Paleoista Holiday Tip # 26: Tread Lightly with ‘Everything in Moderation’

One of my biggest pet peeves is the recommendation to ‘go ahead and have a little bit of whatever you crave’.  This is a ‘tip’ seen quite often at this time of year and it’s not helpful to anyone.

For those of you, and there are many who fit this description, who have kicked the sugar habit once and for all, thanks to going Paleo, you know how difficult it was, and how easy it is to slip back into old ways with even the littlest, most benign-seeming ‘treat’.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to refer to white sugar as a ‘gateway’ drug.   If you’re hungry and ‘craving’ some of the holiday candy at the office, or some of the homemade treats your neighbor brought over as a gift, and you decide you’ll have just one cookie, how often does it really end there?

Often, I find that when clients report ‘craving’ something, it’s due to not having eaten a properly balanced meal earlier in the day, leading to a blood sugar crash and subsequent ‘need’ for sugar.

If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll already see I’m not suggesting approaching the holidays without ever having a little treat, but the key is to steer clear of that nasty little bugger, white sugar.

Yes, have something special now and then, but keep it Paleo and don’t risk setting yourself up for a bad visit down a memory lane you’d prefer never to return to.

Balance, moderation, Paleo sweet now and then, and keep on track!  

Do not heed that stupid piece of advice to ‘have a little bit of whatever you crave in moderation’.    How would that piece of advice go over with someone fighting a drug addiction?   I’ve written about that before and I mean no disrespect for the challenges faced by someone trying to get clean and sober.   Simply making a comparison to how silly that recommendation is.

If you’re following Paleo properly, you won’t ‘crave’ things in the first place, and you’ll understand how it’s not worth it to eat things that leave you feeling anything but fantastic.