I'm gonna stop pretending it's a problem.
Let’s all just be honest for a second: guilty pleasures are a thing, a very real thing. For some of my friends, it’s indulging in one too many episodes of Sex and the City. For others, it’s a glass of wine before bed. For me, it’s food - always has been. And, not just any food, no. It’s always been the same foods: chocolate (literally any kind it does not matter, but if we’re talking preferences, I would like some dark chocolate), banana bread, and french fries. Oh, and lattes (yes, I count lattes as a food because I have them for breakfast far too often). As you can see, my list of guilty pleasures is not short, and I only see it getting longer in the future. The latest addiction? Macarons.
While they’re called guilty pleasures, I’ve been trying my best to move away from the word guilty. I find it a bit problematic, especially for someone like me who hasn’t had the best relationship with food. They’re just pleasures, stuff I enjoy - the little things. I feel a bit guilty because I’m often spending the money I make babysitting on a latte and macaron from Sweetwaters, but, I promise I’m trying my best. I’m just trying to enjoy the things that make me happy, which I think we all should.
While my guilty pleasures revolve around food (hence why they’re in the nutrition section), I truly believe that this post could be applied across a wide range of guilty pleasures. Staying in the food realm, however, I want to share a bit about what I’ve learned through my relationships with my guilty pleasures and why I'm beginning to feel a little less guilty. As I’ve mentioned before, food has always been the hardest thing for me - my relationship to it, my affinity for the unhealthy, and the guilt I feel after I indulge. But, recently, and by recently I mean the past couple of years, I’ve done a bit better. And, I think it goes back to realizing that restricting is only detrimental for me and my journey. While I love to count my macros to get a sense of my nutrient intake, when I start obsessing, I turn down the most negative street in the entire world. I’ve realized, however, that my guilty pleasures have been saving me recently.
Just yesterday, I made the decision that I wanted a large fry from Wendy’s (french fries = all time favorite food, I am SO unbelievably obsessed). I had been so healthy and active all week, I knew I needed to indulge. So, what did I do? I got that large fry. Two years ago, I would’ve cried after eating it. Yesterday, I didn’t even bother going to the gym after. I’m not telling you this to say I’m perfect or that my relationship with food is perfect - it’s far from that. I’m telling you this because that large fry is what I needed to stay grounded. Hear that Wendy’s? Yes, you can quote me in a commercial.
All jokes aside, if I wouldn’t have eaten that fry, I would’ve gone off the deep end one or two days later, I guarantee it. I would’ve eaten an entire chocolate bar (or two, honestly), as well as as much pizza as my stomach could hold. And, I would’ve hated myself. But that large fry, it was just enough, just enough for me to stay happy, to feel less restricted, and to feel happily healthy. And, that’s what guilty pleasures are all about right? They’re called pleasures for a reason. Let’s stop looking at them as a bad thing, and let’s start using them to our advantage - whatever that may be!