Before I begin, I just want to make it clear that I don't advocate eating junk food for all of your meals. It's important to eat healthy the majority of the time, but there is no reason to restrict yourself from unhealthy or junk foods all of the time!
Whenever I used to hear the news that a new vegan junk food had made its way on the market, I would get really excited about it, but also a bit disappointed. Excited because I love seeing that there are more great options out there for vegans, but disappointed because I felt that I couldn't eat it because it wasn't "healthy."
But then one day I gave in and decided to eat ice cream and chocolate for lunch.
My diet focuses primarily on fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains--all of those healthy foods that we're supposed to eat. I absolutely love eating healthy foods. They taste amazing and make me feel wonderful. Despite this, sometimes I just want to eat something junky and not worry about it.
For so long, I was obsessed with eating healthy 100 percent of the time, to the point where I was afraid to eat anything that had added sugar or salt (among many of the other rules I made for myself). All of these rules made my relationship with food very unhealthy. Even when I allowed myself to eat foods that I normally wouldn't, I would feel tremendous guilt afterwards, making the experience of eating something unhealthy very unpleasant. My life revolved around eating "clean" and being perfect.
I think this idea of eating healthy 100 percent of the time stems partially from my personality type. I am a perfectionist and never want to settle for anything less than perfectly ideal. It's either all-or-nothing for me--but it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, allowing myself to be free around food is the most wonderful gift I could have given myself.
After going to the store and picking up some ice cream and chocolate to have for lunch, I dug into it. The taste was wonderful, the nostalgia was real and I felt liberated. I know what you're probably thinking: that's too many strong words and emotions to explain such a mundane experience. But to me, that experience was wonderful and taught me that I don't need to strive for perfection all of the time. I can't just focus on my physical health--I need to focus on my mental health too.
Balancing my physical health and mental health is necessary for me to be happy. Creating rules around food will not do anything good for my mind.
I need food that is both good for my body and good for my soul.
