I love to bake! Like LOVE LOVE to bake, and I think I 'm pretty darn good at it too. But somewhere along the line of this weight loss journey, I realized that I shouldn't bake. It is too much of a temptation for me and I have a real hard time resisiting the urge to indulge. I can have store bought cookies in the house and not touch one, but give me a batch of homemade and I can easily eat them all!
I always wanted to be the mom that had fresh baked cookies ready when the kiddos got home from school. That is not a reality for me.
November is coming and it's the start of baking season for many people. I have some shortbread in the oven right now for tonight. How do you cope with it? Do you have any tactics that work for you?
There is a woman in my weight loss group that has managed to lose all of her weight and she is a wonderful baker....I'm talking, like, makes homemade fudge to hand out on Halloween and all the kids go to her house for some, kind of baker. Her tip is this.....before she starts, she has a sink full of hot soapy water and the minute she is done with something, like the beaters and bowl, it goes right into the sink of water. She must just exercise pure self control not to eat the raw dough. I mean, I know I have about 6 cookies before I even get them in the oven!
But the thing is, we try to blame the temptations on the time of year. Come the end of the year, people feel bombarded by Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are parties and celebrations and it goes on F-O-R-E-V-E-R! In our house, that is how it seems.
I will give you a brief overview of celebrations from Oct - Jan.
In October we have Thanksgiving and Halloween. End of November is Abby's birthday and then a couple weeks later in December is Hayden's birthday. Less then a week after that is Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years. In that time frame, we celebrate with my parents, my mom's side of the family and Brian's brother. Don't forget to throw in a couple work parties and our weight loss group goes out for dinner too!
How many of us say that after Christmas is over, we will buckle down and get back on track. I mean, that is the exact reason that gym memberships spike in January.
But here's the hard truth! We are constantly surrounded by temptation and we just have to learn to deal with it. Pick what means the most. Never will I NOT have birthday cake with my kids. But perhaps I will have a smaller piece and no ice cream. I enjoy the turkey dinner more then dessert, so maybe I will choose to indulge in that aspect.
Unless you have iron will power and can avoid any and all temptation, you have to find a way to make it work for you. Indulge but don't overindulge. Don't let it make you lose sight of the reasons you are working so hard. If you do overindulge, don't feel guilty about it, let it go and move on. Do better from that moment on!
You are all wonderful, strong people and can do this. Let's do it together!
This might not work with the kiddos' birthdays, but this year John and I both had cake... made up entirely of fruit! Remember the watermelon Boston Bruins cake I made him?!?? Entirely fruit, so virtually guilt-free! We also made cupcakes to satisfy the sweet tooth, though, which was good because we made a small batch (one for each of us and an extra one for the b-day boy) and it really helped.
ReplyDeleteAs for baking, your friend's soapy sink idea sounds fabulous! Maybe, if you really need to eat some raw dough, though, you are allowed one small swipe of the finger/spatula before tossing it in. One. Small. Swipe. As in, most of the bowl is already submerged in the soapy water.
I believe in you! I think you CAN resist temptation and you WILL make it through the holidays on the better side of the scales! <3 <3 <3