Find the Middle Ground

What’s your favorite treat? Come on, now — if you could eat your way out of a room filled with one kind of food, what would it be? Cake?

Chocolate? Cheese? Ice cream? When you know that you can never stop at just one bite of ice cream, it’s tempting to swear off that food forever — especially now that you’re focused on improving your health, diet, and physique. But as many of us have found out from experience, labeling something “forbidden” makes it all the more appealing!

A critical step in renouncing the destructive all-or-nothing mind-set is knowing how to walk the line between self-denial and self-indulgence. It’s the middle ground that offers the best foundation on which to build your new life. Denying yourself little pleasures such as an occasional glass of wine or a chocolate truffle will only make you feel deprived, frustrated, and ultimately hopeless about maintaining your discipline. A temptation is a lot less powerful if it isn’t totally forbidden. This is where moderation comes in.

There is room for all foods, no matter how “bad” they are; it’s just a matter of being conscious of and careful about how often and how much.

It’s fine to have a piece of cake now and then — just not every day, and not the whole cake.

–Jillian Michaels website, October 2011