Venus Cow says, "A little of what you fancy will not harm you but to obliviously overindulge is just plain greedy."

We have to impose some self control on ourselves. Over eating, being a pig, is down to subconscious comfort binging which is all about filling a big void to eventually feel satisfied but sadly it never works because we end up feeling bloated, guilty and depressed. Healthy eating is very different to deprivation. Many middle aged women struggle unsuccessfully to lose weight when on a strict unrealistic diet because deprivation feeds desire and can lead to overindulgence at the first opportunity, taking us straight to failure in our weight loss battle.

It is vital to know how much you are eating at any one time. Do you know what a healthy serving of ice cream is? How many calories and how much fat it contains? It is really important to understand this when thinking about controlled indulgence, so invest in some small containers and measure out the desired amount of ice cream and if you find yourself wanting more, then you must throw away the ice cram tub and recognize you can not be trusted to be in control of your eating.

When you are watching what you eat because you want to be thin more than you want to be fat, you must allow yourself one treat a day, perhaps two biscuits, a small piece of cake, a small container of ice cream and enjoy the taste instead of shovelling down bucket loads without thought. Fat free frozen fruit yogurt is an ideal healthy replacement for ice cream and you can indulge until the cows come home without clogging up your system. So give it a go and try something new.

Ration yourself and don’t keep high fat, sugary treats around the house because you will always be tempted. The philosophy of controlled indulgence applies to most addictive behaviour and is for those times when you might be tempted to overindulge. It’s fine to have a drink to loosen up or enjoy socially but having two bottles to knock you out or give you fake confidence is fatal if you are looking to find true happiness. We have to learn to enjoy everything that is bad for our health or happiness by understanding the joys of controlled indulgence.

Venus Cow says, "By learning to recognise and respond when you are stepping over the fine line to being out of control you can have your cake and eat it."

A key aspect of greed is that greed is never satisfied no matter how much we eat, drink or are obsessed with material things. Greed has no purpose because it can never be satisfied. Only you can discover your true purpose, true peace, and true satisfaction.

Venus Cow says, "Controlled indulgence is the key to training your brain into saying enough is enough."

Photo by: Taylor Deas-Melesh Unsplash