Bloody Scale

I told my sister once I was going to invent a scale with no numbers. It would not tell you your weight until you are at your goal or below. I would like it to have the sound effects that I make as I step on it, but I doubt that people want to hear their scale neigh like a horse or cuss words. Well, maybe the cuss words. But I guess it is a blessing that it does not talk because we would have words.

I think mine plays mind games with me, and it’s like being on a game show. It past the number where you want it to be like Wheel of Fortune, I can almost hear the beep, beep, beep as it slows to my actual weight. To make it even worse, mine is to the tenth of a pound. {.8, .4, .8} or may be it should read {bad day, good day, bad day}.

Thank goodness it does not fit into my purse and there is no IPhone App.

That being said I lost 5lbs last week!

A Couple of Thoughts

I am giving myself a Hip Hip HOORAY for eating more fruits and veggies. I've been doing really well at including more than one at each meal, as well as making other changes to sub-out for the processed carbs. I even put oatmeal in the chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Small victories. MOH and I also decided that the peaches in his mom's epic peach pie definitely counted as a fruit serving. I don't see why they shouldn't. No one ever said that only low-calorie uses constituted a serving.

A quick daily run down: so far it's been steel-cut oats and raisins for breakfast (added milk and some sugar but not much of either); and homemade pizza with tomatoes and olives for lunch (and an apple! go me!). I brought a banana for a snack and some yogurt so that definitely counts as healthy. And I've only eaten one cookie, but as stated previously, it included oats. I should probably stop counting the oats. In any case, planning on steak and cheese sammies for dinner with a side salad and an orange.

In other news, I renewed www.stonearchcakery.com for another year. Not yet sure how to make this happen as a renter, but I'm still scheming away.

I Can't Hang with this Resolution Business

Dear friends, a confession: I am unable to control my desire for sugar. In order to avoid total, complete, and utter failure within two weeks of making the resolution (which is, hmmm, sad) I have had a rethink about this particular goal. Convenient, I know. However, it has become quite clear that I need to adapt my goal to reflect my reality rather than admitting defeat. In this case, the reality is that I make cakes. The reason I make cakes is obviously that I friggin' love them. The other reason that I make so many cakes is that I am the go-to person for family and friends. I am surrounded quite frequently by rounds of cake and vats of buttercream frosting and ganache. It is not a bad way to live. Moreover, it is how I want to live. Also of note, one of my other resolutions is to work toward relaunching my cake business, which will only engender more cakes.

So what is to be done then? How do I rectify this desire to continue baking cakes and other delicious items* with my other desire to eat more healthfully? Especially considering that I love to unwind by baking. I briefly considered it as stress relief, which all the magazines tell me is a critical component of a healthy life and full mind-body wellness. Am I not then doing myself a favor by baking? I love this argument but must admit that no, in fact I am not doing myself any huge favors. No person needs to bake as much as I do unless they also have a cash register in the front of the baking establishment.

I also briefly considered the cold turkey approach. This is really the only place to go because moderation is something I already practice with relative ease. I have only once gone completely nuts and it involved me, a fork, and entire chocolate peanut butter cake. Disgusting to be sure, but it really did the trick. So it's not like cutting back would mean going from all-out sweets binges to a more controlled intake. This is getting hard, and to be honest, that's probably why this is a lousy resolution.

So, my rethink has led me to a different but semi-related resolution: to eat more fruits and vegetables. The new plan is to concentrate on getting more good stuff in and not worrying so much about the other stuff. This isn't easy either (MOH and I frequently eat pancakes and bacon for breakfast, nary a fruit in sight), but I think it ought to be easier than the cold turkey, pain and suffering approach. I will let you know how this goes, but I can say I already have had a banana and some dried cranberries today, and it's only 10 am.

*For the sake of ease, I will also lump into the "delicious items" category the following: pastries (such as my number one most-frequently-desired delicious item, pain au chocolat), all cookies and bars, chocolate, ice cream, syrup (and I'm talking about the awful no-resemblance-to-actual-syrup-syrup), and brownies. I realize that brownies are technically a cookie or bar, but I am making brownies their own category because I love them so much.

Kelley Waxes Philosophical about Sugar

It's a total a cliche to say I want to cut down on processed sugar as a New Years resolution. I'm pretty sure everyone says they're going to do it and intends to do it. We're constantly reminded of how bad it is for our bodies, and what we're giving up by replacing real food with sugar. And yeah, I get it. I really do. I know that ideally I should reach for fruit salad after dinner to stand in for dessert. I am well aware that a piece of chocolate is not a right after every meal. Blah blah blah. I really like sugar. And sorry silly "health" people, agave nectar is not sugar. Nor is stevia or splenda or anything else fake. At least I have identified the problem, right? I know sugar is not good for me, but I'm not into the healthy alternatives and I refuse to believe that fake food is healthy anyway. (That sound was me jumping off the soapbox.)

I have been reading all these "resolutions issues" in the January magazines (full disclosure: I love me some magazines). I'm pretty sure they're all written by the same person because they all say the same thing: you have to choose a resolution that you're really committed to, you have to know why it's important to you, and you have to have a plan to implement the changes. So let's run through this quickly:

1. Something you're really committed to...I can best sum up my sugar resolution as: "I suppose so." Truth told, I would love to continue eating baked goods with relative impunity. I workout a lot and can get away with the cookies to a certain extent. However, I am also well aware that I would feel better and perform better in my training if I could kick the sugar habit. So I will change it to: "Yes, let's do this thing."

2. Why do you want to do this? Training purposes, for one. I know I would perform better if I would stop putting so many empty carbs into the tank. There is something else though, ugly though it is. I simply don't like that it's a habit. I want to I have more control over my cravings. Right now it's automatic for me to want something sweet after a meal, especially after dinner. It's not necessarily that I love it, or feel I've earned it, but more like an automatic reaction. I just know that I'm going to want it. Ideally, I would like to decide that dessert sounds good or that it's the right time for it and just go for it guilt-free.

3. Plan of action. This is where things break down a little. The Man of the House (MOH) is about as addicted to sweets as I am. Also, I love to bake. Usually it goes like this. MOH says he feels like dessert...I agree it would be delicious. Despite wanting to cut back, I also want to bake so I tell myself I will just have a little. MOH chooses dessert and I implement. We each have some and I package up the rest for regifting.

Granted, this scenario could be far worse. We rarely go nuts and never really eat more than a portion or two. But we do this pretty much every night. This stuff adds up. Also, I am terrible about the "bites." I don't want to eat a full portion so I creep a bite as I walk by. It would be so much better decide that brownies are amazing and that I want two. Even better if I could just do it and not feel bad because I haven't eaten sweets every day this week.

Back to the plan: I may have to recruit MOH for this and get him on board. No more 8 pm requests for brownies (unless there's a good reason). Also, it's time for the chocolate in the cupboard to go. It's way too easy to have a square as I walk by. I want the sweets to be a conscious decision.

I am starting this somewhat begrudgingly, but I am going to give myself a week or two and see how it goes.