The Secret Art of Resisting Cookies
As a high school track runner, I was always hungry. Especially for cookies. In fact, at one point I thought I had a cookie addiction! I knew that if I bought a box of cookies from Trader Joes (you know, the little mini ones that come with 60) it would be gone within a few days. But now I ask myself: why were these cookies so addicting? And what started or perpetuated my belief that I was addicted to this snack?
Later on, through my undergraduate education in nutrition at Cal Poly SLO and other mentors, I realized that I had put cookies on a pedestal. I knew they were quote “unhealthy” and so I would put all my energy and thinking power trying to resist either making or buying cookies. Despite my sincere effort, constantly thinking about cookies was counterproductive to my goals. It’s like if I tell you to not think about pink elephants, then the image of a pink elephant will still pop up into your mind sooner or later. In the same way, trying to NOT think about COOKIES made me think about cookies all the time!
Breaking the cycle took a simple change in perspective. Rather than restricting my diet, I focused on adding more nutritious, satisfying ingredients to every meal and snack. Let’s go back to the cookie example. Instead of just eating a handful of cookies, I would bake homemade cookies adding plenty of nuts, oats, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and using coconut or olive oil. I often pair my dessert with a tall glass of nutritious plant-based milk (or occasionally kefir or a probiotic drink), as well as a large serving of fruit, such as frozen berries dipped in honey and yogurt. I still had a box of Trader Joes cookies in my kitchen, which I would tuck into occasionally. However, the fruit, nuts, and other snacks I began eating displaced the amount of cookies with my diet. Eventually, my craving for cookies decreased significantly. These, I only eat cookies maybe once every few months, because I have found so many other foods I like to eat (recently I’ve been really digging frozen cherries and full fat Greek yogurt topped with tablespoons of olive oil, honey, hempseeds, and pecans). Interestingly, full fat yogurt despite containing saturated fat has a neutral or even beneficial effect on cardiovascular health (see references below).
Depriving our bodies with a low fat, low flavor diet is a sure way to exacerbate cravings, which can perpetuate a binge-restrict cycle. So instead, by focusing on adding healthy fats, protein, spices, toppings, and fruit to our sweet snacks we can turn a simple cookie into a nutrition packed meal.
References:
Giosuè, A., Calabrese, I., Vitale, M., Riccardi, G., & Vaccaro, O. (2022). Consumption of Dairy Foods and Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review. Nutrients, 14(4), 831. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14040831
Schmidt, K. A., Cromer, G., Burhans, M. S., Kuzma, J. N., Hagman, D. K., Fernando, I., Murray, M., Utzschneider, K. M., Holte, S., Kraft, J., & Kratz, M. (2021). Impact of low-fat and full-fat dairy foods on fasting lipid profile and blood pressure: exploratory endpoints of a randomized controlled trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 114(3), 882–892. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqab131
