An honest conversation about my struggle with food guilt + Ice Cream Giveaway!

Hey guys,

I’ve been known to be a difficult food orderer. I would be that one person to order a salad at a BBQ place…or that one person to order off the Skinnylicious Menu at The Cheesecake Factory. Ha. Yes, cue the eye roll.

For so many years, I’ve deprived myself of the joys of food. Why? So that I could be thinner. Because I once thought that skinnier meant happier. But when I got to my thinnest (which was 15 lbs lighter than I am now), I was actually my UNhappiest. I hated that I STILL had a soft lower belly. I hated that I STILL couldn’t see any ab lines. I hated that my boobs weren’t bigger. I hated that my butt was so flat. Every time I looked in the mirror, I was NEVER GOOD ENOUGH.

I looked at food like it was the enemy. I hated eating. Yet…why did I have to love it so much?

Every bite I took felt like a forbidden sin—like I was cheating on someone. I was overwhelmed with guilt, even when it was just a banana! I’d immediately go to the mirror, lift up my shirt, and check how it affected my “bloat.” Sigh. I was completely broken. My body was starving and I deprived it of what it screaming for.

And what ended up happening? My body rebelled. No matter how clean I ate, I KEPT GAINING WEIGHT. My body soaked up every ounce of every calorie like a dry sponge. So, I gave up on the dieting and just ate WHATEVER. Sugary things, fried things, buttery things. Problem was…eating “whatever” also made my body feel like whatever.

It became years of torment. No matter if I ate super clean or ate super crazy, I always felt guilty. Both ways. Because I never felt whole!

Fast forward to today.

After years of pushing myself to find peace with food and peace with my body, I am so happy to tell you that eating is no longer a torturous, emotional battle. I’ve discovered a way to be healthy, to be full, to satisfy my taste buds, and to erase the guilt out of my life. How? Well, I stopped treating food like a sin or like a reward. I made food an experience. I told myself that there was no point in feeling bad for eating something. Either choose to eat it or choose not to eat it. And if I ate it, enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, then I didn’t need to have it again. Guilt was an extra emotion that was unnecessary and a complete waste of energy.

So, what do I actually eat these days? Everything! I eat what I know will make my soul happy and my body happy. What that usually means is that I stick to the foods that I know will give me energy to smash my workouts, like veggies, brown rice, and my choice of protein. Homemade summer rolls or salmon with brown rice and asparagus are faves of mine. Oh yeah, and lots of Sriracha y’all. And if I’m feeling like I wanna indulge a little to feed the soul, I’ll get a matcha boba drink or perhaps a milkshake or maybe a scoop of ice cream! I try not to get too crazy though because most desserts overdose with me with sugar, which immediately makes me break out.

Luckily though, not every dessert does that. There is such a thing as a “good for you dessert.” Sometimes I like to finish off my dinner with a fizzy kombucha, some fruit, a warm matcha latte, or a scoop of Enlightened Ice Cream! Wait hold on—have you tried ENLIGHTENED Ice Cream yet!?? OMG. Cuz if not… GIVEAWAY TIME at the end of this blog post!

You guys, I first started eating ENLIGHTENED Ice Cream a few years ago and was sooooo surprised to find how high protein, lower calorie, and low sugar it was compared to other ice cream brands. The best part of course was that it was creamy, sweet, and REALLY GOOD. There wasn’t anything about it that tasted diet-y! Plus, the flavors are always so innovative and fun! Check out these new ones:

My all time fave is French Toast. Check out the ingredients. Per serving, it’s only 70 calories, has 6g of protein, and 5g of sugar! It’s so cool what chefs and food scientists can do to make eating a tasty and healthy experience.

A “regular” French Vanilla ice cream comes in at around 130 calories, 2g of protein, and 14g of sugar. That is a HUGE difference. No wonder I break out after eating regular ice cream!

You guys, I REALLY want you to try ENLIGHTENED. You can find it at your local grocery store in the frozen aisle! Here’s a coupon I found on their website!

But guess what? I’m partnering with ENLIGHTENED Ice Cream for a giveaway just for POPsters! If you wanna win a box chock full of all the flavors you see above, freshly shipped straight to you frozen…then just comment on this blog post and tell me which flavor you’d wanna try most! Is it Movie Night, Cookies & Cream, S’mores, French Toast, or Glazed Donut?

Good luck! I will announce the winner next week on the blog! This is a US-only contest. (Sorry international POPsters, I don’t think a frozen box of ice cream can make it halfway around the world still cold…plus customs would be a disaster!) 1 comment = 1 entry! You can enter as many times as you want!

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