Confession: I didn’t become a health coach because I wanted to be perfect. I became a health coach because I wanted to get healthy, stay healthy, and help others do both those things.

And I think it’s healthy, when presented with something that looks like The Candybar (from Taste in Plymouth, California), to eat it. After all, this is not cheap chocolate wrapped in a dark brown wrapper.

Here’s my thinking. It’s what you do most that counts. I mean, if I ate this every night, that would NOT be healthy. But this is a “very sometimes” food–one that happens only on very special occasions. When it becomes nightly, it becomes an obesegnic habit.

On the surprise winetasting trip I planned for my husband’s 50th birthday last weekend, there were plenty of obesegnic choices to be made. I’m talking every few hours–new choices. During one of those times, one friend said, “I’ve eaten chocolate lava cake for the past five nights.” (She’d been on a cruise.) That’s going to hurt. At that point, you run the risk of lava cake being the norm and that’s asking for trouble.

But once in awhile is once in awhile. Just choose your indulgences carefully and spread them out so they don’t spread you out. Then, be ready to refocus.

All this to say, with Thanksgiving coming up, don’t make it a month long celebration that begins with the launch of the Gingerbread latte from Starbucks and coordinating holiday bars. Insulate yourself with healthy habits so on that special occasion like your husband’s 50th, you can indulge in The Candybar and truly enjoy it.