Give Yourself a (Little) Treat
Eating in a healthy way doesn’t mean depriving yourself, but rather finding balance and pleasure in the foods you love.
First and foremost, eating should always be something we enjoy, which is why it isn't necessary to give up all culinary pleasures to eat in a healthy way. When we impose restrictions, we become obsessed with them, which only increases our desire for these foods.
The thing to remember is: every food has its place.
No more forbidden foods
Of course, if you want to lose weight, eating a bag of chips every night is probably not the best strategy. But you won’t gain weight by eating just ONE piece of chocolate cake during a birthday party. The message: adjust how often you eat sweets, and how much you have.
- Take time to savour and enjoy each bite. This means you are likely to eat less.
- Put the amount you want into a plate or small bowl rather than eating it straight out of the package. This will keep the bottom of the cookie bag out of sight. Studies show that, given a larger serving, we consume about 30% more calories than we normally would.
- Alternate your favourite indulgences with treats that are healthier...it's also good for the morale! For example, you could occasionally replace regular chips with pretzel sticks, oven-baked tortilla sections with salsa, or light butter-flavoured popcorn.
Do you have a sweet tooth?
Rediscover fruit to tantalize your tastebuds and your waistline! There's a huge variety of fruits available, offering a multitude of ideas for healthy snacks and desserts.
- Jazz up your traditional fruit salad by adding exotic fruit juice (like lychee or passion fruit juice), a cinnamon stick, star anise and/or fresh chopped ginger.
- Turn fresh or frozen fruit into a quick coulis. Puree fruit in the blender. Serve with plain yogurt or a homemade muffin.
- Make your own frozen yogurt by combining equal amounts of vanilla yogurt and frozen fruit in the food processor.
- In the frying pan, sauté a few pieces of fruit for a reinvented sundae (e.g. apple, pear, strawberries) and place the pieces on a little scoop of ice cream.
- Savour all kinds of fresh fruit with chocolate fondue, made with milk.
