Guilty Pleasures

I am going to be writing this week a bit about food. But I want to pause first and talk about our guilty pleasures. The treats that we truly crave and enjoy. The ones we hide from the children (oh come on...you know you do it too!) The snacks that we lose self control over. The goodies that once we start eating we just can't stop. Is it just me? Here are some of my personal weaknesses:

- Ice cream sundaes (I scarfed the delightful confection pictured above in order to take the pic for this post. I was willing to sacrifice and throw myself at the ice cream for the good of the blog) :-)

- Snickers and Reeses

- Oreos dipped in milk

- Cherry pie, cookies...baked goods generally

- Tortilla chips and fritoes

- Pretty much anything made with chocolate!!!

- Buttery crackers and popcorn

- McDonald's regular hamburgers (yes I know they they are supposed to be for the kids! But I love them)

- Pizza

- Corn nuts (best snack for road trips!)

- Did I mention chocolate?


My daughter just asked me, "How come all of the good foods are bad for you?" I often lament that myself.  So why do we eat them when we know they spell disaster for our health and waistline? I'll talk more about triggers next time, but generally I think the obvious answer is that they taste good. So we find a lot of physical pleasure in consuming them. Emotional comfort too if we are honest. And bad habits (dare I say addictions?) can control us as well. Why would I list these items just to taunt you and make you hungry you ask? Because you cannot run...you cannot hide...snacks and sweets surround us every day. Everywhere we go there are commercials for fattening foods. We can't go to the grocery store without being assaulted with unhealthy choices. Our families still want to enjoy them even though we are watching what we eat, so they are often lurking in the pantry when weak moments strike. We have to face these cravings head on. Figure out what tempts us most so we can be sure to avoid purchasing those items (remember to never shop hungry either or you'll buy them on impulse).  Set up systems for ourselves to tackle the addictive tendencies. Sometimes counseling can even be helpful. I think if we try to go cold turkey on everything that we love to eat we end up feeling deprived and crabby. It builds up until we snap and go on a major binge and then feel guilty about it. Far better I think to plan ahead to eat them occasionally. Use these treats as a reward for your efforts on a limited basis. If you know that if you are really good for the remainder of the week that you have given yourself permission to indulge on Saturday in some decadent yummy thing, it can help you to be strong in the meantime. I realize that in an ideal world it is best to refrain from unhealthy foods at all times. And over time as you retrain your habits and start to feel the benefits of improved fitness in your body and life, you will find that you dream about the twinkies less and less. It will happen naturally over time. But if you were that strong currently you wouldn't be trying to lose weight right? So we have to begin from where we are today. Line upon line begin to change our habits and slowly wean ourselves off of the doughnuts. I shared mine, so now tell me...what are your food temptations?