It might be time to ditch your “healthified” recipes.

Feel free to sub any of the following in for black bean brownies…

• Chickpea and carob “chocolate chip cookies”
• Avocado and cocoa “chocolate mousse”
• Cottage cheese “ice cream”
• Banana “ice cream”
• Butternut squash mac and “cheese”
• Cauliflower “rice”
• Zucchini “noodles”
• I could go on forever with these examples

… And the real deal food for the latter part of the above sentence. We have SO any “healthified” versions of foods at this point.

Before I ruffle too many feathers, listen, I’ve made countless “healthified” recipes in the past. I remember when I convinced myself that I enjoyed plain yogurt sweetened with the tiniest bit of honey, a touch of vanilla extract and chocolate chips as much as I liked ice cream. I remember blending up FOUR frozen bananas to make a paltry cup of banana “nice cream.” I cry for younger Laura and how willingly she’d persuaded herself of this BS.

Flipside, you know what? I might even make a “healthified” version of a recipe now depending on the circumstances. I love carrot cake and would 100% make carrot cake-flavored baked oatmeal to enjoy for breakfast. I would also totally add some garlickly sauteed zoodles to my regular spaghetti in cacio e pepe because that sounds like a delicious variation on the recipe.

So, let’s get into when these “healthified” recipes are just fine thank-you-very-much and when they might be problematic.

It really all comes down to intention.

Probably harmless intentions

• Do you prefer the flavor of the swap to the original recipe? (Be honest with yourself.) If so, great!
• Do you have a health condition that necessitates ingredient swaps? For instance, someone with diabetes might like to up the fat, fiber and/or protein content in a recipe to help them control their blood sugar. If so, go for it.
• Do you want to enjoy the flavor of a treat food but in a form that is more sustaining? The carrot cake baked oatmeal mentioned above is a good example of this.

These are all examples of when choosing “healthified” recipes is likely benign.

On the other hand…

Potentially harmful intentions

• Do you think the original recipe is “bad for you” so won’t allow yourself to eat it?
• Do you feel guilty if you eat the original version?
• Do you feel like you can’t trust yourself around the real deal and may end up eating way more than you had planned?
• Do you give yourself a hall-pass to eat as much as the “healthified” version that you’d like, regardless of how it makes you feel?

If the answer is yes to those questions, it might be time to get curious. There is a lot of nuance in any eating decision.

Here are some things to consider

• First, almost any food tastes good when you aren’t eating enough. This is one of our bodies’ protective mechanisms to make sure we eat as much as possible when we’re underfed. So if you answered above that you actually prefer the “healthified” swap to the original recipe, are you sure? Or are you just really hungry?
• Second, does making this swap lead you to search for something else later on or eat more of the “healthified” food than is actually comfortable? For instance, you have zucchini noodles for dinner so end up eating so much ice cream you feel sick later on, or you end up eating the entire tray of black bean brownies and feel horrible.
• Third, does making these swap build up excitement around the real deal food so that when you inevitably encounter it at some point later on you don’t feel like you know how to enjoy it in a way that feels good?

What would happen if you gave yourself permission to eat exactly what you wanted, staying connected to the experience and entirely guilt free with the understanding that you could eat it again it again tomorrow?

Psychology is a mother f-er and plays a massive role in our food behavior. Making peace with food, meaning giving yourself full permission to eat exactly what you want, when you want regardless of whether its been healthified, allows you to stay connected with the experience, taking in all the pleasure and staying in tune to how your body feels. It is the BIG PICTURE of what we eat that matters. A healthy diet leaves plenty of room for real deal foods.

If this shift sounds scary and you think you may need some hand holding, let’s set up a Discovery Call to discuss how I might be able to support you. Otherwise, enjoy that real deal brownie and forget those “healthified” recipes!