Eat for purpose or eat for pleasure?

You feel great. You’re on top of the world. The adrenaline high and post-euphoric sensations are encompassing your body to the maximal degree.  You check your phone and see it has exploded with notifications once again. You have a good friend in town that wants to go out for lunch, it’s doughnut day at work, and you have a voicemail from your mom reminding you it’s Grandma’s birthday today and to come over tonight for cake and coffee.

We spend so much time devoted to working out.  We buy nice clothes that are comfortable and have the latest sweat resistance and cooling technology.  We create playlists with our favorite music that will carry us through that tough cardio session.  We fight the crowds at the gym to get our favorite machine.  All for what? A morning stuffing our face with doughnuts, followed by a 1500 calorie lunch at Qdoba, and topped off with a nightcap of sugary cake and fatty ice cream.

To be healthy and fit, we need to exercise, we need to sleep, and we need nutrition.  What we put in our bodies will have a direct impact on how we look and feel.  The biggest challenge with a healthy lifestyle may certainly be the nutrition part.  Our society is big on eating, especially in the Upper Midwest.  People take pride in the food they cook and the deserts they bake.  It almost feels like an insult when food is turned down.  We can eat for purpose and eat for pleasure but don’t feel obligated to eat something simply to please someone else.  It is your body and saying “no thank you” is not selfish.

Many people that are on a structured nutrition plan will have scheduled “reward” meals every so often.  Some may choose to indulge in that reward during a given social event and get back on track thereafter.  However, some people work best with a set routine.  Finding a creative and polite way to deal with the daily challenges of nutrition can often be tricky.

Here are a few ideas on how you can stay on track with your nutritional success.

Situation	Suggestion
A Friend wants to go out for lunch.	Choose a place where you can order a healthy meal, or rather than lunch, suggest afternoon coffee.
HR is going throughout the office giving everyone a doughnut.	Just take the doughnut.  Put it in a place out of sight and get back to work. It will be stale by 5 o’clock.
A Family gathering where cake is being served.	Thankfully decline. If an explanation is necessary, the sugar in cake will have you bouncing off the walls and you need to get to bed early tonight.
The mother of all food pushers just won’t take no for an answer.	Repeat yourself in expressing her kindness but stand your ground.  If she really must have you take the food, ask for a Tupperware so you can bring it home.