I don’t diet by any means. I don’t believe that a road to a better lifestyle involves depriving yourself of all things good and holy: sweets.
If I told myself I would never be allowed to have anything loaded with sugar and spice and everything nice again in the name of feeling better about myself, I would just sit on my couch and continue binge eating a bag of Doritos saying “I’ll start tomorrow.”
The key to everything is portions. Portions are important, but you can’t just think about them in regards to your main meal. Portions make your late night indulgences carry a little less regret in the morning. You can eat whatever your heart desires as long as you establish a personal line as to how much of that brownie is too much. Of course, having sweets every day is a little excessive, but who is going to pass up that free cookie being handed out in Baker? Not me, that's for sure.
I really encourage you to document your meals. That way you are seeing how much of a food you are putting in your body, how often it is being consumed, and when you seem to struggle most. It’s self-discipline, and it helps.
Don’t be writing "ABSOLUTELY NO YUMMY ICE CREAM TODAY OR YOUR LIFE WILL BE OVER" in caps and big bold letters on a certain day because that is a cruel and unusual punishment. There’s a difference between self-discipline and punishment.
Punishment won’t make you grow as a person, it will just constantly set you back more and more. You will pile up guilt and more guilt if all you do is make yourself feel worse with each bite. Self-discipline is more of a wager.
We all have those days where nothing seems to be going right so you just dive right into your fresh pint of ice cream you have tucked in the back of the freezer. You deserve that ice cream, or whatever your snack of choice is. You also deserve to flaunt your newly found self-love – so to have the best of both worlds just set that line.
This is where control of yourself comes into play. You look at that tub of ice cream and tell yourself when enough is going to be enough. You can also bargain with yourself. Consider whether you really need your self-pity binge today or if it would be more appropriate tomorrow after the exam you know you are going to fail. The issue only becomes an issue when you over indulge.
Like I said, write it out. Figure out those stress days and add yourself a sweet treat here and there, but don’t get into the habit of doing it every day. You can have your “cheat day,” and it will be great.
Just don’t overthink it to the point where you inflict punishment on yourself for enjoying the sweeter things in life.
Sarah Vaughn is a junior studying education at Ohio University. What is your favorite short workout? Tweet your answers to Sarah using her Twitter handle @_suraaahhh.
