Healthy how-to: Fit treats into a balanced diet

Salt Lake City, Utah — Utah is in a cookie craze right now. Businesses that deliver hot cookies to your door (with milk) are popping up all over the Wasatch Front. Here is what a registered dietician has to say about fitting these treats into a healthy, balanced diet.

Melanie Douglass, host of Really Healthy Podcast and registered dietician, said fitting these type of treats into your diet is all about your mindset and understanding portions.

 

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#Utah has been hit with a cookie craze… and not just cookies, cookies that are delivered to your door warm. Have you tried them? In this week’s episode Melanie talks about fitting #treats into your #healthylifestyle. #cookies #desserts #portioncontrol #treatyoself #ketotreats #healthychoices #weightloss journey

A post shared by Really Healthy (@reallyhealthypodcast) on Mar 11, 2019 at 1:27pm PDT

A Dietician’s Treat

Douglass began the podcast episode with a story about treating herself to one (well, half) of the cookies in question.

Douglass admitted her first thought when she saw the cookies was, “I can’t have that,” but when she thought more about it she flipped her thinking too, “I can have this much.”

Instead of eating the whole cookie she broke it into fourths and ate a quarter of the cookie in the morning and a quarter in the afternoon. That is what she meant by portion control. 

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Mindset and Portion Control

Douglass said the most important part about treats is changing your mindset around them and not restricting yourself from having a cookie or slice of cake every now and again. When you tell yourself you can’t have it, it makes you want it more.

She reminded listeners that when you do have a treat, just remember to practice eating a healthy portion until you are satisfied rather than overeating. Those cookies delivered to your door typically have about as many calories as what you would normally eat in a meal, according to Douglass.

In conclusion, Douglass said to enjoy your treats, responsibly.

If you found this information helpful subscribe to Really Healthy wherever you get your podcasts or on the KSL Newsradio app.

Watch the full episode below.