My first real post, on a partial health and fitness blog, is about ice cream. (Ironic, I know) And not about how horrible it is for you either... If you're anything like me, your sitting around at night, possibly somewhat bored, and more than likely trying to avoid entertaining the screaming appetite for junk food in the back of your mind. It's not a huge secret that girls suffer more from the bittersweet comfort food love affair in general than guys, and that it's harder for the gals to lose the pounds. But men suffer too, and all of us are prone to giving in every now and then if not every time. On top of that, our plunge for the sweets usually ends up being extremely detrimental to our diets and our health, because we figure, "Oh, I've already screwed up, it's a lost cause, I'll start again tomorrow" ...or something of the like, you get the picture. And that, my friends, is what keeps all of us from losing weight physically and from gaining strength and confidence mentally (which is what usually leads to success). If we keep on this cycle of healthy eating and exercise then the dreaded nights of binging and guilt, we can't begin to believe in ourselves and believe that we can really make progress. Healthy living is 98% mental. First comes the knowledge, then the determination to put it into action, then the most important part, the confidence in yourself. The unhealthy binge cycle takes away the confidence in yourself, and eventually, your determination, and a lot of people just give up. Don't give up. So what does this have to do with ice cream? I'm getting there. Whether your cravings are the healthy kind, (ex. you've been eating healthily all week and being active every day without any reward) or the unhealthy kind, (you have insulin resistance, you have a sugar addiction, you're eating to cure emotional extremes) we all need to learn to make the best choices we can even when it comes to indulgence. Stay positive, look for the nutritional value even in the desserts you eat, calorie content, serving size, everything. Don't beat yourself up because your human and you have weaknesses. Just be smart about it. If you are living a healthy lifestyle for the most part, it is actually helpful to give yourself a "cheat day" to up your morale and reward yourself for all that hard work.