By Kat Osorio
“I don’t want to make healthy changes to my diet because that means I won’t enjoy my food anymore.” This is a sentiment I’m sure that many of us can identify with, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be true. In fact, you can have your almond flour cake and eat it too! Let’s chat about how.
Balance is integral for the success of any healthy lifestyle change. Taking the time to plan out your meals and shop for the ingredients ahead of time insures that you will have healthy options on hand and be less tempted to order out or skip a meal. For the times that you do decide to indulge, fully enjoy your food and be mindfully present with it. I like to abide by the 80/20 rule- I try to eat nutrient-dense foods 80% of the time and for the other 20%, I throw some caution to the wind and indulge! This leaves room for special occasions when you want to have a slice of cake, glass of champagne, or home-cooked holiday meal.
A change of mindset and willingness to try new things will go miles if you are embarking on a new health journey. Many people view healthy eating as a drag and associate it with blandness and boredom, but it’s anything but. If you choose recipes that contain a variety of ingredients and flavors to keep things interesting, you’ll look forward to those healthy meals and maybe even find that they’re more delicious than any take-out you could order.
Patience is also key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you’re making big adjustments to your life, remember that small, gradual steps are going to lead to lasting, sustainable change much better than huge, drastic steps will. It’s important to be kind to yourself and if you enjoy something that’s “off-plan,” view it as a single occurrence and make it a point to make your next meal or snack a healthy one, instead of wallowing in guilt and regret.
The moral of the story is that, yes, you can lead a healthy lifestyle and still enjoy your food. It all comes down to putting in a little time and effort towards finding and preparing healthy, delicious recipes and being patient and kind to yourself.
Photo by Piret Ilver via Unsplash
