The List

I've been writing a mental list for some time now of all the foods I don't know how to eat in moderation. Some just made it on the list today in a state of I'm-not-really-pregnant-but-my-hormones-still-tell-me-I-am eating frenzy. And lest you think that there's no way I could say I have addictions to all these foods and look like I do, let me warn you that as soon as they go on the list, they get put into the once or twice a year category, ne'er to make it into the house again unless there are dire circumstances going on.


They include:
Muffins--of all kinds, especially with cinnamon crumb topping
Cooking Light's lemon scented blueberry cupcakes
Homemade chocolate chip cookies (grandma's recipe)
Praline pecans...or any candy coated nut
Image courtesy of Cooking Light: Howard L. Puckett
Baked Cheetos
Pringles (does this really need an explanation?)
Brownie edges (a great Christmas gift would be Hammacher Schlemmer's edges only pan)
Marie Calendar's Razzleberry Pie (I heart this pie; curse my husband for introducing it to me with his male, I-can-benchpress-300lbs killer physique & metabolism)
Chocolate covered pretzels
Harry & David's chocolate covered cherries
Moose Munch--just the chocolate covered parts--I hate caramel popcorn otherwise
Lindt's lindor truffles in milk or dark
Fresh Fruit Cobbler
Dunkin Donuts crullers (with choux pastry) or...
Dunkin Donuts powdered jelly doughnuts (I'm NOT a Krispy Kreme fan at all)
Frozen Butterfingers or room temp Milky Way dark (with almonds?)
Polly-o String Cheese
Artisan bread with butter or goat cheese
Potstickers

I'm sure this list will grow with time. Oddly enough, everything else, including dinner, I can eat in moderation. In fact, today I was donating at the blood bank, cough, ah hem, I mean getting my blood drawn for my beta (which came back at 1300!) and was waxing poetic about my love for bread and all things carbs...and the guy seriously looked at me like I was a liar. I guess two years after losing 54lbs I still think of myself as a "big girl." And being as that it's been a whole month that I haven't been able to work out or run...I see my body changing in unwelcomed ways. What took so long and so much work and hard effort at the gym is virtually being erased with every bite of string cheese, doughnuts, pie, Pringles, Cheetos...well, copy the list above and insert it here: _______________________ .

Anyways, after eating 9 muffins in two days (the cinnamon crumb kind) and two 16oz cans of praline pecans (in 4 days), I feel like my house is finally free of most of my trigger foods. It's as if the near-death experience gave me permission to absolutely sabotage my body. Tonight for dinner I made the cover recipe for October's issue of Cooking Light. It was absolutely delicious. I had a normal portion and even ate an orange for dessert (along with a 1/3c of frozen yogurt). That would have been great if I hadn't gorged myself at Olive Garden for lunch and then polished off that can of pecans, chips with cheese dip, and two baskets of bread. Baby Steps...to preserve my size 8 figure...if you could call it that. I'm afraid to check the scale.

Dinner was excellent! Recipes like this inspire me to remember why I started this whole healthy eating revolution to begin with--I love what good food does inside and outside of the body. The photo to the right is my own.