You CAN have your cake AND eat it too!!!

I have a sweet tooth and it is a gigantic monkey on my back. Imagine King Kong, Gorilla Grodd, Mighty Joe Young, and Gorilla Monsoon combined and you'd come close to how big this thing is. Sometimes that hankering is specific and sometimes it isn't. This time I wanted an Oreo® cake and as is my habit lately I decided to make it myself. Short version here is that the cake was fantastic. I didn't do the math on the calories like I typically do but to give you an idea of how ridiculous this cake is? Every sandwich cookie (context) is around 50 calories. In a one pound bag there are around 36 cookies. In this cake I used 30 cookies (1500 calories before the rest of the ingredients). And again....it's a super tasty cake (well it is if you like cookies and cake).

I bring this up to address some things I hear often such as.....

• "I thought you were on a diet", 
• My grandmother was often fond of saying "That's what you get for thinking"...
• I am on a diet. So are you. So is everyone. A popular misconception about "diet" is you go on a diet. Everything you shove into your mouth is part of your diet. Water, toothpaste, food, and so on.
• "Why are you eating that?" or "You can't eat that!"
• A. Because it's delicious
• B. Sure I can. Watch....om nom nom nom....so yummy....om nom nom
• "Do you know how much sugar/fat/salt is in that?"
• Yup. I tend to do a fair amount of research on what I eat. By the time I've gone to a restaurant I've parsed the menu at least 20 times and typically don't make up my mind until I actually tell my server what I wanted to eat. Sometimes its a healthier choice sometimes it isn't. We should be eating at home more anyway since the food there is already paid for.

Sooooooo many people I know "live to eat" when you should "eat to live". Nothing wrong with throwing down on a plate of ribs or some kind of spectacular dessert (like above) so long as it is the exception and not the rule.

Pay attention to your eating. This is a significant statement. When we eat we typically are doing something in addition to eating. How many times have you been talking to someone or watching TV or playing games and before you knew it what you were snacking on was gone? It was a family size bag of chips and you were only going to eat a handful or maybe a lil bit more and five minutes go by and the Fried Snack Food Goblin has come in and hidden the salty goodness in the last place you'd think to look for it....your waistline. If you must eat snack food? Portion it out in advance. Pour yourself a small bowl or cup of the chips and put the bag away. Make sure you seal it because no one likes stale chips.

What you eat is just as important. Empty calories aren't bad they just aren't as productive to your health as say the vegetables you've been avoiding cause you "don't like them". Eat them anyway. Adding some dark leafy greens to your plate will not kill you. Promise. If I'm wrong? Have your family contact me upon your demise and I will throw myself on your coffin. A nice salad made of field greens with a lite vinaigrette is fairly tasty and low in calories. Use ground turkey instead of beef. If you must use beef (cause sometimes you just gotta) use a leaner cut.

Try this: For a week track everything you put into your mouth. To the best of your ability measure your amounts and you can use one of the numerous food calculators on line for everything that doesn't have nutritional info on its packaging to get approximate values. You might be surprised how much room there is to remove some grease and/or sugar and stuff in some veggies. You'll thank me later.

And if its any consolation? Were it up to me? Bacon and chocolate chip cookies would have all the nutrients that the human body would need. They'd be 25 calories per and you'd have the body you wanted after eating two. Sadly I was out of the office the day that decision was in committee.