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.
I admire your diligence. I have been meaning to tell you that a friend of mine, who likes to bake frequently as well, started her family on a revised version of the Paleo Diet last year and after 50 days of doing it, they decided to stick with it indefinitely. They are all thin and in shape so their goal was not a weight loss diet, but a healthy change in their life diet. This is her blog if you have interest in seeing what they did and how it worked. http://sweet-pea-photography.com/familyblog/?p=571
ReplyDeleteThe link is to the first post on her blog about a 50 day challenge they did to get started. It is something that made me think of you as I have read her posts.