Vantoloseweight's Journal, 13 Apr 18

It's always an eye opener to bake stuff at home. Easy to grab a cookie at the bakery and not to worry about what's in there, but when I actually see the 3 sticks of butter it's like, uh oh, I can't eat that! Stay strong. Don't eat the butter, oops the cookies I mean ;-) 

I baked 5-6 doz cookies before I started dieting. Wrong move lol. One day I got sick of watching them eat he cookies and hubby and the kids asking me if I wanted a cookie so I broke down and scarfed 2 down quickly. Added up the calories and whoops there went ALL my snacks for the day lol. I won’t even buy any or make them now. Kids aren’t allowed to eat junk in my presence except for the 3 year old. Doesn’t bother me when she does. Not very appetizing when she’s covered in chocolate and asks if I want a bite after she’s licked all over the thing haha. 

Unfortunately when I first started baking I was refused to believe that that much butter and sugar was needed to make things delicious and for years attempted to make “healthier” versions. What a waste of food and effort, though my mom always ate my results, sigh. I remember a “cookie” made of sweet potato, flour, eggs. So not a cookie. Nowadays if I persistently crave something, and the craving doesn’t go away (usually over the course of a few days), I will carve out space in my diet and simply indulge in the properly delicious thing I actually want, not a poor substitute. I adhere to the 80/20 rule for most things in my life so I don’t have to stress over it. 

80/20 rule?  

I seldom bake and I used to love baking and eating cookies and breads. I also used to be 60 pounds heavier and have a lot of indigestion. Hang in there; it is so worth it! 

W Hat Gingerk65 said. I cleared us long term digestive issues bt staying the course. IBS, acid refux to name the two best.  

peeperjj - the 80/20 rule can be interpreted in two ways. If you look it up online, it will tell you that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort, and so you should examine what you are doing and pick out that 20% in order to prioritize your efforts and free up time/energy. The way I was told/encouraged to use is a little in opposition to that - to adhere strictly to whatever regimen or protocol at least 80 percent of your life, but for 20 percent, you relax about it, indulge in that thing, and not stress about being exactly in bounds to your protocol. One of the nutritionist I have seen advocated this as a way to be less stressed, and allow for being human and celebrating, etc. Note that this loosening of self-discipline doesn't work for diet and exercise on a daily basis, and should be ignored if that thing you really want is actually bad for you (induces pain/suffering), but allows for occasional spontaneous deliciousness (in moderation) and bouncing back from it back to routine.