The Problem With Healthifying Treat Foods

All personal trainers get asked the question, what can I have to replace my chocolate bar or bag of chips craving? This is a very common thought pattern but can lead to becoming a big problem if not explained properly. Flex Fitness personal trainers will often refer to the expertise of Registered Dietician, Susan Watson, at A Little Nutrition for advice to help with their clients dietary needs. Below is the response to the question about healthy food options for unhealthy foods.

How does it become problematic to healthify treat foods?

Sometimes we just need to enjoy food for what it is, and worry less about if it's healthy or unhealthy. I know this might sound shocking coming from a dietitian. But the issue is if we continually try to find a healthy alternatives for say, chips and chocolate by fooling ourselves into thinking that carrots and hummus are going to give us that same satisfaction, we're just setting ourselves up for even more intense food cravings, and or it may led to binge eating. 

For example if you're really craving apple pie, but you decide to “healthify it” and have applesauce on a rice cake (because you heard somewhere that it was a healthy alternative) you know this alternative just not going to cut it when it comes to taste and texture. So then you might end up have 4 more serving of rice cakes and apples sauce, all leaving you unsatisfied. Eventually turning back to the apple pie, and now eating more apple pie than you would have it you just enjoyed a small piece in the first place. There is nothing wrong with enjoy less nutritious food on occasion. I like to use the 80%-20% rule where 80% of the time we are enjoying healthy nutrition meals that energize and fuel our bodies. However, if we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy the foods of the world that give us pleasure, then we are always going to be craving them on a really intense level and never be able to eat a reasonable amount without feeling bad about it. 

There is no healthy food alternative I can think of when it comes to, for example chips. If you love chips, the allow yourself to have some without guilt or shame, and include them into your diet as part of your 20% enjoyable foods. Also recognize that some weeks you may feel like more, and some weeks you may feel like less. But if we demonize foods we are going to want them more. 

If you need help with normalizing your eating, making peace with food, or improving your relationship with food, then Susan Watson, registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counsellor can help. 

You can learn more about her Winnipeg based and online intuitive eating services here: https://www.alittlenutrition.com/intuitive-eating/