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We often speak about all the healthy habits we can incorporate into our lifestyle, but allowing ourselves to indulge at times is also important. Nobody can eat perfectly 100% of the time and if you are aiming for that you are sure to have some slip-ups which in the end make you feel like a failure. There are no forbidden foods, just some you should eat more often than others. Healthy eating is not all or none. It is about balance, the 80-20 Rule. Aim to eat healthy foods 80% of the time and not so healthy foods 20% of the time. Give yourself permission to indulge at times, enjoy it and don’t follow it up with guilt. This is called The Pleasure Maximization Principle. Taste your food, enjoy the smell, texture and taste. Be in the moment and eat mindfully.

It’s also possible to indulge and still get nutrients. Take dessert for example. You could indulge in a piece of chocolate cake or a shortbread cookie and not really get much more than sugar, fat, calories and of course pleasure out of it. Or, you could have a brownie made with zucchini and ground flax served with blueberries and get antioxidants, vitamins and pleasure. If you are mindful of your portions, little indulgences can be a part of your regular eating.

Try some of these indulgent dessert ideas that are still packed full of nutrients.

Chocolate covered strawberries. Get the antioxidants and health benefits of both the strawberries and the dark chocolate with pure enjoyment.

Flax oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Flax seeds are a source of omega 3’s and the oatmeal a source of soluble fibre. Together they make this cookie more heart healthy than a regular chocolate chip cookie.

Carrot or zucchini cake. Adding vegetables to cake makes it moist and delicious as well as nutritious. Everyone could use another way to get more veggies!

Sweet crepes filled with berries topped with Iogo Moment vanilla yogurt. The creamy texture of this indulgent yogurt makes it an excellent substitute for whipping cream while still providing you with protein, calcium and vitamin D.

Apple raspberry crisp with oatmeal topping served with Iogo Moment apple caramel yogurt. You get the antioxidants from the berries, soluble fibre from the apples and oats and calcium and vitamin D from the yogurt. Although this new Iogo yogurt contains 8% milk fat it’s still half the fat and less sugar than ice cream and the 100g container only contains 140 kcal.

Fruit kebobs with Iogo Moment strawberry yogurt. An all-natural fruit yogurt made with real fruit and no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.

Grilled peaches or poached pears

Vanilla Panna cotta with brandy cherries. Use Iogo Moment vanilla yogurt in place of whipping cream to keep the calories down. Top it with stewed cherries rich in antioxidants.

Isn’t it nice to know that healthy eating isn’t about perfection? It’s about balance, variety and moderation with a dollop of indulgence.