Eating healthy can be hard! One slip and you are sliding down a river of high fructose corn syrup, gripping onto chocolate and landing in a soft pile of french fries. This week I broke my cardinal rule of healthy eating:

Do not have tempting food in the house.

A series of unusual events had the sugar and fat flowing straight through our front door. First, in an attempt to prioritize our life better, we closed down a pizza restaurant we owned.  In walked 57 2-liter bottles of soda (Achilles heel numero uno!). Then my son came home with a box of 50 chocolate candy bars in 5 varieties to sell for a school fundraiser.  I had to buy some, I am supporting a good cause, right? And dark chocolate and almonds are good for you! OK, so I ate 1200 calories of chocolate and almonds but who is counting. Then I broke my cardinal rule number 2:

If you are tempted, try something else first.

Nope, I did not do that. I went straight for the sugar jugular. Every time I passed a chocolate bar or bottle of soda I briefly told myself “No!” and the came up with more reasons for a “Yes!”. No, I did not try to take that walk around the block to starve off my impulses, nor make a nice cup of tea to relax past the 2 pm munchies. I found excuses and I listened to them.

I have a headache, sugar helps headaches.

I am running a half marathon this weekend, I need the extra carbs.

I will only eat half.

It is for a good cause.

One little slip won’t hurt!

And the excuses piled on and the calories piled in. And in a time of crisis I was not prepared. Not prepared at all to stop the demise of my caloric intake. I had broken cardinal rule number 3

Have plenty of healthy options in the house.

And it went from soda and chocolate to a quick stop at the fast food restaurant. It was snowballing. I did not pick the healthy grilled chicken option. I pretended they did not exist.  “If I do not look at them I won’t feel guilty.” I thought. I went for the nuggets and the french fries. And when I was really in denial, I bought the french fries “for my kids” but decided, that was not healthy, so ate them for them. You know, to spare them the horrors of fried food. Oh yes, I fell right off that cliff!

Eating french fries are easy. Healthy food is typically tucked into a dark corner of the menu board waiting for those true devotees of health. The fries, nuggets and hamburgers all surround you like the big kids on the playground. You have to stand up to them, look past them and claim YOU are in control.  So that is what I did. I fell victim for a short time and then took back control. I looked around for inspiration to the people who have it figured out. I read one of my favorite blogs Oh She Glows, got inspired and headed for the grocery store.

And went back to my favorite meals!

Healthy Favorites Every Week in My Grocery Cart

Smoked Salmon

Walnuts

Spinach

Bananas

Orange Juice

Squash

Zucchini

Onions

Tomatoes

Basil (I typically have this in my garden)

Fresh Cheese (fresh mozzarella, smoked gouda, feta are some of my favorites)

Humus

Strawberries

Blueberries

Organic Cage Free Eggs

Whole grain crackers

Whole grain bread (without high fructose corn syrup)