Eat the Red Velvet Cookies: An Open Letter To My 19-Year-Old Self

Dear JoAnn,

Eat the red velvet cookies. You deserve them.

You ran a mile this morning in under eight minutes - that was your goal all summer. You ate a turkey sandwich on wheat bread and drank your 64 ounces of water. You drank your strawberry-banana smoothie with protein powder and had a spinach salad with oil and vinegar as your dressing.

Sure, you ate almost a whole pizza yesterday, but you were hungry - you're on your feet for hours at a time because you work at Papa Murphy's, and you were forced to stare at other people's pizzas all day.

No, seriously, eat the red velvet cookies. You'll appreciate them.

You've been doing so well eating healthy, making sure you have something green on every plate and cutting out sugary drinks. You've completely lost your taste for soda, and you now crave oranges instead of donuts. Your small t shirts fit you again. It's time to reward yourself for your efforts.

Yes, the last time you ate something unhealthy you didn't feel the greatest about yourself, but you appreciate spinach and carrots and broccoli so much more now because you know that putting good food in your body makes you feel good. Now you just have to remind yourself that indulgences can feel good too.

Go ahead and get yourself some of those red velvet cookies. They'll be delicious.

Your favorite athletes and actors have cheat meals. Remember in high school you were obsessed with J.J. Redick and you knew he ate at Five Guys once a week, or something like that? And how your celebrity crush, Bradley Cooper, has said he is able to put away two large pizzas? Every once in a while, this isn't going to kill you.

I know you hit the gym a lot and have foregone the elevators in all the buildings at school. You're so careful in the cafeteria, trying so hard to avoid the greasy, sugary, fatty foods even though they're screaming to be eaten. You don't go out drinking every weekend. You're not falling off the wagon by having one unhealthy thing. Yes, it took you months to get where you are, but it took you that long to get to where you were before, too. Hear me out: one day is not going to undo your success.

So I'm telling you - take a couple red velvet cookies and stick them on your plate. You'll thank me later.

Sincerely,

Your future self.