What's in What You Eat?It is said you are what you eat, from your head to your feet. So why not know… What's in what you eat?

When following a solid eating plan, the occasional treat is eventually going to happen, and should happen. While some people think if they are going to treat themselves, they should eat whatever they want, the truth is that some things should never be consumed, and some are going to have a bigger impact on the body and your progress than others.

Rule #1: Keep them rare.

Having one good meal of eating and then taking a break isn’t going to get you anywhere. Same goes for eating good one day and then going off. Try to keep them to once per week.

Rule#2: Don’t plan them.

People often like to say something in the lines of “I’ll go strict until Saturday and then have a treat then” or have their own reasoning behind planning in a treat meal. It is much better to avoid it and just let it happen when it comes up socially. What happens when you eat a treat Thursday night by yourself and then you get dinner invitations the following night? The once a week treat is now happening at least twice.

Rule#3: Avoid fake food

Even during a well earned treat meal, synthetic food should be avoided. The destructiveness of this is too high for it to be worth it. Eat real, good food. Especially avoid trans fat and high fructose corn syrup.

Rule #4: Avoid fast food

Don’t have your treats be at McDonald’s or Dairy Queen. Go for something that tastes better and doesn’t violate rule #3

Rule #5: Stay gluten free

The recovery time for eating gluten can be as much as 2 weeks. It really isn’t worth it at least to me anymore to put my body through that struggle.

Here’s a list of the best and worst treats you can have. When searching through the dessert menu at a restaurant try one of these before you go into the real bad areas.

Desserts:

Best:

-Dark chocolate
-Coconut milk ice cream
-Flourless chocolate truffle cake (often on menus)
-Chocolate mousse (often on menus)
-Chocolate covered strawberries
-Panna Cotta, Creme Brulee, Flan, Custard (often on menus)

Ok:

-Milk chocolate
-Dairy Ice cream (includes gelato, frozen custard, frozen yogurt)

Avoid:

-Cake
-Cookies
-Brownies

Non-sweets:

Best:
-Sweet potato fries

Ok:
-Gluten free grains (rice, corn, etc)
-Legumes
-French fries
-White potatoes
-Potato chips

-Corn / rice tortillas / chips

Avoid:
-Bread
-Pasta
-Wheat tortillas / chips
- Any gluten containing grain