I love my body, and that is why I choose to follow a healthy diet. I don’t watch what I eat and exercise because I hate my body, but because I love it and don’t want to struggle with things like being obese, having sore joints, insulin resistance, or diabetes. I don’t stay away from gluten, soy, processed carbohydrates, and foods high in linoleic acid because I want to punish my body, but because I want it to be healthy and to feel good.
Following a healthy diet and lifestyle is a big part of self-care. Self-care literally has the word “care” in it. Nobody can convince me that eating junk food and having a lot of cheat meals is taking care of your body.
But I do believe that following a healthy diet that you also love is self-care.
My Healthy Indulgent Diet
I love an indulgent approach to dieting as opposed to restrictive diets, where you cut out dessert and it can feel like punishment. If you are already torturing yourself in different ways, are going through a difficult or stressful time, and/or struggle with any kind of mental health issues, do you honestly have to be on a boring diet on top of everything else?
Believe it or not, but I eat dessert every day. In fact, I have a healthy dessert after every meal. How? By choosing healthy desserts. I love dark chocolate, low-sugar hot chocolate, fruit, stewed fruit, yoghurt with honey, candies made with honey, and other healthy desserts like ice cream or pumpkin pie that I make myself.
Basically, what I try to do is balance the chaos of daily life with moments of bliss throughout the day. When you eat indulgently and eat three meals a day, for example, then you have three guaranteed moments of pleasure and enjoyment.
It also helps knowing there is a healthy cheesecake waiting in the fridge at home while you are having a stressful day at work.
Happiness is a fleeting moment. Desserts make me happy, and so, I take comfort in the fact that I can have dessert again at my next meal and know that I have at least three guaranteed moments of bliss in my day.
And in terms of the savoury stuff, my favourite foods are meat, fish, eggs, avocado, cheese, biltong, and olives. I follow a diet high in animal foods and you can describe me as carnivore-ish. I love my diet and I love the way it makes me feel.
Why You Should Eat Healthy Foods You Love in The Name of Self-Care
I believe that choosing to eat foods which make you feel good can be a type of self-care, especially if the food you choose to eat is nourishing to your body. Healthy desserts and a diet rich in animal foods take care of both for me.
A lot of people think that I am missing out a lot because of my restrictive diet, but I never feel like I am because I love my diet. I eat the foods I crave. But I have found a healthy diet that I find so delicious that having a low-sugar hot chocolate or low-carb ice cream give me as much satisfaction as a lot of people get from junk foods.
I eat this way because I want to feel good and take care of myself, and I eat this way because I want to eat foods that taste good.
Find a Diet That is Good for You and Makes You Happy
If you have a goal of upping your self-care game, look at your diet too. What foods do you like eating? What foods make you feel bad? What does a healthy diet that you love look like for you?
