One of my favorite things, weirdly enough, is when the favor at an event is a cookie. Specifically one of those individually wrapped shortbread cookies that are decorated with fondant usually in conjunction with the theme of the event. For example, the wedding dress shaped shortbread cookie that was the favor at my best friends bridal shower or the adorable blue kangaroo that was the favor at my co-workers baby shower. In general I’m someone who enjoys a “food favor” simply because I like food and because I’ve most likely eaten whatever I wanted at the event so why not continue the eating party in the car ride home.
Yesterday I attended the baptism of one of my best friends twin daughters. Upon walking into the reception I saw that there was a perfectly packaged shortbread cookie decorated in the shape of a cross at everyone’s seat. I knew in that moment, when I laid eyes on that cookie, that any intention I had to eat “well” that afternoon was crumbled with the cookie. I was going to eat that cookie, maybe even before the meal.
Not to over bake my obsession for these cookies but for some reason I just love the taste of these specific shortbread cookies. Since they’re not a standard chocolate chip cookie I can get anywhere and they aren’t something I’d order off Etsy simply to eat as nightly dessert I feel they are a delicacy that pops up once in a blue moon at an event. Therefore, I have to eat it! You may have a food or sweet treat that does this same thing to you!
The problem, in today’s world, events are constant. If you woke up today and said, “wow I can’t believe January is already over,” it’s probably because our lives all fill up so quickly with events, parties and social gatherings that time flies. Each gathering, like it or not, involves food. Food we really enjoy. And when we make an exception to eat one bad food, like the cookie, we usually allow ourselves to eat bad through the entire event. With that being said, it can feel like the only way to actually ever lose weight or feel healthier is to RSVP “no” to every event, become a shut in, and hibernate surrounded by salads, grilled chicken and green drinks until the weight is gone. But that’s not realistic, or fun!
And even if we attempted to eliminate something like social gatherings and the food at them, it’s so ingrained into our livelihood that we set ourselves up for failure. So how do we look forward to social events, the food that comes along with them, and STILL hit our weight loss goals…I’ve done some math for us. Because statistics let us predict the future by assessing how likely outcomes are, and knowing what could happen helps us make informed decisions and live life to the fullest.
Weekly, I’d say on average we all eat:
- 21 meals
- 21 Snacks
- Roughly, 12,600 calories
Let’s say, every week we have 3 events(Example: One dinner out with co-workers during the week, one night out with friends on the weekend, one afternoon baby or bridal shower)
- 3 Bad Meals
- 3 Added Indulgences
- Roughly 2,700 EXTRA BAD CALORIES (That’s NOT even a pound)
That means, in terms of meals,
- 14 % of our “eating life” is “BAD”
- and 86% of our “eating life” “GOOD”
Only 14%! That’s nothing!! And this simple Junior Varsity math of mine can actually help remind you why it’s not about what you eat that’s bad, it’s about what you eat, that’s good. We must look at the BIG PICTURE of eating. Not the small meal to meal picture. We often are all at fault for focusing on the one bad in the sea of good and neglecting all the good things we chose to do. That focus on the negative, drives negativity, drives overeating, drive weight gain. If we flip our thinking, focus on the good, we’re well on our way to success & we’re allowed to actually enjoy all the events and foods we love! Win/Win!
My stolen cookie on the way out 🙂
