Why I eat chips almost every day

Around 4:30 every day – when I get home before dinner – I have a salt craving.

And my salt of choice is chips.

Any type of chip will do, but I particularly like Miss Vickie’s Lime and Black Pepper.

I know it’s not a healthy habit.

But it’s a habit I allow, and now I’ve learned to allow it without guilt.

So why did I decide to do this?

Well, there are 4 criteria that I’ve got to meet, and as long as I do, I’m good.

And you can apply this criteria to whatever you food you want…

Especially those “dangerous” foods that you’ve tried giving up but haven’t been able to.

1. I’m aware of why, what, and when I’m eating chips (I eat consciously)

As I mentioned my trigger to eat salt is when I walk through the door at the end of my work day.

That’s when I have my chips.

So it’s not unconscious.

In fact I’ve got a whole conscious process around eating my chips .

It includes, putting the chips in a small bowl, eating them one at a time, in the kitchen, and making sure I’m enjoying every bite.

So how I eat my chips, where I eat my chips, and when I eat my chips is all planned out, and that’s why there’s no guilt.

Because I know from experience, feeling guilty only makes me feel worse about myself, which then just leads me to overeat to feel better, and then before I know it, the bag is empty.

So eating consciously by planning and enjoying is the first key.

2. I stop when my body has had enough (I trust my body signals)

As I mentioned, I usually put my chips in a pretty small bowl.

Once I finish the bowl, either I feel satisfied, or I allow myself a few more chips.

I trust that my body will tell me when it’s had enough.

But this trust didn’t happen overnight, there were plenty of times I used to overdo it.

However, overdoing it always made me feel horrible physically and emotionally.

So I’ve learned (and am still learning) to trust in my body’s signals and allow them to override any emotional reason that I’m eating.

It’s a practice but it’s not hard once you really listen and have a little compassion for yourself.  

3. I no longer make perfection my goal (I accept that I’m not perfect and that’s ok)

Part of living healthy is accepting that I’m not perfect.

I used to be more of a perfectionist, but that inevitably left me constantly disappointed in myself.

And when I felt disappointed in me too often, I didn’t feel happy most of the time.

Instead, I’ve been trying to let go of the goal of doing everything right.

Because I now know that trying to do everything right is really a my fear of failure.

And being afraid of failing and screwing up stands in the way of learning anything useful, new, or interesting.

4. I don’t want to make chips forbidden (I know that banning can lead to binging)

When you prevent yourself from eating a certain food, instead of making the craving go away, you’re only tempted to eat it even more.

Because when you don’t allow something, you think about it more than if you did allow it.

It becomes an obsession.

So, especially if you’ve got an obsessive personality, it’s important not to ban foods.

Instead, plan to allow all foods, eat them consciously, with enjoyment, and without guilt.

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Is there a food you’ve been avoiding? Is it working for you?

Let me know what you crave and why you are/aren’t allowing it.

Just write in the comments below.

And keep moving forward my friend,

Debbie