Michelle Obama speaks the truth.
She not only champions healthy eating but also knows we’ve got to eat what we love sometimes. Even if those foods don’t belong in a salad. Mrs. Obama came correct when she said:
Sometimes, it’s just easier to say yes to that extra snack or dessert, because frankly, it is exhausting to keep saying no.
All I can say to that is AMEN, sister. Being healthy shouldn’t be about depriving ourselves. And staying healthy should be about enjoying the food we eat, and eating the food we enjoy. Knowing how much dessert to eat, is part of that.
Bottom line is we should all learn to eat dessert responsibly. Question is, how do we make that happen?
We’ve all got our weaknesses. Stopping once we start, saying no in the first place, having no idea how much is enough – all of these can destroy every best intention we have.
That’s where this guide comes in. There are 3 parts and each part can be done on its own. But when you do them together, well now, that’s where the magic happens.
When you put this guide into practice, you’ll have 3 actionable steps that will keep you track with deciding how much and when is a good time for dessert.
These are 3 simple things you can work, so you can have your dessert and keep yourself healthy without ever feeling like you’re missing out on the best part of eating.
1. Learn Your Serving Sizes
Knowing how much is too much is probably the most important part of making good choices. It’s really hard to have good self-control if you don’t know what enough looks like in the first place. If you’re wondering, “enough” is a single serving.
If you need a refresher on getting your portion sizes right, start here with an easy primer on reading a nutrition facts label. It takes all the mystery out of how many cookies you should eat.
Once you get a handle on what a single serving of your favorite thing looks like, you’ll know where your line is and you’ll have the first piece of the puzzle locked in.
2. Pick Your Times + Write Them Down
We all know when our cravings kick in hard. Late afternoon? After dinner?
Advanced planning gives us something to look forward to. Writing that down keeps us accountable to what we decided on and reminds us of what we’ve already done.
How do you set a schedule that’s right for you? Start by taking an honest look at what you do now, and then create boundaries for yourself based on where you’re struggling.
Think about allowing yourself a treat one time a day instead of twice, or picking 3 times in a week for something you love instead of having it daily. You can also take your single serving and split it between the two times – 2 cookies after lunch, the other 2 after dinner, or cut whatever you eat in half straight across the board.
It’s really up to you how you want to swing this.
3. Limit Access
This is the part that pulls everything together.
You’re reading labels, and you’ve set up a schedule that works for your life. But none of that will help if every time you turn around you’ve got a bag of candy sitting on your counter.
When you limit access, you keep only what you’re going to eat close at hand. That means single servings, and not the kind that comes in family size 20 packs. If you only have enough lying around for a one time treat, you’ll only be able to eat one treat at a time. It’s simple math that works every time.
We could talk about how to use single servings to managing your snacking all day, or you can read a bit more about it here.
This is really all you need to get you started eating dessert responsibly. Get really good at these 3 things and it’ll take all guessing out of treating yourself. Then when it’s time to eat that dessert, you eat every single bite of your single serving and lick the plate clean. It’s how dessert was meant to be eaten.