So I have discovered something bizarre about myself.
I have always loved to bake. Baking is what actually got me into cooking. The first time I lost any significant amount of weight I stopped baking all together. However, since I live with my bf now I find that I am less strict with myself. There are two reasons, he is one of them. The other is that when I lost the weight last time (45 lbs in 3 months) I went into the early stages of kidney failure from losing way too much way too fast.
Anyway, I still bake. I have discovered that baking is actually helping me lose weight. If I have a small full fat slice of something that I've baked then I feel like I've really indulged myself. I don't feel any need to binge on things because I feel super indulgent. Also, if I bake it then I know exactly what's in it.
Who could have thought that baking and delicious desserts could be a diet aid? lol Isn't that strange? Do any of you have something random like that that helps you out?

Well, I am a baker, too and strangely enough I find I am not pigging out on the cookies I make. I will be making about 6 dozen cookies this week for an event at my church. We have a coffee hour at our church and someone was buying cookies at the dollar store Yuck! I volunteered to bake cookies and have been making cookies every week and they love them. So much better than store bought. I was afraid I would go crazy with all that temptation but strangely I don't . I allow myself one to be sure they are OK and am satisfied at that.

I'm a "junior baker" (Mom does most of the cooking/baking at our house) but when I DO bake or cook, I never want to eat what I made. I haven't had fudge in 10 years because I helped Mom make it at Christmas and the 400 cups of sugar that goes into it made me sick to look at.

Too bad I can't figure out how to make snack food (chips, etc)!

I used to work in food service and actually lost weight, without trying, while I was doing it. Once I stopped I gained it all back. I love cooking and by cooking at home I get the enjoyment of cooking and don't necessarily need to eat the products of my efforts. Maybe I have an overwhelming need to have contact with food?

I wish I could bake again. I gave it up completely. I baked sugar frosted cookies, apple crisp, roasted pecans, blondies, peanut butter cookies, homemade marsmallows, lots of good things. Honestly, I will probably pick it up again once the holidays near -- just as gifts and the occasional indulgence. Being as healthy as I am now feels a lot better than one of my sugar frosted cookies tasted -- almost.

I like to bake but did give it up for a while on this journey. When I started baking again it was mostly low fat items. I find it DO eat what I bake and have to be careful not to overdo it. I do better when I give a lot of it away!

I love baking too, but I only allow myself to do it when I've had a good week and know I'm not prone to eat the whole plate. Also when I do bake I freeze whatever I bake so that when I do want to eat it I have to de-freeze it, and when I want to binge I just dnt have the patience to do that.

I love to bake. I can't give it up. I'd go insane. I'm washing my bowls right now for making a honey wheat bread, a batch of whole wheat muffins (apple for this time, perhaps blueberry next), and possibly some low fat, low calorie chocolate cupcakes. I'll definitely tell you guys how that one goes.

Alethea I think you may have something there. The actual act of baking is what I adore, I just don't have much drive to eat what I bake. When I was living with my friends at school I would literally bake a new cake every night and by the next day they would be gone. I only ever had a tiny bite to make sure the flavor was right. But being in contact with food is what I get into. How very interesting.

I love to bake but find myself always wanting to eat it. So now I do not do it Maybe once I am completely under control.

i love baking too! Its the only kind of cooking i can do decently i find that when i bake i know the effort i have put into making it, so i dont want to eat it all at once, i want to savour (sp??) it. Where as if there's a packet of chocolate biscuits in the cupboard i want to eat them all at once, because once they're gone you can always get more right?