Indulging in the occasional unhealthy meal or enjoying a delicious dessert like chocolate is part of a healthy lifestyle. Yes, you read that right.

As with any sort of indulging, moderation is key, but allowing yourself to eat treats is essential to sticking to a healthy diet long term. Avoiding sweet and salty foods entirely is not a sustainable option and often leads to binging on unhealthy foods. Instead, eat a little bit every so often to stay satisfied and on track to meet your nutrition goals.

Chocolate in particular can be irresistible, but did you know that it can be good for you? Dark chocolate has an abundance of antioxidants, making the treat a healthy one when eaten a little bit at a time.

Benefits of chocolate include brain and heart health, appetite control, and even a slimmer waistline, according to LiveScience. Research has shown that chocolate eaters tend to weigh less than those who don’t indulge in the treat. Scientists believe that a compound in chocolate may influence how the body processes it, turning it into something other than body fat. Dr. Beatrice Golomb, with the University of California, San Diego, cautions:

“This does not provide free license to eat 30 pounds of chocolate every time you eat chocolate.”

Life everything else in life, moderation is key.

The fiber in chocolate is believed to help people feel fuller and potentially consume fewer calories, which is one way the confection may help with weight management. Chocolate has also been found to help lower blood pressure and enhance how the body reacts to insulin, the hormone that manages blood sugar.

What makes chocolate healthy?

Chocolate contains micronutrients known as polyphenols, which are a type of antioxidant that works to prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease, according to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Cacao, the unsweetened bean from which chocolate is created from, is the source of its antioxidant properties. The effects are so powerful that the University of Michigan includes dark chocolate in its healing foods pyramid.

Even the fat in dark chocolate, although saturated, is a type called stearic acid that doesn’t significantly impact cholesterol levels, according to Weight Watchers. And while chocolate is still a treat to be eaten sparingly, it’s one of the healthiest treats to have and offers far more health benefits than a piece of cake or scoop of ice cream.

Researchers are still working to learn how chocolate works such magic on the body, but the American Chemical Society recently uncovered one way the dessert works its magic in the body.

The stomach contains two types of bacteria—one good and the other harmful, leading to bloating and indigestion. Turns out the good stomach bacteria enjoy dark chocolate as much as humans do; they feast on it, which leads to a fermentation process that produces anti-inflammatory compounds as a byproduct. The healthy compounds in turn help keep cardiovascular tissue healthy and reduce the risk of stroke.

How much chocolate is healthy to eat?

Up to one ounce of chocolate per day is a good amount to reap the health benefits without crossing the line, according to the University of Michigan.

Even though chocolate is healthy for a dessert, it still contains sugar and other additives, so the food is one to enjoy in limited quantities. Despite the many health benefits, it’s still better to ingest antioxidants and fiber from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains instead of chocolate. And some types of chocolate offer more benefit than others.

Dark chocolate containing at least 60% cacao is the healthiest because it contains the least milk. Dairy molecules adhere to the antioxidants, making them less available to help the body reap all the wonderful health benefits. The higher the cacao content a piece of chocolate has, the healthier the chocolate. Higher counts also equate to less sugar, making for a more bitter, complex taste.

High-cacao content chocolate usually includes the percentage on its label while other types simply say “dark chocolate.” If eating chocolate specifically for the health benefits, be wary of packaging that doesn’t provide the exact percentage. Some mass produced dark chocolate from big, household-name brands may not include the minimum 60% cacao content to be considered healthy.

Other things to watch out for on the label are added ingredients. Higher quality chocolate tends to cost more, but has fewer additives that could detract from health benefits. Steer clear of chocolate containing palm or coconut oils, looking instead for those containing cocoa butter. Also try to avoid items with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils that can elevate cholesterol levels.

For the absolute best chocolate, go for organic or bars with fair-trade ingredients, which means the farmers and workers were paid good wages for their work.

Of course, if you like milk chocolate, go ahead and enjoy it. Just keep in mind that you’re not getting the maximum health benefits available. Either way, the desserts are meant to be eaten in moderation, and are a perfectly acceptable component of a healthy diet.

Other ways of indulging healthy

Some people opt to designate “cheat” meals or days where they allow themselves to eat whatever they want. So you might eat a diet based on fish and vegetables, but every Saturday enjoy fried chicken and ice cream.

The trick is having the discipline to keep cheating restricted only to that day or meal. It’s easy to let relaxed rules infiltrate during non-cheat times, but if you eat too much of an unhealthy food, it’s okay. Just start again and move forward without becoming too frustrated. Everyone makes mistakes.

To help restrict sweets to certain times or day of the week, consider finding healthy recipes that recreate the taste but with less sugar, fat, and calories. If you have a sweet tooth, experiment with making delicious, healthy smoothies. Those who enjoy salty foods like potato chips may want to try peanut butter coated on a piece of celery. It’s not quite the same, but will help tide you over until your designated indulging time.

And remember, an ounce of dark chocolate a day is a perfectly healthy way to satiate that ever-demanding sweet tooth while staying healthy at the same time.

Do you like dark chocolate?

Image by Ginny via Flickr

If you’re looking for body positive inspiration, look no further than social media to keep you motivated and feeling good. These superstars come in a range of sizes, and many have overcome physical or emotional hardships while on their journey to greater health.

From plus-sized yoga superstars to muscular hard bodies, these inspirational body positive fitness aficionados offer encouraging words to help you accept yourself no matter where you are on your health journey.

1. @AmbivalentMindYoga on Instagram

Kristy Rae’s more than 4,500 followers support this yoga-loving lady’s journey to health and commitment to a body positive mindset that she documents on Instagram.

Rae’s inspiring captions range from frustrations related to being a plus-sized athlete, like when an expensive yoga apparel store showcased plus-size yoga pants on a non-plus-sized model’s body, to encouraging mantras like, “Every body is a good body.”

2. @Massy.Arias on Instagram

This hard-bodied Instagram personality attracted 1.6 million followers for her passionate persistence, but Arias, also known as MankoFit, wasn’t always a celebrity trainer. She overcame debilitating depression through fitness and often says that fitness saved her life.

On her account, Arias posts body positive inspirational sayings, ideas for nutritious, easy-to-prepare meals, and fuel to flame the fire of dedication. On her website, Arias writes:

“I one day hope to influence a new generation of trainers to teach people a lifestyle instead of a quick fix to get a bikini body. I want to teach people to fully believe that being healthy really is being happy.”

3. @MyNameIsJessaMyn on Instagram

Jessamyn is a plus-sized Instagram yogi who inspires more than 33,000 followers every day, posting videos that embrace her curvy physique. Jessamyn offers a humorous approach to her curvaceous body, calling herself “fat femme” in her biographical blurb.

She posts about her daily experiences with yoga, offering workout tips and advice on the best equipment to use, and occasional thoughts about life. Above all, Jessamyn offers proof that there is not one stereotypical yoga body—all bodies are yoga bodies.

4. @Modern.Yogi on Instagram

This social media yogi posts pictures along with original, inspirational captions encouraging readers to accept and love themselves no matter where they are in life.

Modern Yogi, whose real name is Suzanne, became dedicated to health and wellness after a breast cancer diagnosis at 27. Today, she shares with readers her journey towards greater peace, self-acceptance, and health while following her dreams of writing books and teaching yoga.

Through sharing her progress and impasses, she aims to inspire others to follow their dreams, too, no matter what they encounter along the way.

5. Positive Body Image Inspiration on Facebook

Join this community of 3,400-plus people seeking to encourage each other to love themselves exactly how they are. Page organizers write:

“Too long we have been told by the media that our bodies are not right. They aren’t beautiful, and they aren’t aesthetically pleasing. This is a big middle finger to body shame.”

Like the page and your news feed will fill with articles full of reasons to love your belly no matter what and a list of compliments that honor all a person is. Examples include “you’re so fun to talk to” and “I’m so happy you exist.”

6. Body Positive Yoga blog

Run by yoga teacher Amber Karnes, Body Positive Yoga features tips for practicing poses safely, inspiration for feeling fit and fabulous regardless of size, and general life wisdom.

One recent post encouraged readers to live life now and not wait until the ideal body landed on their doorstep. It ended with ways to leave the past behind by staying in the present moment, taking baby steps to living the life you always wanted.

Karnes also posts on Instagram with the handle @amber_karnes.

7. Positive Body Image on Instagram and Tumblr

Run by two Canadian girls wanting to inspire people to love themselves, these pages are filled with inspirational body positive quotes and sayings to help readers see their beauty. This account features all quotes and no personal images. The girls write:

“Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change.”

8. @Kaym86 on Instagram

This account, run by Kaleigh Mancha, features pictures of yoga, fun, and food—including healthy comfort food and dessert recipes. In her captions, Mancha encourages people to enjoy life by focusing on the simple things and doing what makes them happy.

9. Plus Size Princess blog

CeCe, the Plus Size Princess, curates her blog content with one motto in mind: don’t wait on your weight.

Here, readers will find workouts and advice for healthy living, such as nutritious snacks to bring on an airplane and an entire section devoted to nutritious recipes. CeCe writes that she’s lost a good amount of weight and the key was loving herself no matter what. Other sections on the blog include dating and fashion.

CeCe also uploads frequent videos to YouTube and posts on Instagram.

10. Love Your Body blog

Blogger Talia Fuhrman, daughter of best-selling health book author Dr. Joel Fuhrman, grew up eating dried papaya and persimmons during lunch at school while her friends ate Lunchables and sugary fake fruit snacks.

Her background led to a healthy relationship with food and body image; Fuhrman says she doesn’t weigh herself and her No. 1 goal is to encourage people to have fun with health and love themselves no matter what.

Love Your Body contains healthy recipes and posts about body positive psychology, the practice of viewing life with an eye on possibility and mind focused on the beauty that exists everywhere. She writes:

“Remember that the sun will always shine, a simple cup of tea will always warm you up, and a hug from a close friend of family member will always make you feel great.”

Fuhrman defines health as an attitude, the process of learning enough about yourself to know what you need at each moment of the day. Taking steps backward and forward is part of the process, she says, but ultimately that tango helps people learn their triggers for unhealthy behaviors and how to avoid them.

Who is your favorite body positive blogger or social media personality?

Image by Kiran Foster via Flickr

Amidst the barrage of skinny worshiping that happens on a daily basis, it can be difficult for those who don’t fit into a size small to feel good about themselves. People with health conditions like chronic pain may feel especially pressured to lose weight, and any difficulty shedding pounds frequently leads to frustration.

If this describes you, take heart: you’re perfect the way you are.

If you decide that you want to eat healthier or lose weight because you want to feel better or see if those changes reduce feelings of pain, that is completely your choice. But don’t beat yourself up because of the numbers on a scale.

If you do want to feel healthier, it may be helpful to think about the effort as a wellness journey. Stop scrutinizing your weight and start focusing on how different foods and behaviors make you feel. Do what feels good and forget about the rest.

Focus on what feels good. See which foods and activities leave you feeling amazing and include more of them in your life.

Despite the pervasive glorification of stick-thin models and actresses, many real, everyday people are changing their perspectives to focus on wellbeing and not just being skinny. You may have seen a popular saying on social media: strong is the new skinny. Many now believe it’s better to eat well and be fit than practice deprivation to achieve a number on a scale.

Culturally, the tide seems to be shifting away from the emphasis on fitting into skinny jeans and toward figuring out what it means to be healthy and well. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Kent found that health care professionals who framed wellness in terms of weight harmed patients’ progress when compared with experts who emphasized more inclusive approaches that emphasized being healthy regardless of size.

Hostility towards obesity and “fat shaming” encourages yo-yo diets that aren’t effective for maintaining weight loss but do harm mental health, researchers said. The issue isn’t a “weight” problem, they added, noting the link between social factors such as racism and poverty to obesity.

Scientists also noted that people come in different sizes—not everybody is small-boned and primed for a slender body. Switching the emphasis to wellbeing would help people focus on what really matters: eating well and increasing activity levels. After all, many extremely skinny people don’t eat healthy or exercise. Weight truly isn’t the ultimate barometer of health.

Part of the difficulties many people encounter when trying to lose weight is that it’s hard to find the time to exercise or eat well. And the constant, conflicting information about what it takes to live a healthy lifestyle leads to rampant confusion.

Most U.S. adults find their taxes simpler to understand than healthy eating, study says.

76% of adults say they don’t know what to believe when it comes to making wise nutrition choices, according to a study by the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC). Obviously, becoming healthier is more difficult than it should be.

While 90% of U.S. adults think about the nutritional quality of their food, most reported choosing food based more on taste than nutrition. And who can blame them?

Many diets heavily restrict the types of foods one can eat, with some focusing on eating large quantities of meat or copious amounts of fruit. People who successfully adhere to these diets often tout them as if they were the only way. But everyone’s body is different and dietary needs vary based on genetics, lifestyle, and health conditions.

Meanwhile, severe restriction often leads to deprivation and binging on unhealthy foods. An inclusive approach based on moderation and a focus on feeling good may bring the results you seek.

When it comes to chronic pain, conflicting messages muddy the guidelines even more. Some pieces of advice recommend staying away from gluten or nightshade vegetables, while others admonish patients to avoid meat or sugar.

Experimenting with various diets to find one that works best for you is a great way to learn to manage pain naturally. However, it’s easy to get swept away by success stories—sometimes so swept away that we believe them despite our own experience of the opposite.

This wellness journey is one that you’re on, and you alone. Listen to your body and see which foods nourish you and which leave you feeling unwell. Do you feel energetic and light after a meal or heavy and tired? Sleepiness, excessive fullness, or vague feelings of unease could be signals that your body would like different foods.

Base your decisions off that and forget about the scale. The most important thing is to feel well.

And if you want to indulge, then indulge. It’s far better to eat ice cream once each week than to completely remove it from your diet and one day eat a gallon straight from the carton because you’re deprived of a favorite food.

Try striking a balance between seeing food as fuel and a source of pleasure.

In the range of eating habits, from meals of fast food, chips, and soda to those of salads with a double helping of carrots, most people fall somewhere in the middle.

You may find it overwhelming to completely overhaul your diet, but still find that you want to make a few changes. The best way to make those changes is by taking the middle road, and doing it one step at a time.

If you’re looking for pointers on eating healthy, take some cues from healthy countries around the world:

• In Japan, eating small portions of brightly colored vegetables ensures diners avoid overeating while ingesting a variety of nutrients.
• In France, people value food as pleasure, eating tiny squares of rich, dark chocolate for dessert instead of large cups of frozen yogurt, for example. Savor every bite of those small portions, skipping the low-calorie version, and you might find yourself more satisfied.
• In India, cooks flavor food with aromatic, delicious, and healthy spices like turmeric and ginger. Taste the flavor and enjoy the health benefits, like lowered inflammation.

What are your thoughts about switching your focus from weight to wellbeing?

Image by David Amsler via Flickr