Treat or Crutch?

Treat or Crutch?

I’m not going to be making any friends with this post, but I’ve wanted to write it for a while (as it comes up almost daily with my 1-2-1 and group clients) and it’s something I have struggled with too.

I was hoping to fit it onto my latest post about free-from foods being a scam (HERE), but as that became another long read, I thought I’d make a separate post here.

We have become a society that feels the ‘need’ to have a treat most days.  However, this is no longer a treat but a crutch (sorry).  Treats are occasional, MAYBE once a week or just for special/unusual occasions etc.  Treats that become daily become crutches &/or addictions.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that other than it’s time we admitted this to ourselves and when we feel ready address the reason(s) why we feel we need them.

You see it’s just not healthy for us to be ‘treating’ ourselves every day, because it’s almost always foods that are not natural for us to eat, especially in those qualities and frequencies.

I get that occasionally when we may be going through a difficult time we may feel we ‘need’ a pick-me-up, something sweet in our lives (as life feels bitter etc) or something to purposely spike our blood sugars (caffeine, sugars, chocolate, carbs etc) to give us that extra energy to help us through the challenging/difficult time.

However, when treats become daily and the need for them overrides our senses (our body/mind/nervous systems real needs) then something has got seriously out of balance, and this is an invitation to feel into what’s really ‘wrong’ and correct it.

Here’s some tips about the treat topic that may help…

• If you really feel the need for a treat, can you make it seasonal and local so that it does not effect your physical health too much.  As it’s spring here at the moment that could be full fat yogurt and some lemon or lime squeezed into it. Soon, this would be berries, in the late summer/autumn it would be apples and pears and over the winter that may have been an orange, pomegranate or persimmon.
• There are certain times of the year this may include a FEW local nuts or seeds also.
• If you start your day with carbs/sugars (oats/cereal/muesli/bread/crackers/honey/chocolate pastes/high sugar fruits) and caffeine you will be craving spiking foods/drinks all day and ‘treats’ will become more common place.  Starting the day with fats and proteins (eggs/avo/yogurt/meat/fish) will do the opposite for you.
• We are all completely addicted to carbs/sugars.  We will convince ourselves we need them for our health or energy or something like that BUT, there are NO essential carbs/sugars.  We are addicted and as such feel better/soothed when we eat them as they hit dopamine receptors and have opioids in which make us feel temporarily better.  But it’s only ever temporary and then the cycle starts again.  If we break the addiction, we find we have improved mood, energy, hormones, digestion etc across the board and no spikes or crashes as we are fuelled how nature intended.
• No one wants to be ‘that person’ (I’m used to it after all my years of being the complicated eater ha), that can’t eat what everyone else is eating at a celebration etc.  And I know people don’t want that for their kids either.  So, if it is a once in a blue moon celebration that classes as a ‘treat’ and one-off like this does little ‘harm’ to us.  But regular ‘treats’ are not how we stay physically healthy and in fact have a huge impact on mental health too.
• It does not matter if the ‘treats’ are junk from the store or wholefood organic grains/seeds/nuts from home, if they are being consumed regularly, out of season and not harvested locally they are still potentially harmful for health because our bodies are not ‘designed’ to consume foods and drinks like this and it causes inflammation, irritation, digestive issues and things like oxalate poisoning and leptin issues etc too.
• When we eat seasonally and locally, with a big focus on fats and proteins we fuel ourselves in the most optimum way and thrive.  So, then if we have the odd treat our body can handle this and deals with the contents of that treat in a natural way by eliminating whatever it needs to and using whatever it can.  If these become regular additions to our diet it cannot do that.

It really is important though to feel into why we think we want/need a regular ‘treat’.  Is it because life feels quite bitter?

• Are you completely addicted to carbs/sugars?
• Do you feel your life is a bit crappy and you feel you ‘deserve’ something nice it in?  Maybe you were bought up on ‘treats’ (like many) and it’s just an old habit that feels good/comforting in some way?
• Maybe it’s just the dopamine/opioid hit that feels good?
• Or maybe you feel like you have ‘given up enough’ already?

Basically, if there is a ‘need’ to have regular treats it’s a good indication that something is out of balance physically and/or mentally and it’s a great thing to use to address this imbalance (as this won’t just be affecting your food choices but so much more of your health and happiness also).

Treats don’t make us happy and healthy (if they did, we’d all be feeling blooming amazing all the time ha); they give us a short term ‘fix’ for a long-term cost.

I am not saying no treats, but ask yourself why do I need this treat, is it showing me something is out of balance and if I really ‘need’ the treat can it be something local, seasonal and natural instead?

We are human, we want to live and enjoy life and food, but we can, from a much stronger and healthier place both mentally and physically if we fuel ourselves in a healthier way, which means local, seasonal, and ancestral wherever possible.  Let’s make treats great again and not a daily hinderance to our health!