. . . just one piece of birthday cake .

I bought a small cake for DH for his birthday last night. Chocolate, of course.

Here again I sometimes think how we all sound to those not maintaining or dieting. DH's face was quite disturbed as I described the following to him before we had dessert.

The calorie count for the cake was for 1/8 of the cake. So I multiplied that by 8 to get the whole cake. Then I divided by 6 to get the count for a decent-sized slice. It fit well within my maintenance calories for the day -

And I only ate one slice ! Usually DH and I polish off the entire (small) cake in one evening and then feel totally sick the next day. I told DH he could have as many slices as he wanted but to save one for me for Valentine's Day dinner. He agreed and opted to save one for himself too, so we still have 2 pieces of cake left for tomorrow night.

Nor only is this going to be a lot healthier for us but it'll be a lot easier on the finances too (the cake was $$$ but totally worth it).

Dagmar

Way to go Dagmar!!!!!!!! And I totally understand your "math" and the reasoning behind it. Enjoy. Enjoy. And a VERY happy birthday to your hubby.

Barbara, I'm having that cheesecake. And some other stuff too. It's my parents 50th anniversary. And after losing as much weight as I have, I STILL use food to celebrate. I suspect (know) I always will. Just not as much as in the past. Well yeah, I couldn't eat the same volume if I tried.

I've also decided that I MUST get below my previous low if I want to MAINTAIN there. But ya know what, I'm in no rush to get there. So, I most definitely am having that cheesecake. I did mention that I made 3 different ones, didn't I. So, ummm, yeah, I'll in fact be having several different cheesecakes.

Robyn, I am so with you. I had the same epiphany recently. I would like to get back below 120, but, you know what, there's no rush! I've also come to accept that food is also always going to be reward for me; it just doesn't work to pretend that it isn't. It's not that every reward has to be food, but sometimes, that's what works. And you did mention three kinds of cheesecake! I hope one of them involves some chocolate.

So true! With everything else, portions are out of control. But you buy a dessert that actually has nutritional info provided and suddenly the portions get a lot smaller!

That's what I love about calorie counting. It FORCES you to become very choosy.

I think there's no rush because, well quite frankly, I'm not miserable, my clothing fits me, my life is not in imminent danger. I suppose these last 5 lbs are insurance pounds or vanity pounds. No rush. I know this weekend will pack 5 lbs on me. I also know that they won't all be fat and that it will take me only one week, perhaps two, to get off. And there won't be as big as a splurge coming anytime soon. Might be a splurge, but not just such a big one.

I know for you it works, and we're all different. But the word "reward", for me, kinda freaks me out. And I know it's just a word and all and semantics and yada, yada, yada, but I prefer splurge or even like I said earlier, celebratory. It works better for me.

I made a plain one, which I will serve with cherry pie filling on the side, for those who want it.

I made a raspberry one, with a chocolate crust.

And I made a CHOCOLATE marble with a chocolate crust.

I'm going to be making the dairy farmers very happy, because I also made a four tiered wedding cake, which is a carrot cake, with the most outrageous cream cheese frosting.

Okay, maybe a large portion of those 5 lbs WILL be fat.

There will be healthy options as well. I am serving a huge fruit salad. Cantalope, honeydew, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, pineapple, banana and mango. Wonder which I'll have more leftovers of. The fruit I'm keeping, the cheese and wedding cakes - those I'm packing up and sending out of my house. OH, YOU, TEE - out, out, OUT.

I can't read this thread any more right now. I used to bake/love all sorts of cheesecakes and this is starting to send me over the edge .

I think just about everyone in the world uses food to celebrate the momentous occasions in life! Food is what sustains us and keeps us alive. Preparing something special for our loved ones shows them how much we value them and want to celebrate the important moments in our/their lives with them.

Robyn, do you bake professionally? Sure sounds like you could.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this thread to head that way, bringing on cravings and all.

I don't bake professionally, though many people say that I should consider it and become a caterer or party planner. I've got my whole buffet set up right now. It's so gorgeous, I can't stop looking at it. I've got all different tiers and levels set up. Such gorgeous serving pieces. Beautiful decorations, all sorts of candles in a variety of stunning holders, many lush fabrics and oodles of flowers. Such cute little touches everywhere. I could never, ever handle doing this on a professional basis. I'm too much of a perfectionist and I could NEVER be around all that food.

That's just the thing. I without a doubt show my love with food. No question in my mind. And a part of me KNOWS it's wrong. And other parts of me just don't seem to care, as I continue to do so.

But on the other hand, every time I make my family something delicious and healthy, I do know and FEEL I am showing them my love as well. Very weird.

Take a picture Robin! I would love to see the results of your hard work
Enjoy the day - you have earned it!

Nothing weird about that dear...NOTHING!

Have a wonderful time, Robin! I agree with CountingDown---pix please!

I'm sooo excited. I just hope that they're really surprised. Less then 24 hours to go, so far, so good. I think they're going to be blown away.

I plan on having a wonderful time. Thanks folks.

The raspberry cheesecake with the chocolate crust is calling my name.....I find that one day of eating all the forbidden foods does not cause much harm, The problem with me is that it might set up a binge.
I bet your parents will be thrilled at your wonderful buffet and your guests will be impressed.
ENJOY!!!!

Yes, photos please! Since we are already drooling from your wonderful descriptions we might as well be licking our screens too!

Have a terrific time and eat all you want of the amazing things you've so lovingly prepared. You are already planning ahead after the party and sending all the "big calorie" food away with the guests.

So enjoy!!!

Dagmar

Hi guys. Sorry it took me so long to update here. Been a crazy week. Still enjoying the memories of the party. It was WONDERFUL!!!!!! My parents were SHOCKED. My dad had to leave the room to compose himself. My mother looked as if she might faint. Scared me there for a minute actually.

The party was wonderful. Everything went off really well. The folks that hadn't seen me since I lost the weight were amazed and really genuinely so happy for me. Said I looked like I did when I was a little girl. The decorations and details we put into it were definitely noticed and appreciated. Especially by my Mom. She couldn't believe how "fancy" we made everything. Took home lots of the stuff to have as reminders. And put some of the stuff up in her living room. My mom said my Dad cried all night long. Couldn't get to sleep. They continued to thank me all week. Whoever says hard work doesn't pay off - well, I don't know - just must not work all that hard.

Okay. The food. I ate a little bit at the party. I took myself a plate and had a little of this and a little of that. Very little. Dessert came. They were blown away by all the different things I had. But during dessert I read the results of some questions we asked my parents. My sister asked my Dad some and I had asked my Mom. Stuff like where did they meet, where was their first date, who said I love you first, their first address, first meal cooked by Mom, first car bought and on and on. It was VERY cute to hear both of their different responses. So, since I was busy during desset, I forgot to eat my cheesecake that I had been saving up for.

I packed up LOTS of the food. I had gotten containers and I got aluminum foil pans with lids for this very thing. I was glad to get rid of it. BUT, it wasn't a cheesecake eating crowd. It was barely touched and no one wanted to take it home.

Okay, I'm sitting there when everyone was gone, physically and mentally tired from all that went on and realized that HELLLOOOO, I had forgotten to eat the cheesecake. My DH goes and gets me a sliver of each variety and I could barely get it down me. Huh? What was up with that? I think I had built it up to be SO big that by the time I got to it, it was a disappointment. Hmmm.

So now I've got all this cheesecake sitting there. Couldn't have it in the house. So I called a few friends, finally got one that would cart it off. She came over and took most of it away. I did save a few pieces of each kind. And then of course proceeded to eat it on Monday. After I proceeded to eat the cheesecake I then proceeded to eat a few other things as well. I hadn't given away everything . My kids wanted and ate supper a whole week from it, so I'm not sorry that I had it in the house, even though Monday was NOT a pretty day for me. Not at all. Tuesday was also not stellar. Finally got back to my normal eating on Wednesday. And just like that, lo and behold, my skinny pants don't fit me as they should. Shocking, I know.

Can anyone say R O L L E R C O A S T E R?????