Green and Black’s is the secret to happiness

Moderation is dull – there’s no doubt about it. ‘Ooh..no more for me thanks...’ ‘I best not thank you...’ You can see friends rolling their eyes. (Yes, I see you!) But there’s a very good reason why I have become Miss Moderation: the thought of being Miss Going Without is just unbearable. Imagining going the entire week without a sneaky piece of Green and Black’s (yeah, okay...pieces) or a cheeky glass of wine makes me want to cry.

So to all of you who were ‘more’ fun in December with your ‘well, it is Christmas’ attitude as you tucked into your mince pies and buckets of mulled wine, how much fun are you now as you miserably starve yourself through January? (Moderation ain’t so dull now eh?!)

Now I am a long way from being a saint (diet wise or any other wise) but I live by the 80/20 rule: eat well most of the time (lots of fresh fruit and veg, wheat and dairy free, protein with each meal, very little processed food etc...) with small treats thrown in. I never feel like I have to go without and most importantly it’s never long until the next treat. And I pretty much eat like this whatever time of year or occasion it is. To me the idea of eating what you like because you’re on holiday or it’s Christmas ain’t worth the eat NOTHING that you like for a month after, to get your weight back to where it started – not even less than. (If I’m gonna starve I wanna be heading towards Skinnyville.)

It amuses me no end that I have somehow managed to achieve this balance in my life. Balance is not my natural disposition; I am more of an all or nothing type of gal. When I was younger I would drink too much or not drink at all, be on a strict calorie controlled diet or be tucking into a packet of biscuits. I never hung out in the middle ground; I definitely had a complicated relationship with food and body image.

But somewhere along the way I became friends with food and drink. My husband’s love of cooking and interest in fresh, seasonal food has undoubtedly had an impact; I appreciate food in a way I never did before. Thinking about food in relation to my health has also helped, I now see food as an important part of having a healthy body. (I think when I was younger I was more interested in calories than goodness – who cares what the insides look like as long as the outside scrubs up okay!)

And then hypnotherapy has been the final piece of the jigsaw for me: retraining my mind to think about food as something which is good for the body and not something to be feared. Historically, I used will power to stick to my chosen eating plan, now I choose to eat well. It is a subtle but powerful change.

I do miss being ‘naughty’ sometimes: getting drunk and giggling with girlfriends is one of life’s pleasures. And I don’t like the feeling that I have become dull. (You can’t imagine Kate Moss stopping at two glasses of wine can you?) But I do enjoy that I now have a much more comfortable relationship with food and drink.

Now I am a long way from being a virtuous carrot munching, wheat grass drinking goddess but I don’t really go off the rails either. Yeah, there are times when I wish I hadn’t eaten quite so much when we’ve gone out for lunch but overall my eating is pretty consistent. I think balance stops me from feeling deprived. (Who hasn’t started a diet then ended up eating more because you feel miserable and start obsessing about all the things you can’t have?)

And as I read all the magazine articles - that inevitably circle around this time of year - on losing weight and exercise, I am so grateful that I haven’t got to go on one of those hideous extreme diets to shift the festive flab.

I was in the chocolate aisle the other day and I realised I was the only one in there – well apart from the woman being dragged away by her husband because she was supposed to be on a diet. It seems I am the only one eating chocolate in January (don’t worry Green and Black’s you can count on me...)

Now I am not saying I have all the diet answers, or that I love my body. But I love it more than I would if I had given in to a month of festive temptation; my muffin top is the same size as it was before Christmas. And as funny as it sounds to me, moderation is my friend, because then I never have to be the strict miserable one counting out her lettuce leaves.

Now, just need to work on achieving balance in the rest of my life...

Are you spending January hungry? Or do you wanna join me with a piece of Green and Black’s? Would love to hear your thoughts...x