Do you find it difficult to enjoy indulgent food in moderation? 

If yes, you’re not alone.

When it comes to things like baking,  chocolate, chips, crackers, even if it’s a healthy version, many women struggle to find a balance. 

They often find themselves over-indulging, feeling “out of control”, and then experiences both physical and mental negative side effects. Such as bloating, and feeling guilty or frustrated at themselves. 

I believe indulgences should always feel like “self-care”. Not “self-sabotage”. 

So in this blog, I’m going to be sharing with you my 5 tips for enjoying an indulgent meal in moderation. So that  it can truly feel like a self-care experience, and leave you feeling happy and satisfied at the end. 

And it’s NOT about having more willpower. 

There are MANY pieces to this puzzle, so go easy on yourself if you haven’t broken this habit yet. 

I use tools from all 5 of my coaching pillars to help women overcome this very common struggle. 

Here are my 5 TOP Strategies, one from each pillar, so you can start taking action and practice, “self-care” indulging.

1. If your going to indulge, choose something you genuinely love (and have the real thing!)

Two of the biggest mistakes I used to make when trying to find moderation with indulgers were;

– Picking a healthier version only to find myself STILL craving the original thing and often eating it as well as
– Eating anything sweet even if I didn’t really enjoy it just because of the mentality “I can do what I want now I’m not dieting” and “I can have this now”

But in both scenarios, I was forgetting that the whole point in having an indulgence is to have a very pleasurable experience. Here is my advice and my clients LOVE this approach;

If you are going to treat yourself then really, truly treat yourself. Pick something that really feels like something you want. Of course, this could be dark chocolate or a homemade raw slice…you may actually prefer that as an indulgent snack. BUT if it’s not going to satisfy you the way the real thing will then just eat the real thing and move on. I promise overall you will feel more in control and satisfied. This comes under the pillar “Eat Food You Enjoy” 

2. Don’t replace your self care indulgence for healthy balanced meals. Have it AS WELL as. 

If you are in an undernourished state and not getting enough calories or protein your body will tell you it’s a good idea to eat all the cookies in an attempt to get you back to baseline. That physical pull that is coming from deep within your body is hard to combat and makes it incredibly difficult to stop at one or two. Have your indulgent treat as WELL as your three balanced meals. Notice how you don’t have the same need to keep going. Understanding how your hunger and cravings are impacted by your daily nutrition choices is an important tool to have in your toolkit. Which comes under the pillar “Clearing your nutrition confusion”

 3. Plan an indulgent treat into your day

A great time for an indulgent snack is morning tea, afternoon tea or dessert. Make it something you can look forward to. Without planning, we end up grabbing it at any time throughout the day and it no longer feels like “self-care”. Make sure you have time to sit down and eat it mindfully. This correlates with my pillar “Design Your Day”

4. REALLY enjoy it

One of the most powerful tools to have in your tool kit is mindful eating. Simple, but SO overlooked.

To eat mindfully means slowing down and taking in all the senses.

Look at your food, smell it and take in all of its flavours. Remember the whole point in you eating your indulgent snack is for pleasure. If you eat it quickly you will want more until you feel you’ve had the pleasurable experience you are seeking. See if you can find pleasure by really enjoying that first piece. This is a mindful eating strategy under the pillar “Befriending Food and your Body”

5. Tell yourself it’s OKAY

Most women will say to themselves as they are indulging “I shouldn’t really be eating this.”, “I’m going to need to be good tomorrow”.

This automatically puts restrictions on the experience.

Instead, try saying something to yourself along the lines of “I trust my body can handle this meal” or “I am allowed to zig-zag”. 

This kind of reframee is a tool from the pillar “Mastering your Mind”.

If this was helpful, please let me know in the comments below xx

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