I assume that you know the difference between healthy and unhealthy food. I always recommend eating colorfully, with a lot of variation, and smaller amounts of meat, meat products, and store-bought juices. It’s the amount you eat that matters, so eat moderately. These are fundamental healthy eating instructions.
I also recommend you only to eat quality foods, to use good fat (olive oil), and that you try to avoid processed foods. And did you know? Quality food can also be a good bar of chocolate with only 70-90% cocoa) or a homemade cake with good ingredients and little sugar. Eat sugar, but use it sparingly; according to the British Medical Journal, “sugar is as dangerous as tobacco.” http://www.whfoods.com/
My philosophy is that you can eat anything you like as long as the food is more or less high quality (colorful, not processed) and you are hungry. That may surprise you, but I would say go ahead and eat a piece of cake for lunch – preferably homemade with high-quality ingredients. To me, a bit of high-quality cake you enjoy is better than a handful of carrots that are low in calories but will only leave you feeling hungry and unsatisfied. Eat only what you like to eat!
Healthy food tastes good!
Try out new recipes. Read about healthy food. What tastes best to you? You must enjoy the food you eat. Find pleasure in nourishing your body deliciously and healthily. If you are a Coke drinker, each one-liter bottle contains about 35 sugar cubes/sachets. Can you even imagine sitting down and eating 35 sugar cubes at once?! Maybe you like Mars Bars – but Mars Bars are two-thirds sugar. And gummy bears contain 91.2 grams of sugar or approximately 30 sugar cubes/ sachets! Look for the hidden sugar in your food.
Do this exercise: Don’t think for a moment about a light blue elephant. Please, pull yourself together and stop thinking about the bright blue elephant! Is it possible for you not to think of the light blue elephant when I mention it? Of course not! The same thing happens when you tell yourself not to think of brownies, chocolate, or Coke. You will always think of them. The harder you try NOT to think of something, the more you will think of the food you don’t want to eat. You can’t change that with willpower. You can control your conscious mind with willpower, but not your unconscious mind. All our feelings and habits are in the latter. The unconscious mind doesn’t hear the word NOT. It understands, “always eat chocolate” or “always drink Coke.”
When you are stressed or tired, you don’t have the energy to resist the food you don’t want to eat. And then you will find yourself thinking: “I’ve eaten the chocolate. I’ve failed again. There is the proof: I’m a failure. There is no point in trying anymore.” Thus, it’s essential to me that you realize that you can eat anything you want – but you must not eat just anything.
You always have the chance to choose. You are in control. The chocolate will not eat you! If you remove the pressure, if you stop telling yourself that you cannot ever eat chocolate, then you will find it easier to distract yourself from thinking about it. Chocolate is chocolate – it is not your enemy, and it is not your friend. It’s just cocoa powder mixed with a lot of sugar and some other ingredients.