Yes, you can have your cake (or pizza, or cheeseburger) and eat it, too. But you need to learn what "moderation" really means. Here's how.
You already know that a too-strict eating plan can seriously backfire (hello, binges). When it comes to allowing yourself some leeway, moderation is key. But what does "moderation" even mean?
For gourmands, a weekly cheeseburger might seem reasonable; for health nuts, maybe it's one every 3 months -- minus the cheese and bun. To find out who's right, we turned to Sarah Krieger, RD, and Joan Salge Blake, RD, from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.For starters, they say you should only indulge in what you love -- and skip the rest. If you don't have a weakness for fries, don't eat them; if you don't have a sweet tooth, don't have dessert simply because it's there. "For me, I skip pizza and burgers, but I eat a great-tasting sweet treat every day," says Krieger. "I balance it with exercise and eating a variety of nutritious foods."
Before we begin, first, we'll need some ground rules:
Step 1: If you're overweight or have health concerns, talk to your doc. These tips are based on a 2,000-calorie diet, consumed by adults at a healthy weight.
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Step 2: Take a look at how active you really are—most of us don't need a lot of calories to maintain a stable weight, says Salge Blake. Indulge too often and your waistline will pay.
Step 3: Keep a food diary and ask yourself, from a caloric standpoint: If I have this indulgence, what foods will I need to avoid this week to balance it out?
Bacon
4 slices of pork bacon: 168 calories, 12.7 g fat (4.2 g sat. fat), 767 mg sodium, 0.5 g carbs, 0 g sugar
Who among us can resist the aroma of sizzling bacon? If this is your weekend vice, be sure to curtail your fat and sodium intake for the 6 days before and after. Bacon's saturated fat content is high, says Salge Blake, and just a few pieces make a major dent in the 20 grams most of us can afford to consume daily. So enjoy those crunchy strips—but enjoy them responsibly.
Cheeseburger
1 restaurant cheeseburger with the works: 940 calories, 58 g fat (22 g sat. fat), 1700 mg sodium, 51 g carbs, 0 g sugar
With 22 grams of saturated fat, this diet doozy maxes out your daily saturated-fat allowance. "Heart disease develops over time, and when [you] eat a diet high in saturated fat, the risk for developing heart disease is greater," says Krieger. If you're determined to chow down on a cheeseburger, your protein choices should all be lean and mean, for the rest of the week.
French Fries
Medium-sized fast food French fries: 410 calories, 18 g fat (3 g sat. fat), 570 mg sodium, 58 g carbs, 0 g sugar
You've probably been there: The first few fries taste heavenly. As your meal wears on, they become less appealing—but you eat 'em anyway. "With every subsequent bite, the pleasure diminishes," says Salge Blake. Easy solution? Get a small order instead and get a side salad to go with it. Once potatoes are deep fried, we're sorry to say they don't really count as a veggie anymore.