So, you want to have your cake and eat it too? Same. And there’s nothing wrong with that! In this blog, I’m going to discuss how to functionally, unapollagetically, and simply eat what you’d like while maintaining performance and aesthetic goals. Please note, I’m not a certified nutritionist, and this is nutritional advice from a Personal Trainer.

Not only from my pregnant clients, but from all my clients, I hear a lot about food cravings. While people who are pregnant or are around their mensural cycle especially have cravings due to shifts in hormones. So do women who are perimenopausal, experiencing menopause, or are very active are are not eating enough in general. Frankly, everyone (yes men too!) have cravings at some point. Sometimes people don’t even know why they crave certain foods. While this may sometimes be due a lack of nutrition in areas like getting enough healthy fats or macro carbs, it could also just plain be because you want something to satisfy! We can learn to manage our food cravings, not by ignoring them.

Growing up being an athlete and physically maturing on the younger side (yes, my first period was when I was 10 years old), I had new hormones flowing! I became very aware of my new breasts, body odor, and acne. I always felt I needed to figure out some way to be smaller again so I could fit in with the other girls. I did this by controlling my eating and comparing myself to everyone else’s body. Not only was this unfair to everyone else going through their own pre-teen troubles, but I developed some control patterns over food which eventually lead to disordered eating. This cycle went on for years, and somehow I never felt I looked good enough, until I finally heard other women’s stories about self-esteem and disordered eating, did a lot of therapy and pushed self love and acceptance. I learned abut the foods that make me feel my best and fueled me so I could think powerfully and feel satisfied without deprivation. This shift didn’t happen until my early 30’s!!! This is still a struggle, but much less of one and I can recognize the pattern from the past and I have a great toolbox to pull from to not control what I’m eating, but make an empowered choice in what I want to eat.

If you read my blog, Diets Don’t Work, you already know my take on nutrition, and it’s no surprise I’m discussing now how to eat everything with care. In that blog post, I shared how to eat complete meals using a portion guide by . Here, I’m going to share how to eat the food you crave in addition to complete meals. These foods are usually surgery, salty, and fatty and don’t do much for our fitness or mental performance. However, they do remind us of comforting times, may be gifted to us around a special occasion, or are wanted because they are straight up delicious. This is important to feel too!

Why would we completely cut this out of our lives? Oftentimes when we cut these foods out of our lives it is temporary and/or we develop negative emotional attachments to these foods, and call them ‘bad’ and if we eat them we feel guilty or ashamed which may lead us to overeat or in some cases develop disordered eating around food in general. If you are struggling with dissordered eating or think you may have an eating disorder, contact your primary care provider or speak with a credentialed therapist. You are not alone.

If you’re in alignment with eating foods you love that are highly processed along with complete meals, here are three pieces of advice you can follow to eat them responsibly. Part of eating what you want is also doing it responsibly. What I mean by this is being aware you are eating food you may not normally eat a lot of in your day to day. You may feel energy dips and digestive discomfort. It may be worth it, and thats fine! 

1. When you have a craving. Don’t ignore it.
Instead of ignoring your cravings, buy or order the food, or a food similar to the food you crave to satisfy that craving. When you eat the food, sit down without distractions, and eat it slowly. Love that food. If you can, eat with a fork and a knife, on a plate, chew slowly, taste all the flavors, and feel all the textures. Try taking breaths between bites.

2. Know how much to buy.
If you know you are going to want a certain sweet, fatty, or salty food, choose the best option and quantity. Only buy what you are able to eat at that moment and avoid over buying the craved food if you know you have a tendency to uncomfortably overeat. If eating food with a plate, fork and knife, cut food in half. After eating half ask yourself how you feel and get more if you want, save the rest for another time, or share with someone you love.

3. If you want to satisfy a craving, but are too ashamed of eating a pint of ice cream.
You can make ‘ice cream.’ If you have protein powder, just add about 1 cup of ice with ½ cup water to 1 or 2 scoops of protein powder and blend. If you want it thicker add less water, more ice or a banana. You can even add cocoa nibs and cinnamon for flavor and texture. This makes a thick ice cream-like texture that is very low calorie and tastes good. 

4. Eat a complete meal and then the food you crave.
​You can reference Diets Don’t Work for an example of portion sizes that make up a complete meal as well as satisfaction cues, so you know when to stop. Sometimes we crave certain foods when we’re lacking nutrients from certain food groups. For example, if we don't eat enough fats, we often crave sugar.

Consider all of these as possible options for having the food you’d like in a way that leaves you feeling satisfied, empowered, and pleasured. Also, you may end up overeating a food you crave. Give yourself the utmost grace after an instance and know that you have the chance to come back to your mindful eating the next day, this takes practice as everything!

For support on fitness and wellness in your life contact Brie.