According to experts, cravings are generally acceptable.

Raise your hand if you have already started eating healthy foods (well done for green smoothies and cereal bowls!) … only to start desperately running out of your favorite treats before day three? The fight is so real. And yes, it's true that eating cravings can be your body telling you that you need more sleep, or that it needs more salt after training. But sometimes you just need a cheese cake or a french fries order, you know?

This is where healthy eating becomes difficult because, while it is tempting to completely eliminate "bad" foods or replace them with healthier dupes, these strategies do not work for most people. In addition, resisting the food you dream of can become not only an exercise in will, but a total distraction from other things in your life.

To find the right balance between what you like and what you eat well, the experts have a somewhat counter-intuitive suggestion: indulge in this desire.

It is not new that a balanced approach to healthy eating is more sustainable than adherence to strict dietary rules.

Of course, some foods may be more nutritious than others, but trying to avoid foods that you think are "bad" and eating only "good" foods is not likely to make you healthier. "When you say something is forbidden, you will probably think about it more often," says Judith Matz, LCSW, co-author of Diet Survivor's Handbook: 60 lessons on diet, acceptance and personal care. You know how, when you were a child and your parents told you not to do something, making you even more desperate to do that? Yes, this also applies to cravings. "When you end up eating it, there's a good chance you're eating too much or you're gnawing at that food, which is a natural reaction to deprivation," says Matz. This creates a disgrace of overeating and can cause a person to return to restriction mode, and the cycle continues.

On the other hand, giving yourself permission to eat what you want often leads to a balanced diet without food fixation. "Our body looks like a wide variety of foods. I'd like to think about having a healthy relationship with food, instead of trying to eat only "healthy" foods, "explains Matz.

When you learn to eat what you want without feeling guilty, you will probably find that cravings for eating "unhealthy" foods become much less intense.

You may think, "If I gave in to all my cravings, I would eat biscuits for breakfast, lunch and dinner!" It's a common answer, and it could be the case in the beginning. "The deprivation of certain foods makes you eat too much when your control breaks down" or when you finally allow yourself to eat them, says Matz. But that does not last forever.

"When you eat what you want and the feeling of restriction or rarefaction is gone, you can adapt to your body, listen and decide whether you want a food or not," says Alissa Rumsey MS, RD, Nutrition Therapist and founder of Alissa Rumsey Nutrition and Wellness. "And finally, everyone gets to the point where he has no more intense cravings. This is explained in research by the science of habituation: the more you are exposed to a food, the less you are interested in it. "

Here is how habituation works. You know how, when you hear this new single from Ariana Grande for the first time on the radio, you can not get enough of it … but you start hearing it every time you get in your car , and you're a little crazy it's a week later? The habit works like this – when you feed him a food often enough, a person ends up eating less of that over time. For example, a small study in 2011 examined the long-term effects of habituation on a group of 32 obese and non-obese women for five weeks. Some women were presented with macaroni and cheese once a week, and others each day … while women who came across macaroni and cheese every day ended up eating less than those who did. only once a week. . In summary, if you regularly incorporate a food you want in your diet, you will end up with fewer problems over time because it will not be so new to you.

Trying to deceive your body by eating a "healthier" version of what you dream of usually does not work.

Less-calorie versions of our favorite comfort foods – cauliflower pizza, banana ice cream, spaghetti squash and meatballs – are ubiquitous. And there is nothing wrong with these foods per se; they are certainly healthier than their carbohydrate counterparts. However, if you want a sandwich with thick slices of crusty bread, these substitutes will probably not meet your expectations. (Sorry, but sweet potato slices are not the same as yeast.)

"Trying to deceive your body never works," says Rumsey. "Although the" healthy "version can physically fill you up, it will probably not result in mental satisfaction – which means you'll always end up looking for more food to fill that void."

That said, exchanges of this type certainly have their place in the daily diet of some people. "If you have a specific health problem, then a substitution may feel like taking care of you," says Matz. If you have high cholesterol, for example, replacing the sorbet with ice cream could be a way to satisfy your cravings for sweets while taking into account your state of health. And if you have celiac disease but still love pizzas, a white cabbage crust is probably the best way to continue enjoying it.

But for most people, eating the real deal is the best option when it's what you really want to eat. "If you constantly substitute what you really want for" healthy "foods, you risk feeling that way," said Matz.

In the end, making you want to eat will not hurt a balanced diet.

Of course, this does not give you carte blanche to start eating cheeseburgers and fried chicken every day. However, it is usually good to consider some food cravings, which will facilitate the maintenance of a healthy diet in the long run.

Even with all this insurance, you might still worry that a healthy diet is totally ignored when you start eating what you really want. This is where you learn to listen to your body. "When you have a compelling need, think about what it will give to your body, as well as to your taste. You may go a little too far with cookies one day (which is OK!), But you will realize later that it made you feel bad all afternoon. Keep this in mind the next time you honor a cookie craving, and if you stop after one or two years, you will feel like listening to your body, as opposed to a sensation restriction.

As mentioned by Matz and Rumsey, cravings for less nutritious foods should be less intense and less frequent once you start to respect them. "I've never met anyone who only looks for foods like cakes, sweets, ice cream and potato chips, just like I've never met someone else." who only wants salads, fruits and vegetables, "says Matz.

TL version; DR: Go ahead and eat that slice of cake or a bowl of cheese macaroni whenever you want, then move on. Trust that you are not going to sea, and remember that you will probably be sucking up a cereal bowl packed with vegetables or a fresh fruit salad in the not-too-distant future. Indeed, a balanced diet has room for indulgences.

Here's how a writer learned to love food while knowing * too * a lot about nutrition. And here's the healthiest (and always the most delicious) bread, according to RDs.