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Linda’s Recipe & Cooking Forum!

To Dessert or Not to Dessert? That is the Question?

Since holiday baking and partying are in full swing, you might be feeling guilty or left-out depending on your over-indulgence or lack there of when it comes to treats. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing situation. The following thoughts may ease your mind and help you find a happy balance in your eating plan.

Some people have actually made the decision NOT to have weight loss surgery because they fear they will never be able to eat sweets again. Think that sounds ridiculous? Think again.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for me was, in fact, just that. I loved all things sugary, gooey, decadent, chocolaty, andOne of the biggest stumbling blocks for me was, in fact, just that. I loved all things sugary, gooey, decadent, chocolaty, and…….fattening. Ohhhhh, so that’s how I gained two-hundred extra pounds. Let’s face it: it wasn’t because I was eating too much protein!

Growing up, my family was on a strict budget and we had nothing extra. Mom was a great cook and we ate well, but with money tight she only made dessert about once a week. And if the cookies were slightly burnt on the bottom, or if the pie crust was a disaster, if the cake fell or the pudding didn’t set up…we ate it anyway because it was sweet and there would be no more where that came from for awhile!

The first things I learned to make – seriously - were my Killer Cinnamon Rolls. I think I was about eleven or twelve and taking on a yeast-dough didn’t even faze me. I wanted to make the best rolls around. And they were! Tall, fat, full of butter and brown sugar, baking in a pool of caramel sauce that stuck to your teeth and transported you off to sugar-heaven…….

As I spent more time in the kitchen I realized that I would rather make desserts and breads than anything else. My recipe file of baked goods grew monstrous and I got requests to bring goodies to pot-lucks, family dinners, parties and bake-offs. To this day, my collection of cookbooks is one that focuses on desserts. It was my passion. And I did it well, if I do say so myself!

So in making the decision to save my life – despite all the aches and pains and real threats to my health – I agonized most about losing the one thing that I knew I did well and enjoyed: making desserts.

Sounds silly and immature? Maybe. But there it is. I’ll bet the majority of you had the same thoughts and worries. And if it wasn’t about making them, it was definitely about eating them.

It’s no accident that the largest recipe file on here is the Dessert list. It’s not by chance that Susan’s site is filled with sugar-free goodies. It’s not uncommon for the most asked questions to be about how to make these things part of our post-op life.

Why is it that when we admonish someone for ‘testing the waters’ or ‘pushing the limits’, it’s NOT because they’re eating too much protein? Why is it that people feel the need to test the waters and push the limits?

It’s because they miss sugary things and the comfort that those types of foods gave them in the past. And because every diet we ever went on, every bit of advice we ever got, every punishment given out had something to do with eliminating, cutting out, or taking away DESSERT.

It becomes a no-no, a sinful pleasure, an off-limits food that – once these labels are put on it – also becomes our nemesis, our enemy, and the guilt-inducing-sneak-around-so-what-if-it-makes-me-sick food that we can’t get enough of.

On this board we advocate, recommend, (okay, push!) a high-protein lifestyle. We believe that this works best for most of us and gives us the desired weight loss and ease of maintenance. And it’s an eating plan that will get us through the rest of our lives.

But because this is for the rest of our lives, we need to be able to actually enjoy it and for most of us incorporating desserts into that plan is important. Start feeling deprived and soon you’ve got this I’m-being-tortured thing going on and out come the cookies, candy bars, ice cream and sodas, and the bad behavior of stuffing your face so that you won’t feel left out is in full swing.

We don’t want someone to fail at this life-change just because they think they will never be able to enjoy the foods they once did. There is a time and place for dessert and with the wonderful recipes and ingredients that are available here, you can bring some of those back into your eating plan…always in moderation, but you can have them.

There will always be an exception to the rule, and if even a small taste of a sweet goodie is going to push you over the edge into a full blown binge then, yes, cutting them out is the answer. But for most of us, as we learn to trust our tool and change our thinking about food, as we progress into several months and years out from surgery, we can know that enjoying a fabulous, guilt-free dessert once in awhile is a very good thing!

- Linda