Food is not the enemy…

While on Facebook (my personal page) someone was talking about should they make cookies or not and I of course said go for it. She is going through her weight loss journey (she is doing fantastic) and all the people piped up that she would be ruining all her hard work. It’s a cookie people. A cookie. I suggested to her something that I did when I was on WW and worked for WW which was to make ice box cookies. Slice off two cookies and put the dough in the freezer….really does help with portion control.

You can get to a point in your weight loss where you become obsessed. To this day without thinking I know the exact amount of jelly beans, pretzel sticks, etc I ate just out of old habit. I always stop at 35 Jelly Bellys because that was how many you got. And I can tell you how many WW points almost anything is (on the old plan mind you). But that was my life. Panic if I couldn’t get to the gym that day. Hating myself for going over in my points. Upset if I ate perfect all week only to step on the scale only to lose hardly anything or even a gain. It would literally make or break my week.

I realized that wasn’t the way to live one’s life. And while I still lost a ton of weight on WW and in a quickly manner while still drinking beer, eating sweets (every day), and still getting to eat out it did control my life. And while I got to fit into smaller jeans I was in a perpetual state of being sad or happy based on what number came up on a scale.

When I got sick and had to go back on prednisone I was beyond sad as this meant I was going to gain weight. Anyone who has been on the stuff knows it is almost impossible not to do and I was not on a small dosage and on it for a long time. But it was a good time to come to terms with food. And my body. I weigh more than I did when I worked for WW, though I didn’t gain all my weight back just some of it found me. 🙂  I still watch what I eat overall and eat mostly veggies, fruit, and beans (and bacon…yes an oxymoron). But my life is not obsessed with it. I have been working on losing a little as the boy in the photo (apparently not many people want to know who he is) wants to lose a little and I am being supportive. But if there is something I really want, like say pass my favorite BBQ place that is out in the middle of nowhere and I never get out that way (it’s been a year and a half) you better bet that I stopped there and I got a pulled pork sandwich. It was good. The side was not. So I didn’t eat it. We used to have a sign on the cafeteria where I went to undergrad school that said “Take What You Want, But Want What You Take” and I have modified that in my life to Eat What You Want But Really Want What You Are Eating. If it isn’t absolutely oh my God to die for then don’t bother wasting your calories on it?Seriously. I pick through Jelly Bellys to only eat my favorite flavors. Why waste my 4 calories (which is how much they are a piece…from my obsessed days) on a jelly bean flavor I don’t like.

It can be confusing nowadays with a different diet coming out every week telling you what you should and shouldn’t be doing. Here’s what you should do. Eat more real food (Funfetti and Oreo’s being an okay exception :)). Running chicken tenders through some bread crumbs and baking them is just as easy as dumping them out of the freezer bag. Well not AS easy but not hard and so much better for you. Michael Pollen likes to say “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” He of course forgot to mention bacon but we will let that slide. 🙂 I’d also like to add Move Your Body. This doesn’t mean running in 5k’s, going to Boot Camp at 5am with the perky annoying people…it just means going to a 30 minute walk every day. And it doesn’t need to be all at once, do it 10 minutes at a time.

All the talk of cookies made me want some. :)So I made some. Had some. And I have no guilt eating one. You can’t look at the photo on the last post and tell me I’m not a happy person…because I stopped worrying about the number that showed up and started being thankful about what I had.

And lastly here is my obligatory picture of CCS trying to get you to donate…just two more days of me annoying you.

Chocolate Oatmeal More Chocolate Cookies

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
10 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a food processor, process 1 cup of the old-fashioned oats until finely ground, about 30 seconds. You can also do this in a blender if you don’t own a food processor.

Transfer the ground oats to a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisk to incorporate. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl; add the egg and vanilla extract.

Beat for another 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low and add the3 ounces of melted semi-sweet chocolate…make sure it is cooled.

On low speed, stir in the flour/oat mixture just until combined. Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, the chopped pecans and chocolate chips.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes – until the tops are cracked (and set), but the cookies still appear moist in between the cracks. Depending on your version of 1-inch you cookies may take longer to bake. 🙂

Adapted from Cooks Country Chocolate Edition