One of the hardest things about having female friends and co-workers sometimes is this continuing need to talk about "diet" "losing weight" "can't eat X" or whatever. Granted, it is not healthy to have pastries and cupcakes in the breakroom 24/7 but it is not going to kill us all to have a slice of birthday cake once a month either. Get a group of girls around a chocolate cake and more likely than not, at least one person will say "Oh, that is going straight to my hips" or "Great, are you trying to make me fat?"
There is one lady at work that I talked with about healthy fats-those found in nuts, avocados, and olive oil-and she gave me this look like "Oh, yes healthy fats but we can't eat too many of them either!" While I understand what she meant and it is all about moderation, her tone towards food was so restrictive even when talking about healthy things. It struck me as just damaging to have to see food as the mortal enemy.
We had three birthdays in my office last month that we celebrated with cake. Each birthday person got to pick what kind of cake they wanted and our resident baker made them. When it came time to pick out a piece, one of the girls stated "I want a small piece of each!" which I thought was smart. We aren't talking massive slices of cake bigger than her head rather just thin slices where you could get two or three bites of each cake and be satisfied. My co-worker and I split the sampler plate and it was plenty to get a taste but not so much to make a huge impact on our day or psychological stability.
I completely believe that when you are sitting down with an entire cake and a fork THEN you need to re-evaluate what you are doing. When you are partaking in a celebration or out to a restaurant known for desserts, its okay to enjoy life! Life can be savoring a bite of creme brulee just as much as it is to have the people there to share it with.
I just had a talk about over indulgence with Carter today! I am fine with a few bites and letting it go. I am able to sit down to a delicious fancy dessert and take forever to eat it-my husband is not. He had his Easter candy gone within three days and is working on Ez's that I was planning to throw away. I staged an intervention today and put it into the trash and covered it with dish soap so he would just stop. I was satisfied with three jelly beans and later some mango (which was WAY better than any candy). What type of cake are you choosing for your birthday?
ReplyDeleteI guess I was more talking about the fact that as women, we feel the need to justify our eating or not eating to other women so we don't seem "fat" or "unhealthy or indulgent, even. It would be nice if we could just enjoy our food without having to analyze everything.
ReplyDeleteNo cake for the birthday. Just brunch and maybe pick up some treats on the way home Sunday.
Oh I thought the post said you got a birthday cake at work.
ReplyDeleteOh!! That cake.....its a surprise. Someone else brings something and I don't think they know my favorites yet so it will be a glorious treat next week!
ReplyDeleteI hate it when you’re about to take a bite of a treat and someone has to make an obnoxious comment. I try to be very careful regarding what goes in my mouth, and when I want a treat, I want a treat. I also find that if you have one really good treat (maybe crème brule as you mentioned), you won’t be as tempted by lesser quality treats, because you’re satisfied.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing, I also hate it when I’m having something light (Slim Fast, Muscle Milk, ect.), and somebody makes a comment about how I don’t need to be on a diet.
ReplyDeleteEver since I started restricting my chocolate intake, I notice that I would much rather splurge on quality rather than quantity.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that people would comment about your weight if you had something light vs. something heavy. It is all about perceptions I suppose and we can never know what another person is thinking about when they look at a Slim Fast, for example, compared to what we see.