11 Nov When is a Treat not a Treat…..?

…….when it’s a habit! Treats are only treats if you don’t have too many of them, letting yourself have the same treats day after day is no longer a treat but has become a bad habit! That doesn’t mean we can’t have any treats, I love a treat, I just don’t have the same treats every day and that is what makes the difference. I try to have a treat when I really feel like it, not just because it’s what I usually do.

Looking at your pattern of eating and your daily treats could be a good exercise especially if you want to lose weight or are feeling tired all the time. Eating too much sugar, which most treats contain, seriously affects your blood sugar levels causing problems with your overall energy. Sugar gives your blood a huge spike which your body tries to deal with, this in turn results in a huge low which makes you crave more sugary treats to start the cycle again. Is in not only fattening it is also incredibly bad for your health.

If every night you have a cup of hot chocolate made with milk with a biscuit, then maybe you need to rethink this and have a calming herbal tea instead letting yourself have that milky hot chocolate once or twice a week as a treat.

If mid morning you always have a couple of biscuits or a slice of cake maybe you could replace it with something healthier like carrot batons and hummus, a yoghurt or a handful of nuts and raisins then enjoy your slice of cake or biscuits another day when you really feel you deserve a treat.

If you have a pudding every night after your dinner, try to find some healthy alternatives and maybe cut down to a pudding every other night or a couple of nights a week.

Treats are great, they are enjoyable and they are what keeps us going but not if they are a habit, these kind of habitual treats make us feel guilty which is no fun at all, doing something good and righteous more often means we feel less guilt an a daily basis but also we can enjoy those occasional treats completely guilt free because we deserve them.

Do you know you can freeze cake? So if you fancy baking a cake but then you just can’t avoid the temptation, knowing it’s in the cake tin, cut it into slices and freeze it for when you want it.

Go on give it a try, it’s time to turn some of those treat habits into good habits, you will notice a big difference.