Fat Pants, Cookies, and Swimsuits

I bake nearly every single day.  Every once in awhile I bake every other day if we didn't manage to polish off what I baked the day before.  I love to bake and I enjoy making the kids (and The Coach) smile and do the happy dance with fresh homemade baked goods.  And who am I kidding, my favorite food is frosting.  I have always loved to bake, and remember very vividly the summer I started this habit.  I was about 11 years old and would hunker down with my Mom's Better Homes and Garden "Cakes and Pies" or "Cookies and Candies" cookbooks and bake up a storm.  I loved it and my Mother was super supportive of my hobby, as she loved to bake too.  When I was in the Navy I really didn't have time to bake more than once a week. So when I retired, I went nuts in the kitchen.  Justice has a nice warm plate of cookies or a cupcake waiting for him every day when he gets off the bus, and it's not a problem for him because he exercises a lot and every single day.  There is nothing sedentary about his lifestyle.  Now here comes the bad news...

It's not good for us.  Boooooo!  Apparently all that fat and sugar and refined flour I use every single day will eventually harden our arteries and lead to all sorts of disastrous health problems down the road.  I knew these things, I just chose to ignore it because I was having so much fun baking my face off everyday.  I realize Justice can metabolize and burn off all of the stuff he eats now, but one day down the line he won't' be able too, and I will have instilled in him the craving and need for sugar every day and that is going to be a hard habit to break, and ultimately his health will suffer.  And although Joe is extremely active and is in great physical condition (insert cat-call whistle), his blood sugar was borderline on his last physical and diabetes runs in his family.  If I continue baking the way I do and he continues eating the way he does, he will be diabetic before you know it and I will honestly have to take a good portion of the blame for it.  (Yes, if I bake it, you must eat it.)  Jack doesn't really like sweets at all, so he won't care either way, and good for him.

The good news is that I have been a health freak more years of my adult life than not, so I know how to cook (notice I said cook, not bake) healthy food.  We were actually a Vegan family (Joe and I were Vegan, the kids were Vegetarian) until I got pregnant with Jack and WHAM, I started dreaming of Chicken and lunch meat and that was it for that.  Anyhow, the point of that digression was just to prove that I know how to eat healthy, I've just chosen not to eat healthy for the most part since I retired.

That means I have about ten extra pounds sitting around my gut and thighs that has decided it's happy there and wishes to remain there.  My weight has always been seasonal.  I hate the cold weather, so I stay indoors and don't exercise as much as I should during the cold months.  I also eat a lot of football food and Holiday food so the 5 pounds I gain every single winter is well earned.  Up until this year, I typically shed the hibernation weight by the end of February and it stays off until November.  It hasn't come off this year, and no excuses are to be made, it's because I eat too much sugar and flour and butter.  I'm not medically "overweight" YET, but if I don't lose this ten and add another 5 this winter, I will be venturing into a weight zone I've never seen before.  NO THANKS!!!  I've spent too much time in my fat pants and we all know swimsuit season is right.around.the.corner.

I considered just cutting back on what I bake, but I don't want to do that.  I have decided that I'm going to learn to bake healthier, with less fat, sugar and find more flour alternatives.  I'm looking at is as a challenge and a lifestyle change that my kids will be able to incorporate into their lives now, while it's easy,  not in 20 years when Justice's blood sugar is borderline and he's addicted to bad carbs, fat, and sugar.

Now I'm going up in the attic to blow the dust off of all my healthy cookbooks.  Wish me luck, I will surely need it!