Personal Trainer
Treat yourself to treat after hard work

QUESTION: I am trying real hard to stay strong with my new healthy eating plan but what do I do about cravings for things that I shouldn't eat?

ANSWER: The first thing you have to do is change your concept of what healthy eating is. Your goal should be making eating healthy a way of life rather than a "plan." Walking around with a calorie counter or trying figure out whether to eat that last two grams of protein is madness.

Beating yourself up about having a "treat meal" once or twice a week will only lead to you getting discouraged and possibly quit eating healthy all together.

Eating healthy doesn't mean that you have to eat tree bark or go on grapefruit diets because "true" healthy eating allows you to eat all kinds of foods that taste good. Maybe even better than foods that you think can only taste good if they are deep fried or covered with sugar.

Ask experienced fitness professionals and they will tell you that they have a favorite treat meal that they look forward to every now and then. My treat is a hunk of apple pie and I have it if I have a great week of workouts or bicycle racing. If I feel I should have or could have worked a little harder, I won't treat myself that week and work hard for that apple pie the next weekend.

Rather than letting food be a reward, I use it as a motivational tool as well and I don't think twice about enjoying every bite of my treat food because I move on knowing that my very next meal or next day of meals will be totally healthy.

This is because the body adapts to what you do most consistently not what you do every so often. If you are eating healthy on a consistent basis with occasional treats, you give your body no choice but to adapt in a positive way.

Dave Patania, a certified personal trainer, welcomes your questions. Send them to Personal Trainer, The Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. Or e-mail davpatania@aol.com.