Self Respect or Tummy Ache: A Surprisingly Difficult Choice

Cookies are my weakness. My trigger. My "Achilles heel". If I bake them, I usually can't stop eating them. Actually, if I am in the same building as them, I can't stop eating them. Since I know this about myself, I rarely bake them. For the same reason I don't go walking in dark alley's at night... it's about survival.

But it is pouring rain and I have been stuck inside with two kids for days. Can you believe my daughters school is closed down due to flooding... in Orange County?

Baking cookies seemed like a fun way to pass the time with my girls. So I threw caution to the wind and decided to bake Janna's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. You may want to stop by her blog and copy the recipe... they were divine.

photo from 2cool4myminivan

But even though they were quite possibly the best cookies I have ever met, I didn't trade my self respect for a tummy ache. No, this time I decided to take a different route. When I caught myself mindlessly (frantically) eating my second warm cookie straight from the oven, I had a little pep talk with myself. I've been doing that lately and it seems to help. I said to myself, "You are stronger than this. If you want a cookie, make it a reasonable snack and then stop".

So I poured a glass of lowfat milk (I haven't drank milk in at least a year... i find it gross unless accompanied with a warm chocolate cookie).

photo from the dailygreen.com

Then I ate my cookie while drinking my milk. To my surprise, when I finished the cookie and milk, I was done. Satisfied. Stuffed.

I'm not sure if it was the pep talk or the milk that made the difference. But whatever it is, I feel happy with the outcome.

My plan for the rest of the cookies is this: 1) I will make a plate for my next door neighbor and walk it over if it ever stops raining. 2) I will make a plate for my husbands work and put them in his car as soon as he gets home. 3) I will put the last few into individual baggies in the fridge, for my kids to eat tomorrow. Because there is no sense in torturing myself.

On the cookie topic, I thought I'd share with you a cute little story I got in Weight Watchers years ago.

***

I met him at a party. There he was at the end of the buffet - a loner, the last one on the plate. He had a certain something - a sweetness, a sensuality. He was one hot cookie.

I felt as if i'd always known him, always hungered for him. When he looked at me with those warm brown eyes, I melted. Before I knew it, I had my hands on him, my mouth on him - in public. After that night, we were inseperable.

With him, I could be myself. He didn't seem to care what mood I was in, how I looked, even if I gained weight. Toegether, we had the recipe for happiness. No one satisfied me like Chip.

Then things changed. My friends said he was no good for me. He started to give me heartburn. I felt crummy, but it had to end.

Now we've gone our separate ways. I hardly think of him anymore. Oh, if I see a certain TV commercial, a particular magazine ad, a coupon for 10c off - that old longing returns.l And when we run into each other at teh supermarket, we nod.

We are friendly, but it's over.

***

P.S. I only used half the chocolate chips but they were still shockingly good!

Isn't this a funny photo of my daughter? I came across it this morning and had to laugh.