Are Girl Scout cookies healthy? No. But you already knew that.
Do our wellness dietitians promote Girl Scout cookies as nourishing foods? No again. But you probably knew that too.
So why do we have a blog post on this subject? Why not just tell you not to eat them? Because that’s not realistic and it does nothing but create shame around eating, which is more harmful in the long run than a couple of cookies. Wellness and well-being means supporting your body, mind and spirit in all kinds of situations. Supporting your spirit might mean buying some cookies from your niece to support her troop. Supporting your mind might mean eating some comfort cookies that bring you back to a time of carefree nostalgia when yourself were a Girl Scout or perhaps your sister or your neighbor; and eating that comfort food without judgement or criticism. So that leaves us with supporting your body. How can we support the body through highly processed, high glycemic eating? We can eat these cookies differently: we can change the serving size, we can create new recipes with other nourishing ingredients alongside the cookies, and we can eat them in a mindful state to truly enjoy the cookies without creating a stress response from eating them. So before you eat that entire sleeve of Thin Mints in one sitting, and before sneaking those Samoas quickly from your desk drawer before anyone notices, try on some of these ideas to have your cookies and eat them too.
- Eat one portion (or less) at a time. Read that label – how many cookies IS a serving? Stick to that so you know your numbers. Better yet, eat mindfully enough that you notice when maybe 1 cookie was actually just enough.
- Eat cookies alongside protein. Protein is crucial in helping to lower the glycemic response of sugar. So smear some almond butter on that Thin Mint, make a sandwich out of blended cottage cheese between 2 trefoils, or make an easy PBJ parfait with some yogurt and Do-Si-Dos!
- Eat cookies after a meal or snack. The dopamine rush of the sugar on a hungry tummy will only create unnecessary cravings that are hard to fight against. Plan to have a light meal or even a handful of fibrous veggies and nuts before indulging so that you are already feeling some satiety and the cookie response isn’t quite as strong.
- Eat cookies mindfully. This is perhaps the most important one. Take one bite at a time. Chew slowly and pay attention to the flavors. What do you notice and how is your brain and body feeling when you truly pay attention? Also put the box away before eating mindfully so you don’t get distracted by the idea of more.
- Eat cookies and move on. It does no one any good for you to simmer and stress about those extra cookies you ate after lunch. Additional stress creates cortisol spikes that prevent digestion and prevent mindful eating habits moving forward. So you caved and had an extra one? So what? Start paying attention to your body and your food needs again right now and simply move on.
Happy cookie season everyone!
