Every time I say that forbidden sentence, at least one person gives me a speech on my health and treating my body properly… But if I want a double chocolate chip cookie, I going to eat it and I’m going to eat it proudly.

See, I’m all for working out and living a healthy lifestyle. In fact, I love working out and I also work at a gym. But, I just don’t believe in restricting yourself certain foods. I’ve heard some people say, “I haven’t eaten chips in over a year!” Quite honestly, I almost immediately feel bad for them. I’m aware of the negative affect junk food has on our bodies, but please also be aware that I’m not an extremist cookie eater either.

I went through a dieting phase during my teenage years, from special shakes, to counting every single calorie, to an all time extreme baby food diet. Did they work? Well, I did lose weight. Was I happy? Nope. I started to hate eating, the chewing sound, the feeling of food being all mushed up in your mouth, it disgusted me. But, once I started taking the time to take care of myself, I loved eating and I looked forward to every meal and snack throughout my day.

I want to treat my body properly and feed it good foods but, it’s also important I take care of my mental health. And hey, chips make me happy! But, so does working out. In life, it’s important to find a healthy balance between treating yourself to goodies and treating yourself to a healthy lifestyle. Finding that balance may take time, and you might steer off more towards one place but that’s OK because there’s always a few mistakes along the way. Without them, we wouldn’t learn in life.

So, eat a cookie if you want and eat a carrot afterwards and heck, throw in 5 sit ups to make up for it but do what makes your body happy and healthy. After all, those are the two most important H’s in life.