Cheat Clean


Cheat Clean


There are multiple reasons why one day you might want to stray from your normal, clean eating pattern. Be it a bad day at the office, a way to celebrate some good news or quite simply you are craving it. Unfortunately, no matter how strong your need to eat whatever you like is, for some reason lots of us can't help but feel guilty afterwards and how unfair is that? After a week of strict eating, one bad meal realistically isn't going to change any of the hard work, but yet we find it easy to feel bad about ourselves for doing so. 

I have suffered from this feeling many times, mainly down to my portion control. If I have gone without any 'bad food' for a while, once I get a taste for it, I find it hard to stop, even when I am stuffed. The original desire for the food is usually long gone and all that's left is the taste of guilt.  

However, I have recently come up with a plan. Looking through many healthy eating accounts on instagram, I have come to realise it is totally possible work treats into daily life if you keep them clean and healthy. This way you can have all the joy of treating yourself, without the after guilt. This could potentially eliminate cravings and binges that happen as a result. I decided to look more closely into it and give it a go.

Firstly, I went out and restocked my cupboard with 10 delicious, raw, healthy ingredients:



1. Coconut oil
2. Coconut flour
3. Almond flour
4. Lots of unsalted, untreated nuts – eg. cashews, almonds, pecans etc
5. Almond Milk
6. Cacao Powder
7. Agave Nectar/Honey
8. Any flavour Nut butter
9. Oats
10. Dates


Secondly, I found some recipes which I wanted to replicate and test out and thirdly I started creating some magic. Let me share these with you



2 healthy dessert alternatives

1Raw Twixt Bar Bites 

For the ultimate chocolate lover, these no bake 4 layer bites are unbelievably delicious, containing only raw, healthy ingredients

Bottom Brownie layer
Blend:
25g Almonds, 25g pecans, 12.5g agave nectar, Drop chocolate extract

2nd Caramel layer
Blend and layer:
1tbsp melted coconut oil, 25dates, 1tbsp almond milk

3rd Cookie Layer
 Blend and layer: 
25g cashews, 25g almonds, 1.5tbsp agave nectar, dash vanilla extract


Chocolate Coat
 Mix and drizzle over cookie layer: tbsp raw cacao powder, 1.5tbsp agave nectar, dash coconut oil



2 healthy dessert alternatives  1

Nutty Apple Pie

These apple pies are perfect for a treat after dinner, containing absolutely no refined sugar or processed carbs. Just what you want from a guilt free delicious dessert.



Nutty Base

Mix:

8 Dates, 25g cashews, 25g pecans

Apple Filling

Peel and cut up some cooking apples and place in the microwave until soft and juicy. Add cinnamon if you want and fill the tarts.

Place in the oven at 180 degrees for 5-10min and enjoy!

3. Nutty Ganache Slices


Bottom Brownie Layer

Blend:
6 dates, 100g oats, 40g mixed nuts, 4tbsp almond milk

Ganache Top
Mix:
1/2tbsp melted coconut oil, 1.5tbsp cacao powder, 1tbsp agave nectar


In 7 days, I ate all 3 of these desserts, never once feeling at all guilty for doing so. Nor did I feel the need to binge at any point, because I knew these weren't specific one off tastes which would have to last a week until the next cheat meal. None of these desserts have anything bad in them- no refined sugar or processed rubbish etc. In essence they were no different from eating a bowl of yoghurt with a handful of dried fruit, nuts and seeds. The only difference was the taste and joy factor that they brought. Indeed I have seen great results this week with my body image and haven't felt like adding in these treats has had any bad impact. 

I urge you to give this a go and try to 'cheat clean'. This way it doesn't have to be a one off treat, as it can be worked into your normal day to day diet. Have a look through the people I follow on instagram ( @nextstopfit4 ), because there are some amazing accounts with some great looking recipes. 

Good luck and let me know how you guys get on making these recipes or trying out your own. Hopefully this way we can beat that guilty feeling and start to feel good about treating ourselves! 

Email: nextstopfit@hotmail.com
Tweet: @nextstopfit4
Insta: @nextstopfit4