With the holidays upon us, it’s time to talk about treats. From the countless varieties of Christmas cookies, to the bountiful pies, to the festive gingerbread, it’s a season of sugary temptation unlike any other. While I firmly believe in eating nutritious, health-giving food as much as possible, I also believe in treating yourself occasionally.
Life is short and we are meant to enjoy many of it’s little thrills and traditions, so for me, this means some well thought-out, homemade Christmas goodies are definitely on the menu.
Even while on a committed health journey, these are some ways we can allow ourselves to have a tasty treat experience without causing much collateral damage -
Use Organic ingredients - it’s getting easier and easier to find organic ingredients, and this includes in the baking department. From organic sugar, to flours, eggs, spices, etc, by using organic ingredients the treats will be just as good if not more delicious, and you won’t be giving yourself a dose of disease-causing chemicals and preservatives when indulging. On this same note, artificial food coloring, which can have many negative health effects most definitely should be avoided - natural food coloring can be found in many stores or online and works just as well.
Reduce the sugar - it’s safe to say that most recipes call for way more sugar than necessary. This is particularly true if you’ve already been eating in a healthier way and your pallet has adjusted to desire less sweetness. When baking, I generally use somewhere from half up to two thirds of the sugar called for in a recipe and everything always still tastes plenty sweet. Sugar, including organic sugar, feeds disease, so when we are treating ourselves let’s not use more of it than we need to.
Don’t ignore food allergies/sensitivities - just because we decide to treat ourselves does not mean we should intentionally cause immediate harm to ourselves. We are fortunate to be living in a time when we can easily replace ingredients that we know our bodies don’t react well to. So, for example, if you know you are sensitive to wheat, use gluten-free flour, or if you are sensitive to eggs, use a flax “egg” instead. Even Grandma’s old family cookie recipes can easily be converted to fulfill whatever food requirements you have without sacrificing the taste.
Eat extra veggies - it’s important not to decrease our intake of the nutritious stuff in order to make room for an extra treat. Eat the treat, but eat an extra helping or two of veggies first. This will give your body a boost of support as it metabolizes the sugar, and since sweets have a way of messing up the gut, the extra fiber will help to make sure things move along as they should.
Get rid of the leftovers - a day or two of treats can quickly become a week or two of treats if we leave them lying around to stare at us every time we walk into the kitchen or open the fridge. As with all unhealthy food, if it isn’t in the house, it can’t really tempt us. Another idea is to wrap up leftovers in individual packages and freeze them, so that with advanced planning you can take one out to thaw for an occasional treat.
Don’t overdo it - this might go without saying, but we all need this reminder sometimes, especially at the holidays. If we indulge too much, a treat can quickly go from a moment of enjoying one of life’s little delights to feeling like total crap. Sugar is one of the most addictive substances on the planet, so if we let our guard down for too long it will be MUCH harder to go back to making it an occasional thing even when we are otherwise motivated. If you do overindulge, pay attention to how your body feels post-sugar high, then instead of beating yourself up, simply let that crappy feeling motivate you to return to life-giving foods.
Make it about making memories - I’m so grateful to have been able to figure out how to still make the recipes for my late Grandmother’s Snickerdoodle cookies and my late Great Aunt Kay’s Buckeye Balls. At Christmas my daughter and I make them together, and it gives me the opportunity to tell her about these two women that she never got to know and what they meant to me and our family. While we’re baking we light up the tree, turn on vintage Christmas playlists, and talk and laugh together. I know that I will carry these baking memories that we are making with me forever and I hope my daughter will too. Though, even with much improved ingredients, the cookies are definitely not the healthiest thing for us to eat, these special times spent baking in the kitchen together most certainly bring us life.
When healthy eating is an ingrained part of our lifestyle, these moments of indulgence are so much more satisfying, and feel like what they are, a real treat. I firmly believe treats taste extra delicious when you know that you have been, and will continue to support your body with life-giving, nourishing foods that will keep you here and healthy for many holidays to come.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season filled with health!
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