[ SECRET POST #2541 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2541 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 040 secrets from Secret Submission Post #363.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

So, I’m a little more than 2 weeks into tracking food and exercise and trying to live healthier. The food is going okay. I don’t always eat the best meals (like, for instance, the dinner that was two gas station hot dogs and a bag of chips), but I’m definitely more aware of what I’m eating and how much I’m eating.

But I’m a little unsure what my stance/goal on desserts should be. I’m not diabetic, and I’m trying to keep it that way, but I also don’t think it’s necessary or at all realistic to adopt a hardline “I must never eat a baked good or bowl of ice cream again!!” attitude. But I also know that, unlike the way I grew up, it is entirely unreasonable for every dinner to end with dessert. (It should be noted that when I say dessert in this context, I’m referring to things like cake, cookies, pie, candy and ice cream, not like, fresh fruit, which everybody needs some of.)

My original thought was that I could have a dessert like that once, one day a week, and if I wanted sweet things beyond that I could have fruit or toast and jam, or also for some reason I include the times when I just want one chocolate-dipped Ritz cracker with my lunch (three crackers, counts as a dessert, though) and the like. And I stuck to that for the first week. The second week, not so much.

So, I know that I want to have more days a week where I don’t have these dessert-type things than days when I do. But I don’t know if I should try to limit it to two days, if three days is still reasonable, if I should say two are okay and only a third if I’ve also got three days of exercise in, or if I really should strive for zero to one day a week.

I'm thinking about the two with a third-day option, at least for now. What do you guys do or think?

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe instead of limiting desert try and come up with healthier deserts and limiting portions rather than days you can have dessert. As long as you keep portion control I really don't see a problem with a bit of desert after dinner every day.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe instead of limiting desert try and come up with healthier deserts
...This was kind of why I said fruit and whatnot was excluded from "desserts I must limit" list. So that if there were a day I wanted something sweet for dessert, I would be encouraged to go for a piece of fruit, which I could have no problem, or something instead of reaching for a brownie, which I would be trying not to have if I were past my allotment for the week.

Sorry if that was unclear in the original post.

As long as you keep portion control I really don't see a problem with a bit of desert after dinner every day.
Thing is, I'm coming from a lifetime of poor portion control, and this just does not seem like a good idea at all atm.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

It's fine to have any dessert in moderation. If you want stuff ice cream, pay attention to the serving size and stick to it.
You can be a little more lax on healthier desserts like most fruit, but keep it to a tiny dish.
Also decide whether to have dessert by how much you already ate that day. If you're keeping control of all of your meals then there isn't harm having dessert that day. If you have one those gas-station food days, reward yourself with dessert the next day so you don't overdo it.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know what attitudes toward food you have harbored in the past, but TBH, I'm a little alarmed at how many restrictions you seem to be imposing on yourself. One chocolate-dipped Ritz cracker is okay, but three count as dessert, so if you had ice cream at Sunday dinner, that means you can't have dessert again that week unless you've been to the gym three times...I mean, if you can live with it in the long term, fine, but it seems excessively punitive to me. Also, the distinction between "dessert" and "fresh fruit" seems unnecessary. Sometimes fresh fruit is dessert--exactly the dessert you want. And what if you have a bowl of berries with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, or a pear and a couple of gingersnaps, or an apple sliced thin and sauteed in butter with a shaking of cinnamon and some walnuts on top--what are those?

Re: How do you dessert?

[starphotographs]

...Don't know what they are, but I'm gonna make that apple thing some time! Thanks, anon. :)

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, I guess I just did a really bad job explaining in that post:

Also, the distinction between "dessert" and "fresh fruit" seems unnecessary. Sometimes fresh fruit is dessert
This is exactly the point I was trying to make. Those classic dessert items, like cake, cookies, ice cream etc., are items that I think need some sort of limit. So, if I want dessert but I'm past my allottment on those items, it's encouragement to consider fresh fruit instead.

As for the one Ritz cracker, those things are super satisfying, and the times I've had one after my sandwich...that was all I wanted, and I didn't feel like I was ingesting a ton of sugar and fat and calories. But on those ocassions where I DID really want three or four or five, and I'm getting quite a bit more sugar, fat and calories out of them...it doesn't seem out of line to make that one of my "classic dessert" items?

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

"apple sliced thin and sauteed in butter with a shaking of cinnamon and some walnuts on top--what are those?"

Deadly? Many people have walnut allergies. Not the point I know, but it was just the first thing to pop in my head.

Re: How do you dessert?

[blueonblue]

Cheese for dessert. Seriously.

http://www.thekitchn.com/the-cheesemonger-the-dessert-c-52301

Re: How do you dessert?

[starphotographs]

the fresh goats serve as great neutral foils for other flavors

Hello, favorite typo of the day! XD

Also, now I want blue cheese and barley wine.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT
I really don't like cheeses but the mild ones like muenster and mozzarella types.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

One of my favorite desserts is a cup of tea, some crackers, and a lump of goat cheese with fruit.

OP HERE (a clarification)

[(Anonymous)]

I thought I worded the above well, but since two people have drawn the same incorrect conclusions, clearly I did not.

I'm not discounting the idea of fresh fruit for dessert -- in fact, I'm promoting the idea of fresh fruit for dessert -- here. Dessert 7 days a week is fine in my mind as long as X number days are fresh fruit or something like that and only Y number days are cake, cookies, brownies, ice cream and the like.

The thing I'm trying to decide is what number Y should be.

Re: OP HERE (a clarification)

[dancing_clown]

Dude, you were totally clear. I think a bunch of people must have just skipped over your parenthetical or something.

Re: How do you dessert?

[caecilia]

you should have fruit salads every day

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Are you an actual nurse?

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

I've read through the whole thread, and props to you, OP! Understanding and taking control of what we put into our bodies is one of the best things we can do for ourselves, so major kudos for taking this initiative.

Diet - the food we eat in general, not some sort of plan - and exercise go hand in hand for living a healthier lifestyle, so if you're coming off of being sedentary and eating a lot of these "classic desserts" as you call them, then I think it's a great idea to tie them together while you're transitioning into better habits. And depending on how you ate in the past, I wouldn't even be too concerned if you wanted to allow three days of classic desserts with a fourth contingent on activity to start.

And remember allowing yourself to have guilt-free classic desserts three or even four days out of the week doesn't mean that you must have them. Just don't feel bad if you do. I think that's the key to changing habits.

So, yeah, I think you're on the right track with this days of the week, thing. Because yeah, maybe with just the right portion size, you could mete out a "classic dessert" every day of the week and not be any worse off, but I find a lot of people have no clue what "the right portion size" is. And if they do, all the measuring and weighing and repackaging becomes a chore. And when things are chores, they can easily become resented. And once they're resented, it's really easy to chuck them out the window entirely.

* I am not a medical professional, I just really care about health.

Re: How do you dessert?

[dancing_clown]

This, pretty much.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Gee, thanks for implying we're all just morons who don't know that a platter-sized plate full of food is too much. Believe it or not, some us -- even some of us fatties -- know what an appropriate serving size is. And it's really not that fucking hard to portion out some snacks.

It takes 20 minutes and some baggies or reusable containers.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for this comment. :)

And I really hear you on the "just because I can, doesn't mean I have to" thing. The food journal is helping me really take notice of what I do eat, but I also need to work on discipline and ask myself when it comes to things that maybe aren't best, just how badly I want it. That way if it's just a little craving that something else could fix (an apple with peanut butter instead of an apple pie, maybe) or if I'm just bored, I can make the best choice for me.

Re: How do you dessert?

[herpymcderp]

My only rule for this is if I want something sweet I make it myself. So if I want a pie or a cake or whatever, I actually have to expend effort in order to obtain it. Usually makes me think twice about it, and if not then I'll bake a quarter batch of cookies. Six cookies between two people won't kill anyone.

Otherwise I tend to have fruit laying around so if I've finished what I wanted for dinner and I'm still craving something I'll grab an orange or some grapes.

I've stayed the same weight I was in high school, for reference. I find it more useful to have rules about junk food like chips and pop since those are far more associated with overweight and obesity than simply eating dessert is.

Re: How do you dessert?

[tei]

I know his is a controversial subject, and I not a medical professional and just speaking from my own experience and from what I see in other people's eating patterns. For me, the only thing that finally made me feel ok about my body/want to make and eat nice food/stop constantly being obsessed with and feeling bad about food was the exact opposite of what you're doing here.

The thing is, it seems initially like having these kinds of eating rules should be helpful. It makes it easier; just follow all the rules, and presto-- you'll be healthy and happy! It's way easier to just follow a set of arbitrary rules than to say "from now on I'm going to listen to my body and allow myself do do what is best for me with regards to cooking and eating." Thus, the incredibly lucrative diet industry. People want rules so badly that they'll pay good money for them. But ultimately, it really doesn't work that way. The only instruction manual that your body comes with is your own senses and good sense. Your body actually tells you what it needs, really really loudly. And, by creating this web of rules and regulations for yourself, you're eliminating the possibility of being able to listen. Even if you did manage to stick to some kind of regime like the one you're describing, it would just be replacing one set of poor eating habits with a more regimented and neurotic kind of poor eating habits.

So honestly the only thing I can suggest is to throw the whole thing away. And it's going to be waaaay harder to get a handle on than just following the instructions, and for a while it'll feel like you're not getting anywhere and you just want someone to tell you what to do and be done with it. But in the end, it's the only way you'll ever gain a reliable framework of judgement about how to eat and live.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Do you make your own desserts, or do you buy them already made?

If you don't already, making your own desserts is a great way to a) control how much you eat, because if you want it, you'll have to put in the effort to make it (and hey, you can get some extra exercise in there by hand-mixing instead of using an electric beater, wherever possible) and also b) control what goes into your desserts. Making it yourself cuts out things like preservatives, and you can reduce sugar/fat etc, or make substitions with healthier alternatives - yoghurt instead of cream, for example.

Also, I may be reading too much into this, so correct me if I'm wrong - but going by the way you describe things, you don't really do much with fruit, as your alternative to pie/ice cream/etc.

... Well, yeah, you're going to get bored with it. Because pie, for instance, is a whole mix of flavours and textures. That's why it's exciting, and why you prefer it over plain fruit. Don't get me wrong, plain fruit can be delicious too, but - especially if you're transitioning from the kind of diet you describe - it can be asking a lot of you to have that six days a week.

Instead, look for ways to jazz up your fruit/healthy desserts. Cooking fruit with a mix of spices does this pretty much instantly, and then you can serve it with a dollop of fresh yoghurt instead of ice-cream. Or make something like a lassi (an Indian drink, basically a sweet yoghurt fruit smoothie; lots of recipes online) to sip on after your dinner. Again, making these yourself means you can control how much sugar etc goes into them.

Personally, I like yoghurt topped with fresh fruit and some nuts/broken-up crackers over the top. The fruit's got the sweetness and zing, the yoghurt's creamy and cool, and the nuts/crackers add some crunch (also some chocolate, if they're choco-covered). Also, it takes about a minute to assemble, since these are all ingredients you can keep on hand in your fridge.

TL;DR: Liven up your fruit desserts so they're a more interesting (to your tastebuds) alternative to your pies etc!

Also, if you're interested: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/healthy-dessert-recipes/pictures/index.html A lot of these desserts freeze well, so you can make them ahead of time (over the weekend?) and you can just pull them out whenever you need a pick-me-up.

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Don't look at me, Anon. The only time I was able to stick to a diet for any length of time, I did it by building about 300 calories' worth of sugary junk a day right into it. (Along with exercise and otherwise reasonable food, it actually did help me lose weight, and I'd probably have kept it off if I'd stuck with the whole routine. Alas, winter comes along and screws me up every time.)

Re: How do you dessert?

[(Anonymous)]

Not sure if you'll still be checking but...

If you do start to make your own desserts, and this could work for some store bought as well, try putting them in portion bags like that one anon suggested but then put them all in the freezer. Most desserts freeze fine. Take one out to thaw on days you want a dessert, and there you go! No chance of eating more than you planned because they're all frozen and it'd take forever to thaw another one out.

You could do this with certain batters as well. A lot of cookie doughs freeze fine, and you could scoop out a couple of 'cookies' to freeze together, take them out and cook when you want them and voila! Fresh baked cookies in small portions.