PB Paradise: The "Better Choice" Sweet Treat

bodbuds
Aug 17, 2014
4 min read

Dear Body Buds,

Those cravings for something sweet . . . gosh, they can hit at the most inopportune time, right? Like when you're really trying to be "good!" You can be in the midst of focusing on making healthier habits, but then those cravings can hit! You just want and need something sweet!

If you have been a part of Body Buddies for awhile you wil know that it's important to me that you not just learn the answer, but that you learn the theory and principles behind the answer. When we are a bit more educated, we can more easily find the answers of application for ourselves. With that said, there are several concepts I would like to discuss before diving into our “PB Paradise” recipe:

When you are living the Power Foods Lifestyle and focusing on packaging your meals as PVC and PVF meals (protein, veggie, carb – protein, veggie, fat), you should be eating in a way that your blood sugar is more stable. There are physiological reasons that your body craves sugar, which include eating high-glycemic carbohydrates without adequate amounts of protein, or going too long without eating. The PFL helps you naturally balance your blood sugar by helping you make meals that are designed to do this! You can learn more about how to control your body’s physiological cravings for sugar by listening to my podcast here.
Now, if you’re living the Power Foods Lifestyle and focusing on keeping your carbohydrates to those that are comple, getting adequate protein at every meal, and keeping sugar out of your food plan except for indulgence meals, you may find yourself fixating on sugar and indulgence foods—those foods that sound so good and seem to offer comfort and pleasure. I find that many people begin using their Pinterest boards as a place to pin their passions and fixate on the “forbidden” foods. This is a brutal way to train yourself and cause yourself to salivate over the foods that will not help you get to your goals. Cravings can assuredly be stimulated from the thoughts on which you choose to focus each day. Choose to focus on what you can have, rather than what you should not if you wish to change your body.
Living a healthier lifestyle should not be a black or white approach. Too often, you can find yourself in the mindset that you’re either eating for fat loss (I would prefer we call it fat loss over weight loss) or you’re not. There is no easy answer for anything in this game of nutrition and the body. For one person, eating outside their meal plan may halt their body's change, while someone else's may not. Every person's genetics are different and there is no cookie-cutter answer. The fact is that everything you put in your body will have an impact on your health and appearance. Every piece of food will produce a cause-and-effect reaction in your body. This could be the absorption of good nutrients that contribute to a healthy body, or the inflammation caused by sugar and processed foods that lead to dysfunction in the body. While you may not see the effects of every bite of food going in your body now, you will see them in the future. Keeping that in mind, let’s talk about a better option for handling your sweet cravings!

PB Paradise

Ingredients:

4 Rice Cakes, plain & lightly salted

2 very ripe bananas

2 Tbsp. 100% natural peanut butter

½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

In a small bowl, mash the bananas and peanut butter together.

Stir in the cinnamon

Top the rice cakes with the peanut butter mixture

Serving Size: 1 cake with ¼ the PB mixture.

Take this one meal at a time. Even a full day of eating healthily can seem intimidating and undoable. But if you compartmentalize your day in between your six meals, it’s easier to get yourself through. For instance, if you have Meal 1 at 6 a.m., you can tell yourself, I can drink water and get through until 9 a.m. when I will eat my next meal. I will focus on getting this, this, and this done on my to-do list, and I will not think about food until 9 a.m. when I will eat. I can do this for three hours, yes. You must learn to mentally discipline yourself and talk yourself through the day. We each live in the world of our minds, and we privy others to viewing only what we want them to see—through our actions, our words, and our facial/bodily expressions. As you seek to master the voices and tones in your mind, your behaviors and resultantly, your life, will change as well.

I would love to help you more if you are serious about making this change. My one-on-one coaching program is affordable and doable if you are committed. You can contact me at kristyjo@body-buddies.com to discuss your goals and what you are ready to change.

Love your bud,