treat that is actually healthy (70% cocoa or more) and fits into my diet. These are great ways to incorporate more joy into your long term healthy lifestyle plan.

Sometimes the little breather in your long jog toward health is good for you. Maybe your treat is something that comes with some emotional attachment that makes you feel all cozy inside. Maybe it’s just a way to occasionally let your guard down and enjoy something that is generally not a healthy choice but that you love and the healthy version just doesn’t cut it (still looking for a truly healthy AND satisfying version of nachos). Maybe it’s just enjoying some cookies with your kid who gets left out a lot because she has celiac disease too.

Whatever it is, be conscious of your choices and enjoy a rare treat day. No guilt. No shame. Don’t do it to please anyone else. Do it only for you. And then get back on your healthy horse and ride into the sunset 🌅. Or something like that…

So, what do YOU like to have on your cheat days?

Liz

ps-anyone want a cookie??? 🍪

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