Birthday Binge

My daughter turned 4 yesterday. The excitement she had over the whole day was so contagious it was hard to not get caught up in the little things. Like food.

Kailey blowing out candles on her strawberry shortcakes 

On a day-to-day basis I try to avoid feeding my children certain things. They don't get many sweets or anything that has little to no nutritional value. Juice, soda and candy are rarely, if ever, available to them. I also know from experience that totally restricting foods just leads to an unhealthy relationship with them later on in life. Birthdays are special days and being so I allowed a lot of special foods yesterday.

Peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes, pepperoni pizza, cake, cookies and milk shakes were all foods that made their ways into our house yesterday. And me being me, I had to sample everything. By the time I curled up in bed last night I thought for sure I was going to explode little pieces of junky, empty calories everywhere.

It may look and taste like heaven but this baby will wreak havoc on your diet if you let it!

After a year or so of making sure I eat at least 3-5 servings of veggies and 2-3 servings of fruit a day along with lean proteins and whole, gluten free grains, without missing a day of at least balancing the good with the bad I spent yesterday eating nothing but 'bad' foods. And I enjoyed every second of it.
Today, with the junk food hangover leaving me sluggish and a little ill, I have wrote out my meals and snacks for the day and made sure that I am including all of the fresh fruits and veggies I picked up at the store this weekend.

My usual lunch, a big spinach salad with lots of goodies!! 

There was once a time I wouldn't easily bounce back from a binge like this. Not so long ago I would've spent days, sometimes even weeks, wallowing in negativity, eating junk food, thinking it didn't matter because I had already blown it. But I have come to realize some things since starting this journey.
While you shouldn't have a cheat day every week, allowing yourself to eat 'forbidden' foods every once in awhile. If you live your life always deny yourself of a slice of cake at birthday parties, or not allowing yourself to indulge in at least one holiday meal you're only setting yourself up for guilty feelings and more bingeing. Beyond that if you restrict food or list it as 'bad', especially if the bad food is a favorite of yours, it will just make it more enticing. However, if you don't put foods into good or bad categories and instead moderation (one small slice of cake at the baby shower in instead of eating half of it on your own) sticking with healthy eating will seem easier. It's all about finding balance.

Though remember, not everyone is the same. There is no one size fits all that works for everyone. But it's just about guaranteed that if you beat yourself up for every slip up you eat successfully eating healthily will be more difficult than if you just acknowledge the mistake an move on.