A Cupcake A Day?

Can Sweets Actually Be Good For You?

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Q: Dear April Masini,

Lately I've been seeing so many "healthy sweets," it's kind of exciting. I mean, who wouldn't want a cupcake that can help reduce your cholesterol? And with so many 100 calorie packs, I can always be eating my favorite foods! Are we, as a culture, actually going to buy the idea that some sweets can actually be good and beneficial for us?

Sincerely,

A Dream Come True

A:

Dear A Dream Come True,

Oh, come on!! There is no way -- no matter how hard big business tries to do it -- that they are going to sell the American public into believing that a cupcake a day keeps the doctor away. It just isn't happening!

That said....people will believe what they want to believe in order to do what they want to do. And if the cupcake is tempting enough, they'll find a way to convince themselves that they're better off eating it than not eating it.

Personally, I think that cookies and cupcakes absolutely have a place in every diet. It's important to eat what you like and reward yourself and celebrate with what you like. In fact, eat two cupcakes -- but not every day, and not even every week or every month.

A successful diet and health routine really does involve knowing yourself, your body, your metabolism, your cravings, and your own behavior. Some people eat when they're depressed. If you're one of those people, and you're feeling the blues coming on, stock your house with berries, veggies, and other lo-cal, healthy foods. If you need a sweet fix, have it. But make sure that the rest of your day and/or week is nutritionally fit.

Slacking off from exercise or healthy food is not going to change your life, just like eating a salad once a week is not going to make you healthy if the rest of your food is chips, donuts, and soda.

So while those cupcakes and cookies are calling, enjoy -- but as a celebration, not a steady diet.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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