Day 55 — What Exactly Is Cheating?

As I go along on this quest to eliminate processed sugar and sweets from my diet, day after day I have to ask myself whether I’m cheating. When I have a controlled serving of a good restaurant’s dessert (made in-house) on vacation, is that cheating? If I make a dessert at home, and use little to no sugar, is that cheating? If I have a small serving of something that historically has not triggered a sugar binge, is that cheating?

Today’s question…is a small piece of angel food cake with lots of fresh berries cheating? I debated myself on this one for a bit, but ultimately I decided to give myself that permission. It’s not something that I crave, it’s not very sweet, and the cake is so light it’s really just a vehicle for the berries. And (this was the deciding factor for me), it’s the only dessert that I know my friend who doesn’t eat sweets eats!

So far I have given myself permission to enjoy these things, and will do so as long as it doesn’t take me off the track of my ultimate goal. At the end of the day I didn’t set out to deprive myself of things I enjoy, I set out to conquer my sugar addiction. To stop eating candy and sweets in an out-of-control way that was negative to my life, health and psyche.

On the other hand, when 3.5 dozen donuts showed up in our office kitchen Friday for National Donut Day, I passed. I knew I couldn’t handle it. If I had one, I would have two. Or three. And then start in on something else over the weekend. It was best to have none because I knew I couldn’t have just one.

Day 50 — About Portion Control

It’s easier when someone else controls it for you…

While on vacation I had a couple of dessets. And the world didn’t end. I didn’t have a meltdown, walk ten blocks to buy more chocolate or start eating everything in sight.

One night we went to a wonderful Greek restaurant. Baklava is one of my favorite things, and generally not a triggering food for me, so I decided to take a piece back to the hotel room. It was delicious and, since it was one piece packaged up at the restaturant, there was no fear of suddenly going on a huge baklava binge. I got the piece I was given, and that was it.

Another night we had dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant, and they had local-made fruit sorbets as a dessert option. Most dessert menus are not even a temptation for me because I have a dairy allergy, and all the “good stuff” is made with butter. But this was a dessert I could have, so we ordered one serving and shared it. The flavors were wonderful, just like fresh fruit. And, again, it was served to me, so once it was gone there would be no more. Plus I was sharing and I couldn’t be a pig!

The strange thing is, since the portions were controlled by someone else, I didn’t even think about having more. At home I decided to try the restaurant philosophy and serve things in small portions, on smaller plates. It’s all mental, but it seems to work. Small servings look plenty big on a small plate. Since it’s possible to overeat anything, even healthy foods, I’ve started putting dessert-like items in little tiny single-serve dishes. When it’s gone, it’s gone…just like the restaurant.

Day 25 — Warning: Highly Experimental Kitchen Zone

Even though I’ve eliminated processed sugar and sweets from my diet, we do still enjoy the occasional dessert. I’ve decided to experiment with different items, all in the low- to no-sugar realm. Oh, and I have to make it, not buy it. This has led to some highly experimental, and surprisingly successful, cooking lately.

For some reason custard came up in conversation recently, which led to a special request for a custard dessert. Although I’ve baked a lot, I’ve never made custard of any sort. Never one to let lack of experience stop me, I got out my go-to cookbook and found a recipe. As it turns out, there are a lot of rules about making custard…bake it in little dishes sitting in a bigger dish filled with water…sitting on a towel…but don’t get water IN the custard or it won’t set…cook it until it’s somewhat set, but not too firm…like I said, a lot of rules. Plus I wanted to make it low-sugar. And I have a dairy allergy, so I’d be using soy milk. All in all, this was starting to sound like a challenging disaster in the making.

I whisked my eggs and (less) sugar, added my steaming (soy) milk, poured it into the cups, properly situated in water, slid it into the oven and hoped for the best. Even after all that change, it came out really good! Change and experimentation are good, they keep things fresh. Maybe next time I’ll try even less sugar…or maybe honey…or maple syrup?

It’s actually fun figuring out how to make foods we like better for us! I just need to put up a sign: ” Warning: Highly Experimental Cooking Ahead.”