Friday, November 30, 2007

Day 281 - 150.8 A Ramble... And to cookie or not to cookie?

I was pleased to see my weight stay the same this morning, especially considering that, even though I switched to the new plan yesterday, I had 300 more calories than I was supposed to. That's not much, but it all eventually adds up. I still finished the day at 1645 calories, which is not too shabby.

I woke up with a headache and felt like I'd barely slept, and now am still pretty tired. I had to get a latte this morning, just HAD TO. I seriously need the extra caffeine. I'm such an addict.

So today I'm planning a 5 mile run, hopefully around 3 p.m. I usually leave around 4 and it's been getting dark before I get done. And even though I enjoy the sunset on the last leg of my run, I still prefer to finish while it's light since I'm not wearing anything reflective right now (I know, Vickie--wearable lights are on my list of things to buy. Any body have any suggestions for reflective gear?).

Tonight we'll be dragging out the Christmas stuff. My garage is such a disaster, we'll have to clean it out just to get to the decorations. We still have boxes and bags of stuff from my mother-in-law, who passed away almost 2 years ago. I'm hoping DH will be okay with me donating it to Good Will, but it's a touchy time of year and I'm honestly not sure if he can handle that right now. Maybe after the holidays I'll ask him about it, and just continue to live with the messy garage. At least we can get both our cars in there still.

One of my most favoritest things in the world is baking. When I was a teenager, I was the official cookie baker in our house. I even made a red velvet cake from scratch one Valentine's Day. I've always said I can't cook, but I can bake. Of course, since this year I'm Miss Skinny Thang, the baking thing presents a conundrum. How do I still bake and share the tradition with my kids, but not put on 10 pounds? Because, truly, give me a glass of milk and I can eat and eat and eat cookie dough. Then I have to eat the finished product too. I just have no control.

Is there such a thing as healthy cookies? Any good recipes out there? Should I just say screw it and bake and eat and enjoy? Or should I skip it and make it to goal by the end of the year? My guess is we'll bake at least one day, and it will be done, and I'll gain some weight but it will be temporary.

I know! I could bake them on December 8, the day I'm running 8 miles for Non-Runner Nancy's "8 Miles on the 8th" race. That way, I'll have 90 minutes of running in and won't feel so guilty about the cookies. I'm so glad that's all decided. But please share any cookie recipes or recipe sites if you've got a favorite.

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Go wish Wendy well on her Marathon this Sunday. I admire this woman so much. This is her 2nd marathon in just over 30 days. Wowsa. Here's to a healthy and enjoyable race, Wendy.

10 comments:

Lori G. said...

What I did the first year after losing some weight was to make cookies that I really didn't like. I made things with coconut in them (hate coconut), lots of nuts (not a nut person), etc. etc. I also made cookies from the cooking light and eating well websites. But I tried to stay away from the ones I really liked. (I would go to the bakery and get some nice sugar cookies for myself for the holidays -- I limited, at least, the amount versus eating the raw dough, the freshly baked cookies, and then any potentially stale cookies too.)

Ooh, the other thing you can do with the kids -- gingerbread house!

Tigerlilly said...

I guess I am blessed that I can't bake!! Every time I try to make cookies I burn them.. and not just a little bit, I mean full on charcoal when they come out. If, by a miracle, I dont burn them then they taste horrible and are flat as paper. But, like I said, I guess I am blessed!!

Maybe you wont eat as many cookies if you know you have to fun 8 miles later!! That could help! Just dont eat a ton of cookies BECAUSE your going for a run!!

Have a fantastic weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Monday... like always!

Anonymous said...

oh the cookie thing is so hard for me too! I looooves me some cookies! I think making them the day of your race is a great idea. And let yourself have a couple and don't feel guilty about it! mmmmm...cookies.

Grumpy Chair said...

I have always been the cookie lady that baked 12 different (seriously) kinds of Christmas cookies. I would take them for Thanksgiving at my folks and hubby would bring a bunch to work in mid-December.

Last year I made the only cookies the kids like: chocolate chip. I can turn down those. And no one missed them except my BIL who is diabetic and didn't need them anyway.

I wished I could bake and not eat it but I can't.

I like Lori's idea of a gingerbread house with the kids. I'm such a germ phob that I refuse to eat anything the kids decorate - that might work for you! :)

ws said...

thanks for the shoutout Laura. I hope you have a great weekend.

Bizarre fact #1: I bake really well, or so I've been told. (don't tell Marcy she might send her kids to me)

Bizarre fact #2: I'm not really a cookie or cake fan. (are there any foods I do like, hmmm?)

But, I used to bake these peanut butter cookies that were only peanut butter, eggs and sugar, so at least no flour. Here's the recipe - it's a tough one.

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg

mix together and bake for 8 min at 350F

Jess said...

I think the best thing to do with cookies, is bake e'm up, eat one or two and give the rest away. I always send baked goods with my husband to work -- the guys in his department think I'm awesome.

Marcy said...

You're sooo cute!! I wish I knew some healthy cookie recipes but alas, I do not. I don't even know any "bad" cookies recipes LOL

Pokey said...

When it comes to holiday *sweets* the key for me this year is MODERATION. I dont want to deprive myself....I just need to learn to be reasonable and eat ONE cookie instead of 5 :P

Anonymous said...

Last year I had the same conundrum - I ended up making sugar-free pumpkin gingerbread with whole wheat flour, I will have to see if I can find the recipe. It was phenomenal. I figured out how much I could have without going too far over my calories and ate it in bits and pieces while working on the cookies, fudge and divinity (the really bad stuff!) so I wasn't too tempted by those.

I think limited indulgence is the way to go. If you try to completely deprive yourself, there's too much risk of an all-out binge when you get fed up...and if you just go nuts, you'll hate yourself. :-) This time of year, moderation is definitely the key!

ws said...

thank you for your very nice comment, by the way. I, too, hope December is a great month, if not, it will all be OK anyway.