Confession: Sometimes I have truffle popcorn for dinner while watching Sex and the City, instead of sitting down with a nice candle and having a real dinner.

Why? Because sometimes it’s really important – and crucial for your health – to eat what you want, when you want it.

I’ve been ordering this amazing, all-organic crispy quinoa and warm (cooked) kale salad with citrus vinaigrette, pomegranate seeds and grilled salmon from a local joint at least once a week.

Last week, some amazing looking grass-fed short rib toast caught my eye as well.

Photo: Food & Wine

I wanted it, and I could feel every inch of my body craving the protein and carbohydrates.

The salad and toast arrived and I dug into the toast first, slowly relishing every delicious bite.

By the time I was through with my little toast soldiers, I glanced at my salad with disdain and pushed it aside.

And I LOVE that salad.

But what I needed in that moment were those cute little toasts.

Instead of beating myself up for foregoing the greens this once, I trusted that my body needed carbohydrates and protein and that I would get my greens in at the next meal.

I didn’t force myself to eat the salad first, or worse, long for those short rib toasts and deny myself.

Because guess what happens when you deny your body what it wants and needs?

You binge.

Yes.

You restrict, restrict, restrict, and then you finally bust open at the seams and eat an entire pizza.

The sane route? Have the highest quality version of what you want, eat it slowly, and enjoy it fully with zero guilt.

Satisfaction and pleasure boost metabolism, while guilt actually suppresses metabolic function.

How crazy is that?

The lesson? Have a small, high-quality amount of what you want when you want it to avoid binges. And don’t eat something that does not look or feel appetizing to you.

Your body will naturally crave healthy food when you teach it to do so – but that’s a different story for a different day.

The benefits of eating what you want, slowly and sensually?

1. Weight loss.

2. Greater satisfaction with food, and in life.

3. Faster metabolism.

4. Mental sanity around food.

Are you with me?

Have you ever forced yourself to eat something when you really wanted something else?

Did you end up binging later on? Or feeling unsatisfied and grumpy?

I want to hear from you in the comments below. What’s one time you ignored your cravings and ended up going crazy on the cookies a few hours later?