Feeling deprived or like you have failed each time something sweet passes your lips is no way to stay on track with the Clean Eating Challenge!
Instead here is a quick tip for your Friday to make the weekend that much better! In a recent lunch with Andrea Beaman, a natural foods chef who you may know from Top Chef, we were talking about of course CLEAN EATING…but the discussion also focused around the idea that it’s natural to want and include sweets without feeling bad!
GET THE MOST OF YOUR SWEETS
When you decide to have a sweet, really savor it. Meaning keep it in your mouth and let your taste buds fully enjoy the entire experience. This actually works for you on two levels:
A. You are slowing down to fully engage in what you are eating
B. Saliva is what actually breaks down sugars so that your body can then register it, thus it helps you to eat less of that treat!
I started testing this out with my daily dark chocolate and it works! I can now have just a couple pieces of dark chocolate a day feeling completely satisfied and not reach for other treats. Or on my birthday I had two amazing bites of key lime pie, but then just didn’t feel the need for more. Are they 100% clean? Heck no, but life is about balance.
You’ve heard the other tips before, but I’ll give them a quick run down:
- Make sure you aren’t just thirsty
- Make sure it’s truly a sweet worth your time…are you eating the donut just because someone brought them to the meeting…but you’d really rather have dark chocolate later?
- Don’t let one treat lead you off track for the rest of the day
- Avoid those treats that make you lose total control - 1 handful of hot tamales leads to an entire bag?
What you doing to help you stay on track with the Clean Eating Challenge and not feel deprived? Do you have a daily indulgence? A weekly cheat meal?
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Gratitude Journal
Aug 17
I am grateful for Dove dark chocolates…first the taste then the cute little note in the wrapper. Not sure any treat could make me happier!
