Cookie hurdle...help pls :)
 

I found FitDay by googling health forums to see if I could find advice or inspiration to help me with my health and fitness goals and the hurdles that I want to overcome. I decided to try logging my food for the day on the site here, first time doing that, and was it ever a wake up call. I've always known my sweet tooth...especially for cookies, has been holding me back. Well, it showed in my food log that had I not caved and eaten...well...8 cookies, which is so easy to do throughout the day, that I would've maintained a healthy caloric intake for myself for the day. Instead, those darn cookies, that I have the hardest time turning away from, packed on an extra 1200 calories. The cookies themselves were double the calories of the rest of the healthy food I'd eaten today. And this is a pretty regular way of eating for me. I know that for people to see my weight and height, must think "what weight has she got to lose?" But what people may not realize is that my waist (belly) measures 35 inches, which is not healthy for my size. My main goal is to really trim that down to 28 inches, but when you love cookies and all sorts of baking, it is extremely hard and I just don't know how to overcome this hurdle. Logging the food to see the calories actually seems to have opened my eyes, so we'll see if it's enough inspiration to help me exercise some self-discipline. Any thoughts or ideas? Glad to have found FitDay! :)

Welcome to FitDay and the forum!

Baked goods and sweets are a particular problem for me. They are the one thing that I've maintained a "zero tolerance" stance on--I just simply eliminated them from my lifestyle.

I hope you can enjoy them in moderation, but if not, well, perhaps just deciding not to eat them at all is the answer. But, that's up to you--at least now you're aware of the problem they are creating for your weight loss goals.

Regards,
Michael

Exercise/Activity Info
 

Hello all, I too stumbled across Fitday by accident and what a great site!

Have been busy logging my daily food intake and exercise each day now for a few days but need some advise on how to search some items. I have been trying to enter the activity cycling, bicycle riding, bike, riding etc but cannot find anything. Where am I going wrong. :confused:

What kind of cookies are they? One thing I've done to help myself is take something I like and make a healthier variation of them.

I have a weakness for anything potato, so I found a few ways of making them healthier... For example:
Mashed Potatoes: Milk instead of cream, supplement half the potatoes with cauliflower and use no-fat chicken stock instead of butter.
Fries: Fry shaped potatoes, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings and bake.

What's your favourite kind of cookie maybe we can come up with a good variation same taste for a third the calories.

Welcome!

To answer your question, go to Browse Activities and choose "Biking"--you'll get all sorts of options.

Regards,
Michael

Like Mike I find there are some sneaky calories I need to take a firm position agains. Wherthers are one. 20 calories can't hurt right? 40 wherthers in a week is 800 calories wasted. I can't have good cookies in the house. They will be eaten quickly. See if there is some low calorie treat to satisfy the sweet tooth -- or you may find the cravings go away after not having them for a while.

Stand firm and make up your mind what you are going to do about them before you are exposed. it's easier. If I bake brownies I know I am going to eat them all. I now only make them about once a year. If the craving is really strong I will pay the price for a single Brownie and savour it. I hope I can control the urge to return to the bakestore once it's gone. Mary

I do struggle with the decision of: a) do I completely eliminate the cookies/sweets? or b) do I try to eat them in moderation and/or make healthier versions. I do try to make healthier cookie recipes by using half to all whole wheat flour, I've bought different sugar subtitutes, and I've added stuff like ground flax. So yes I can make better cookies. I also have 4 young children and I like to bake and I prefer to send them home baked goods than pre-packaged bought treats in their lunches. Although, home-baked doesn't necessarily mean healthy. My son asked for cinnamon buns the other day, so I made a batch of those. We had apples on the apple tree so I made apple danishes (delicious by the way). Both of those items are in the freezer and I am tempted to eat them but am doing okay resisting. I usually cave when I take one out for one of the kids and they don't finish it...so I do. I am scared that if I decide to eliminate those foods completely that I will overindulge on another day...which I suppose I am doing anyway by eating 8 cookies in one day, heh?...but it's also so hard to politely say "no thank-you" when you are with other people because of the comments" oh you can work it off later" or "just take one" and just the pure difficulty of complete elimination. I think, once again, I will try to eat in moderation (keeping in mind how the cookie calories add up) and continue to make healthier versions of my baked goods. Not sure that I feel confident about this but I know I also need to exercise more self-discipline.

Tell me about it! I had a cookie addiction. I was polishing off a large box of Oreos (from Sam's) in a little over a few weeks. So I'm very familiar with cookies.

My advice from a little experience is this. When you start eating clean, your craving for this type of junk food WILL diminish, and eventually it may even go away altogether. Mine has. I've also demonized trigger foods like this. When I walk down the isles in the foods stores, I give them little names now. The soda pop isle is the "Liquid death" isle. The candy/cookie isle is the "Heart attack" isle. It's gotten to the point that when I see people buying crap like this to put into their bodies, I'm starting to feel bad for them, knowing that they probably don't know what they're doing to themselves.

Also there are substitutes. Instead of cookies, I get my crunch on, and sweet fulfilled, by eating honey roasted peanuts. Instead of processed white flour (I was a spaghetti addict as well) I've substituted a meal I call "zesty peas" which seems to fulfill my desire instead of the pasta. So find healthy alternatives.

[QUOTE=VitoVino;57457] Instead of processed white flour (I was a spaghetti addict as well) I've substituted a meal I call "zesty peas" which seems to fulfill my desire instead of the pasta. QUOTE]

I use spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti, but I'd love the recipe for Zesty Peas, would you post it?

Abby

The first time I hear it, I politely say "No thank you". If they come back, my reply is "Please don't pressure me." That shuts them up. It's firm, and deserving, since the person was not being "nice" to my needs and was only concerned about stroking their own ego. ;)

Here ya go, dear_abby. :)

http://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums...ked-fiber.html

I'm still eating "Zesty Peas" about 3 times a week. I used to eat white pasta 3-4 times a week, so it's been a great substitute.

I've been thinking about a variation of this, adding some fresh mushrooms. Ever since I learned about "GOMBS" recently (you can google this) I've been thinking that some mushrooms, which I love, may be a good addition.

I can be pretty disciplined in the grocery store. It's the hubby, however who will ask for cookies for his lunches (he doesn't overindulge and therefore wants to have a cookie or something in the house for a sweet treat in his lunch or after supper) and of course the kids. I did great abstaining from cookies for about 3 months when I decided I wouldn't bake them, because if I do and they are in the house...I'm going to eat them. Now that school has started again, I'm back to baking again. I enjoy baking and I want my kids to grow up with the memories of coming home to the smell of something homebaked in the oven and the memories of helping mom make cookies. I'm a little sentimental that way. But I will look for alternatives for myself. I tried a piece of cinnamon gum the other day and it was good crave blocker and I am also going to look for 78% or higher dark chocolate which I just read about is a good crave satisfier and helps promote fat loss because of its high antioxidant levels. Thanks also for everyone's advice. I've been wanting to find a discussion board like this one because I think this will also help with self accountability. :)

Good plan. And the forums do help with accountability. Are there cookies your kids like that you don't? Peanut butter cookies would last forever in my house. But then in Canada you could not send them to school. Mary

I used to be a huge cookie / baked goods freak. But since I have changed the rest of my eating habits that desire has simply dwindled. I won't say it is gone but it is in check. My hubby and boys love cakes, cookies, etc. And I love to bake for them. Luckily for me I have figured out that simply the joy of baking is almost as good as eating them for me. I can have one or maybe two the night they are made and then I don't touch the rest. That is a huge improvement from eating like a dozen with a huge glass of milk nightly until they are gone! :eek: It is all up to what works for you. For me I have huge motivation right now to be healthier for my family and that drives me.

I will pretty much eat any cookie even if not my favorite. I could also try be very strict for at least 30 days and focus on eating clean to see if that helps with cravings and control. It mostly is all about control though.
Just a side question, how do you keep your stats posted under your messages?

Click where it says "User CP" that's the profile options, weird naming convention, but it's there, in the menu is an option to change your signature.

I dunno if encouraging kids for sweets is a great idea... but that's not the point I suppose (though if it's just the smell thing I'd lean towards making your own bread, I love the smell of the house after a fresh loaf of wheat and honey bread's been made)

Regardless I would say just pick cookies to bake that are a bit better for you and make the cookies a reasonable size, you may notice when you compare how many cookies you make compared to what the recipe says that you're making them over twice the size they should be.

thank you very much