How do you balance eating healthy with indulging in your favorite treats?
Three strategies;
I load up the fiber, fat, and protein each meal and avoid added sugars. Adding dark chocolate and almond butter to low sugar pancakes every morning keeps the cravings at bay from the start.
But when they come back, always at night, I try to balance an empty sugary sweet with something rich: say, a donut or cookie with dark chocolate. That way I can get the treat in without binging bc I’ll be fuller on fat and fiber.
I’ve found exercise helps curb indulgence as does staying occupied and eating regularly. Ultimately for those with a sweet tooth it’s an entire lifestyle with good habits that it takes to battle it.
I do so by tracking macros. You learn the exact amount of treats you can afford in your kcal budget, while eating enough protein, fiber, and micronutrient rich foods to keep you full and satisfied. If there is a context where tracking isn’t feasible, I’ve learned to just practice good habit based on everything I’ve learned from tracking.
Factor in something like a tub of ice cream or whatever your treat is to have once per week or so.
I’m also a big believer that you should eat properly 5 days a week and give yourself a bit of a break for 2 days. So basically weekends. That doesn’t mean go nuts but you can ease up on things.
I also eat a very high protein diet which helps massively with satiety.
As others have said as well if you ease up on junk food your brain will re-wire away from them. That initial period is painful though. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28982126
eating cookies or burger king whooper once every 2 weeks wont kill u nor make u unhealthy if the rest of ur diet is wholefoods and clean
as long as you have self control and after having that one cookie u stop its okay, but the problem is if you just continue having them on day to day basis and u lose control of the healthy part and becomes eating whatever you want
also theres always ‘healthy’ option of those unhealthy foods, if you want icecream make it urself at home, use more fruit and some nuts, with milk or even water if you wanna cut on the calories and add some 0kcal sweeter and so on
You change your treats to healthy ones or you give up your emotional attachment to the unhealthy treats.
Something you can do is stop buying those treats but eat them occasionally when you visit friends who have them. As long as you’re not visiting your friends specifically to eat their food, you’re probably fine.
I have an “every food fits” mentality.
As for treats, I don’t know what you’d consider to be treats. If it’s cake and ice cream, high fat/high sugar/high calorie stuff, the key is to keep it to 20% or less of your diet.
You can also make healthier versions of things; for example ice cream is an easy thing to make high protein, high fiber, low calorie.
Alcohol is the main exception, I am much more stingy when it comes to alcohol. Over the course of a full year, no more than 5 drinks per month on average, that’s my rule
I realize it may not work for everyone/not everyone is interested, but intuitive eating and ditching diet culture and restrictive eating seriously changed the way I view food. I crave more variety now including vegetables, moreso than I did before when I categorized foods as “good” and “bad” or “healthy” and “indulgent.” I just always craved the ‘bad’ foods because they were on a pedastal. I had a hotdog and a cookie last night and a salad tonight! And I just don’t think much of it at all anymore, my hunger cues lead the way and I try not to moralize them. @thenutritiontea and @peacefromwithin are nice accounts to follow 💗
Cheat days. I’m strict keto except for vacations, BDay, and Thanksgiving. That’s ends up being ~20 days a year. I go absolutely HAM on those days and I’m usually eager to return to my normal routine
I trained myself not to care about sweets, which is pretty easy since I have zero natural exposure to them. (All exposure to sweets is manufactured.) As for my love of salty foods and simple carbs, well, I still eat my cheesy pastas, I just make sure to eat other things, too.
I have to be very careful….I’ve cut most free sugars out and my palate has changed so that even a few drops of honey in some plain yoghurt tastes sweet now but if I had a bowl of ice cream it would start the cravings and that yoghurt wouldn’t taste as good. The same thing happens to me with salty things….if I have a pizza slice I’ll crave salty food until I readjust my palate again. Probably worth it tho tbh
As long as you eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself … everything in moderation. My go to when I have a sweet tooth (especially while menstruating) are chocolate almonds. Idk why but mentally I find that it’s easier to resist after one or two versus feeling like I need to eat an entire chocolate bar. Can go with dark chocolate almonds too!
I stopped looking at it as “indulging”. Sometimes I crave an apple, and other times I crave a gooey chocolate chip cookie. That’s how most people eat, and that’s much more healthy than restricting to indulge. I had a severe eating disorder and had to relearn how to eat, so this has been the most helpful thing for me.
I make myself a “healthy treat” during the week before I let myself touch something straight grubby. If I STILL want the junk food after I go for it but 9 times out of 10 an apple with PB and a few chocolate chips satisfies me and I don’t go for whatever I was initially craving. But sometimes I do also grab a Reese’s 🤷🏼♀️ I usually look forward to something more indulgent on the weekends like making brownies for the family or throwing down some baklava.
I eat treats less frequently.
I also choose the “healthier” treat. Meaning a chocolate bar over a bag of skittles (1/3 the sugar) or bag of liquorice over a pint of ice cream (cut total calories by 60%).
Also substitute in higher quality foods cause they scratch the itch. Pomelos (rather expensive) or full fat yogurt with honey and dried fruit.
But there is nothing I have given up. Its just the frequency that has changed and that has made all the difference.
I think abstaining works better for some, and moderation works better for others. I know some people who have better success completely abstaining from certain foods but giving themselves certain windows when they indulge. For example “sweets one night a week” or something like that. My husband, for example, has found this works better for him. It’s difficult to “just have a bite” so he’s very deliberate about when he chooses to have dessert or alcohol. Others are able to moderate a little more intuitively and completely abstaining just increases cravings. Whatever works for you. I agree with tracking macros, this can help as well!
For me personally, I can control what comes into my home. I go out of my way to avoid junk foods, snacks and other easily and readily consumed calorie/sugar dense foods. I eat relatively healthily and have found that when Friday night comes, I’ll allow myself something I haven’t had in awhile and splurge. For instance, last week I made myself Mac and cheese that was relatively unhealthy. That was my treat since it is out of the ordinary for me. I’ve pretty much given up sweets for the most part (it’s pretty easy if you can cook even remotely decently).
Well I loved and still love doughnuts, but over the years have learnt to make certain swaps like dipping whole grain bread in cinnamon and nut butters and adding some fruit and honestly it really helps to satisfy these insane cravings
I prioritize eating a majority plant-based and whole food meal. Moderately eat meats (maybe 1-2x’s a months). I don’t go out to eat often because it always ends up making me inflamed. :(
I don’t restrict myself from eating what I crave though! Seems to work best for me. :)
For me i kinda didn’t. healthy foods became my favorite treats like bananas for instance or dates to satisfy my sweet tooth. I did end up going over board at some points where i binge ate a bunch of prunes which my stomach didn’t appreciate but thats what has mostly worked since I don’t crave what I don’t buy or ever eat.
