I got a chuckle out of being asked to be a judge at our local symphony’s 50th anniversary celebration featuring a cake decorating contest. Here I am with one of the fellow judges busily writing my opinion on my little clipboard. As the three judges moved from one cake to the next, I had to taste all eight cakes! It’s a hard job, but somebody has to do it! As I was tasting each cake, I thought about how ironic it is that although I enjoy decorating cakes, I don’t really enjoy eating cakes anymore. Honestly. Some of the cakes were pretty tasty, but others were obviously just a boxed mix. No matter how good the cake was, I wasn’t tempted to go back and get a standard sized piece when the cakes were served later on.
In the past, when I weighed over 300 pounds, I would have been embarrassed to judge a cake decorating contest and have my picture taken for the newspaper. I would have imagined what people would think – although I know I should not have cared what they thought at all. But I still would have cared.
Looking at all the cakes without feeling tempted by them made me realize that although there are things I still struggle with, there are some foods that I feel as though I have conquered my obsession over. That’s a really good feeling, as it took a long, long time to get there. Even though I lost all my weight in just 14 months, it was years and years until I was able to look certain foods in the face and say “no” without feeling a twinge of “I still could eat that entire thing.”
Whether it is cakes, cookies, chips, pies or trail mix – you can conquer your obsession and fascination with those types of foods. It takes consistent dedication, work and attention on your part – but it can be done. I have found that practicing by either saying “no” completely, or learning to have small tastes of those treats goes a long way towards weight loss maintenance.
So, while it is ironic that I was asked to judge the cake contest, it was also a lot of fun! It gave me yet another opportunity to reflect on what’s important to me – and what is not.
How are you doing today with learning to self-regulate tempting foods? Diane
That’s a great story Diane! I do have days where I am amazed at how far I’ve actually come. The foods I eat now are so good for me and I love it and its enough! Now don’t get me wrong, some times I just want to spend all day eating (sometimes I do) sadly but I am working on that as well.
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I too can say with proud that there are certain foods that I have conquered and that is great.
Such a great story – glad you enjoyed your cake judging.
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I am assuming this was near where you live and I wondered if anyone else thought of your former struggles and said anything to you (about the irony or asked if it was going to be hard/trigger for you) – ?
I am not sure I could have gotten myself to take 8 bites of cake (in all honesty), not worth the calories to me unless it was really good (oooey, gooey layered chocolate). But I would guess there was no discrete way of spitting the less than wonderful bites. . .
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It was close by, which was nice. No one knew my story until a few people asked me for my business card. Then I had to explain why my card focused on weight loss rather than cake. And the bites weren’t even a real bite. I literally took crumb-sized bites of each cake. Probably one forkful total between all the cakes – and I didn’t eat the frosting because it was all fondant, which generally tastes awful!!
Diane, can’t tell you how much I LOVED this post! So rewarding!!!
Jody – Fit at 53´s last fabulous musings ..Meditation Experiment & Towels
I just do best to not have it in the house. Or if I make something super tempting, it’s for a potluck or something. But prayer helps me the most. I don’t feel like I’ve conquered anything yet!
I agree with Laura.
I know myself and what foods are trigger foods. I just do not keep them in the house. I have learned that I may say no to something 4 days in a row but if I am feeling anxious and start prowling the kitchen, that box of cookies or ice cream that I said no to without any thought, now looks way too good! And will be way-to-gone momentarily.
I know my weaknesses and try to stack the balance in my favor.
I am learning to handle it situationally. Best not to have it at home for constant temptation but maybe I can finally handle it as a rare treat. Progress for me for sure.
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I am not doing well! I don’t even feel guilty if I partake of a treat, and yet I don’t want to be fat. ???
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So far I’m just not.
But reading your post has given me hope—maybe someday I will be able to.
(Though I must admit that cake (especially cake) is a very definite weakness—more so than chocolate—but it must be fresh and spongy!
)
i totally get that! I have a baby shower coming up next weekend and I’m not even nervous about it, because honestly, I’m not tempted my the cakes and pies. I’ll probably take a few tea bags, a bottle of water and a container of fruit salad with me and enjoy being with my friends, instead of obsessing about the food!
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I do well in certain situations and not so well in others. I do find that there are certain trigger foods I shouldn’t have around, no matter how in control I’m feeling. So, like someone mentioned above, I make those for gatherings where I can have a taste and let others eat it all up … namely brownies.
Part of my goals in this weight loss journey is to arrive at where you’re at, Diane. You do give us all hope!
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Your my hero Diane! One day I do hope I could taste those cakes and walk away but for now (and the last 16 months) I am so afraid of cake and the possibility of my lack of control if I were to eat it. Cake was my number one weakness (namely vanilla) and so I just refrain from eating it. Funny how I don’t care for chocolate anything and can make my hubby chocolate brownies, cookies, muffins and other treats and it never even bother me… yet if there is vanilla around I start to get the shakes…lol.
Thank you for such a great post!
p.s. I hope you are still making our wonderful healthy whole wheat bread.
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I love the notion of being able to conquer obsessions.
I’m currently trying Paleo in an attempt to learn to eat intuitively. Knowing that some people have found the bright line at the end of the tunnel is a great feeling. 
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Ready for more irony? Once upon a time, I was a professional cake decorator. Before Cake Boss, before Ace of Cakes, I made cakes for my clients in NYC who wanted cakes to look like condemned buildings, china sets, fax machines, swimming pools, etc. My side business was hand painting chocolate scenes on chocolate bars.
I gave up ‘the sweet life’ at 275 pounds and STILL gained another 110 lbs before I got serious about getting healthy and losing the weight.
Today , having lost 220 lbs, I would never do a cake tasting contest but I would have loved to tag team with someone on the taste side to judge the creative design of the cakes.
I do not keep my addictive foods in the house. Occasionally I will to too tired or angry or mad and I will reach for something even without thinking. It is great to know I do not have anything in the house to reach for. When my mind clears my body is still clean from not abusing the food and I am grateful to have made it through.
When there is a party in my home and the foods are leftover and something my family wants to have around I ask them to pack it away and let them know that in 24 hours I will toss it if they have not eaten it. It is not a waste of food to throw away unhealthy foods and processed junk.
Jane
Keepingthepoundsoff.com
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Hi, Diane. I would have trouble judging a cake decorating contest. Cake is not only not my weakness, but I don’t like it, with the exception of carrot cake. (I do like brownies and cookies though… that would be a dangerous contest to judge!)
A self regulating tip for people who like to munch on things like trail mix or nuts (and I confess I’m a muncher.) Often munching is not only a desire to do the hand-to- mouth munching activity but also to fill up–and most of the things we munch on have WAY too many calories by the time we fill up. So I’ve figured out that “filler” works for me.
What I do is combine something fiber-y like high fiber bran cereal (Trader Joe’s high fiber cereal has 80 calories and 9 g fiber in a 2/3 cup serving), something puffy like lowfat or airpopped popcorn or puffed rice/wheat/kamut cereal (puffed cereals are 50-60 calories per cup), with the heavier/denser caloried items. Chocolate chips are 80 calories a tablespoon, and trail mix is 150 calories for a quarter cup and most nuts are 170 calories an ounce (and who stops with those amounts normally?)
If I add a cup of puffed cereal and 1/3 cup high fiber cereal to a single serving of the denser snack I want, I’m adding 100 calories but a lot more volume and satisfaction…and “munch time.” Try it–it’s more filling and satisfying and you can stop with less of the sugary/fattier stuff.
Pretty cake.
I am learning I need to cut out a lot of food. For health, not weight loss. It’s rough, especially when I have my emotional eating episodes.
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It’s always a great feeling knowing that you’re in control and the food is not in control of you.
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Great story. It’s encouraging to hear that those foods no longer hold that temptation for you. I’m still at the point where I could eat way too much of the cake. I long for the day when it’s not such a constant battle and wonder if I’ll ever get there.
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What an honor for you! I have learned to not eat sweets on an empty tummy as it will cause a huge sugar spike followed by a crash and then a craving for more. I try to eat those high sugar treats after a balanced meal so as to keep my blood sugar level even.
There is science behind our cravings as well as the emotional part and once I learned about both it helped me to figure out what is going on.
I am still struggling with a few trigger foods while having success with others! Chocolate is a food I can regulate and sometimes say no to when it sits in front of me…BUT…I still cannot have an unguarded cake or anything that remotely looks like a doughnut in the house.
Our church has coffee hour after each service and I have learned to sit far away from the serving table when it is certain folk’s week. I just know that they will bring doughnuts. I could never ever stop at one doughnut. No lie-I would eat a dozen at a sitting. I am ashamed to admit it, but it is the truth. I have not been able to eat even one doughnut for years-I am afraid that I would not know to stop…
I realize that might make me sound a bit unstable-but I know what I can AND cannot deal with right now. So I stay away from cake and doughnuts completely.
…I could have NEVER been able to be a judge at that contest! I am so glad you could. Hopefully, I will get to that point someday.
mamajuliana´s last fabulous musings ..I could tell you a lotta things
Don’t see you much anymore, Diane.
That is ironic, you’re right! I’m not much of a cake person, either, so it probably wouldn’t have tempted me, even if they were vegan. More a pie girl myself. Oops, was I supposed to confess that? Anyways, great job on conquering so many tempations. I didn’t know you had lost your weight so quickly. That’s just so awesome!
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