Happy Thursday! So this is a follow-up post to a picture that I posted this morning on my instagram profile that I want to go into a bit further. Yesterday was my boyfriend's birthday and his favourite dessert is lemon meringue pie, so I decided to make him a birthday pie instead of a cake (best girlfriend ever!). Now normally I like to try to pimp out my favourite desserts and treats by trying to find a healthier version of the same recipe or having a play myself and adapting the recipe (which usually involves quiet a few attempts before I get it right as well as some interesting looks from the victims I choose to taste each batch!) - with the usual aim to cut out all the refined processed carbohydrates and sugars.
Needless to say when I first told Pearce that I was going to make him lemon meringue for his birthday, he was skeptical and assumed that the version I was going to make was going to be a - shall we say - 'interesting' concoction of more healthy ingredients that may or may not taste similiar!. However! Given the day that was in it, I decided that it was worth making him the old-fashioned unhealthy sugar-loaded version (except without the gluten in the pie base - I gave up gluten due to some digestive issues but also as it really flares up my acne, I mean like not just face but chest, back AND armm... bye bye bread!).
So yes I made it, and yes I ate a piece, and yes it was amazing (I am really good at baking!) and most importantly no I felt no guilt whatsoever! I rarely eat unhealthy or overprocessed foods, its not even a choice for me anymore - I have been eating healthy for so long and have discovered some amazing healthy treats over the last few years that I dont feel the need to eat unhealthy rubbish that often - why eat an unhealthy brownie when you can eat a healthy brownie that tastes better!
Having said that, I am the first to admit I am only human and not perfect (hence why theres no washboard 6-pack on this girl!) and sometimes you just feel like eating something rubbishy! There is nothing wrong with it! Life gets in the way of our training and eating plans and beating ourselves up about is just pointless - and also unhealthy. I believe that it encourages feelings of guilt and ultimately, a distorted view of eating for balance and health.
Dont get me wrong I am not advocating eating junk food in large amounts regularly as it isnt good for our bodies. I am a self-admitted sugar binger and over the last couple of years have had to work hard at changing my eating habits and identifying why I do this and how to change this pattern. Its not been easy and I have fallen off the wagon heaps of times - and will probably still continue occasionally!
And that my friends is why I dont plan cheat meals anymore. For the first 2 years of my fitness journey I used to always plan my weekly eating habits around the infamous 'cheat meal'. This was a great reward after a good week of intensive exercise and healthy eating however, when there was a birthday or special occasion or something where I wanted to enjoy a piece of cake or a scoop of ice-cream that did not fit in with my planned cheat meal - I would stress out and feel guilty! Guilty that I had failed at sticking to my goals for healthy eating and guilty that I enjoyed it! This should not be the case - especially not for someone that was doing it right 90% of the time.
If you are working hard and are commited to eating right and making the right choices, there shouldnt be any feelings of guilt or disappointment in yourself when you decide on the occasion to indulge a little. Now this might be a little more difficult for those of you just beginning your healthy journeys and you will have to resist the temptations that occur on a daily basis, but I promise over time things will get easier for you - especially when you start to notice changes in your body, mind and energy levels.
So about a year ago, I packed in the whole 'cheat meal' concept as I was finding it impossible to schedule when every week I would have this ellusive treat. Instead I commited to eating healthy and taking pride in choosing healthy options and making positive changes. That way when there is the odd special occasion or one of those days where chocolate or pizza is just necessary I go ahead - and the world doesnt end! I enjoy it and then I wake up the next morning to a healthy breakfast without so much as an after thought of my little treat the night before! Ridding myself of this guilt and stress has actually overall significantly killed my desire for junk-food blow-outs. That is because if you tell yourself 'I will never eat a cookie again' automatically cookies will be all you can thing about! We are not designed to live lives of restriction!
Rewarding myself for achieving my health and fitness goals with junk food, also started an unhealthy association that lead me to think 'I've earned this'. Which is fine, but our brains are adaptive little (or big) things that over time will learn that when you achieve something good to make you crave or justify unhealthy food choices. Now I know some people have the willpower of steel and I also know that I am not one of those people! Over time anything that happened in my life that had cause for celebration, I associated with ice-cream, chocolate or take-away binges - 'I'm celebrating', 'I have earned it' - overall I had built this association up in myself that was actually encouraging me to have blow-outs because I felt that I had earned them. I dont personally think this is a good habit to develop as instead of having a piece of cake or ice-cream we will end up eating the whole thing! Not good for our livers! Indulging should be a joyful occasion where we eat enough and stop when we are full - not excessively cramming in as much sugary tasteyness that we can fit in before the feelings of guilt and negative self-talk begin!
So in short - cheat meals are a little too inflexabile for my liking and I personally feel that a reward system in our heads should be built around celebrating the occasion or achievement as opposed to associating it with a junk-food binge. Everyone is different and life is alway unpredictable so be kinder to yourself and enjoy the learning curve!
Mary xxx
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