I love baking. Love it. It's a total stress reliever for me. I enjoy putting the ingerdients together and coming up with something that taste yummy and warm. I love that other people love when I bake.
The problem is I love to eat what I bake. I always tell myself that I can limit my consumption however it doesn't work. So two days ago I made chocolate chip cookies. Well I think I've had a dozen in the last two days. I stopped counting which is totally not like me. I'm a control freak about food.
Now I struggle to find a happy medium between my love of baking and my weight loss.
As for today there is like a dozen chocolate chips cookies left on my counter. I put a dish towle over the container so I don't see them ever time I walk into the kitch and have a desire to eat them.
I love to bake as well. Luckily others love my baking too, so I enjoy sharing. I've come to a happy medium for myself - If I want a cookie, I bake them... I have one and hubby has however many he wants that night. If he wants more for later, he has to package them up and hide them. All the rest go to work with one of us the next day. If I know I want to bake because I want the smell, I will make something as one, ie: a cake, a pizookie, etc. Then after it's cooled and I've finished it, I take it to a neighbor or drive it over to a nearby relative.
I should probably mention that I feel no remorse tossing it in the can if need be. I'd rather throw it away than eat it when I don't *want* it.
OMG. I have your exact same problem.
I had to use all my white flour and not buy anymore. So far that is the only thing stopping me.
I still bake with my whole wheat flour, but it is more challenging. Banana bread, lemon poppy seed loaf - they both turned out great with whole wheat flour. I have a feeling that chocolate chip cookies wouldn't be so great, haha.
I also do most of baking with "healthier" or "low fat" recipes. There is still a fair amount of calories in my baking - but at least its better then the original. I do a lot of my baking from a cookbook called Eat, Shrink and Be Merry or from sparkpeople.
If I must make something like cookies - I try eat a few and bring the rest to work. But like I said, I am out of white flour haha
My trick for this is to make the recipe right up until it goes in the oven, and then only bake a small amount, if it's something like muffins or cookies. I would rather waste electricity (bake at 325 for 12 minutes for 1 cookie?!) than risk eating six cookies by myself.
Alternatively, I bake and then immediately give away what I've baked. My neighbours like this option a LOT.
We have a LOT of morning teas at work however so I find this to be a good outlet. I'm the one who brings in all the plates of digustingness :P they love it, I love it cause I get to bake but dont have to eat it!
Otherwise I take the freezing option. Either freeze the batter if possible (cookies etc) or the product (cakes, muffins)
I had to enforce an "eat one, give it away" rule. I get to try it, I get to bake, but I don't leave it in my house. It goes to work with my wife, goes to a neighbor, etc. It does not stay here.
I also offer to bring dessert every time I go somewhere for dinner, bake cookie baskets for gifts, etc. The desserts I bring to other people's houses are generally fairly healthy-ish, too (last weekend I made a whole wheat pie crust, put it in a tart pan and blind baked it, filled it with a mixture of lemon zest/juice, RF cream cheese, nonfat greek yogurt, and some powdered sugar, and topped with sliced fresh strawberries. Delicious, and not catastrophically unhealthy).
My wife is a florist, so she has busy times (Valentines day, mother's day, etc) when I can bake a LOT of stuff to fuel the regular employees and the part-time help they bring in.
Basically, I know I love to bake, so I seek out opportunities to bake and give it to others. Neighbors, local fire departments...whatever. Bake it, eat one, and get it out!
I do the same thing as mandalinn. Luckily, I have a large number of male friends, as well as my boyfriend's group of friends who come and play games at his apartment every Monday, so if I make something and just have one, I know it'll be gone by the time I come back a couple of days later. Or I'm that person we all hate who takes it to work. Engineers love cupcakes.
Basically, I know I love to bake, so I seek out opportunities to bake and give it to others.
Birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Dad's Day - everyone gets baking from me. Saves money too and no one gets pointless gifts for the sake of giving gifts.
Sometimes my dad calls and says he is going to stop buy - as soon as I get off the phone I start baking! Then I load him up when he gets to my house!
I am a baking fool too. I bake cookies every day in the summer for our b&b guests. When I first started the business, 9 seasons ago, I baked a whole double batch of cookies...oops...I won't serve day-old cookies to my guests....so of course I ate them. I don't think I've met a cookie I don't like.
My solution has been to make the dough and then use one of those scooper thingies that's like a mini ice cream scoop and freeze little scoops of dough. I only get out as many as I need for the exact number of guests for the day. If they don't eat them all, I try to send the leftovers to work with Robert or send them along with the guests the next morning. If there are cookies here that don't already "belong" to someone else, I cannot help but treat them as though they are mine. And then I eat 'em. It has been okay in years past, but this year, no cookies are allowed to be around unless accompanied by someone else who will eat them.
If you have families, perhaps you could do something similar. Just get out and bake enough for hubby and the kids for that day???
I just recently discovered my love of baking! I started this year after already starting my weight loss journey.
So as far as I've ever known, the joys of baking are completely about making something delicious, having DH taste, and sending it ALL to work with him the next day. His coworkers love me!
It is hard - but I think it helps me that my plan has zero tolerance for baked goods (lower carb). So there's no question in my mind that I can't have a lick of frosting or a bite of cupcake. I think it helps because whenever I bake, I know it's not for me.
The trouble will be when I slowly start to reintroduce sugar and flour and butter (oh my!) back into my diet, I may want to eat a whole batch of cupcakes after one bite! LOL!
How about becoming a freak about making healthy, low-calorie baked goods? You *can* still bake and I know how amazingly strong willed you are so how about making healthy baked goods apart of your weight-loss goals?
Baking Problem
