what’s healthy?

One of the things you risk when you let people know that you’re changing your diet habits is outside commentary on what you eat. People tend to have a fixed idea of what being “on a diet” means … which means they look at you askance when you eat things that don’t fit their pre-conceived notions. Some of the things I hear frequently from friends and co-workers are:
Should you be eating that?
That can’t be good for you!
How can you say you’re being healthy when you eat ____?
In fact when I told friends that I was joining Tuesdays With Dorie, which is a group dedicated to making desserts from Dorie Greenspan’s fabulous dessert and baking cookbook, most of them were shocked. The idea that I might make and eat desserts while “on a diet” threw everyone for a loop.

But here’s the thing; being healthy doesn’t have to mean depriving yourself. You don’t have to give up your favorite foods forever, or stop eating desserts, or give up your glass of wine or evening cocktail.

I know that personally, if I vow to never eat another ____ again (potato chip, piece of cake, slice of pizza, 5 Guys burger), then it’s pretty much guaranteed that I will immediately begin to crave that item. Not only will I crave it, but I’ll feel so deprived by the idea that I can *never* have it again, I’ll immediately sabotage myself and give up. “Being healthy” by that definition (the deprivation definition) is simply too hard and too overwhelming. And I’m firmly convinced that feeling deprived is what destroys most peoples’ attempts to diet or be healthy.

Over the years I’ve come to realize that eating healthily needs to be a 90/10 proposition. What does that mean? It means that 90% of the time I eat as healthily as I possibly can, and the other 10% of the time, I can eat things that might not be so good for me. Because I look at treat foods as 10% of my diet, and not 50% of my diet (or more), the answer to the above questions becomes … Yes, I can eat this, I should eat this, and I can say I’m being healthy because an occasional treat is a healthy choice.

That’s why I can bake with Dorie and the group and still lose weight. That’s why I can justify posting luscious tiramisu cake – because the cake is one dessert on one evening, not a mindless consumption of 1/2 a cake over a period of 2 days.