Cookies, Again

Well, at least they tasted good this time.

Yesterday morning I decided to take the kids to Joann's to get some holiday craft making supplies. Actually, I'm not very creative so I just buy the craft-in-a-box variety. However, they didn't really have any at Joann's and I didn't want to drive to Oregon to go to Michael's. So, we instead purchased an assortment of paintable ornaments and pen-paints.

I then remembered we have cookie cutters that I've never used but have had for several years. So, I thought, why not make sugar cookies and let the kids decorate them? They never really taste good so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them.

And off we went to the grocery store to buy supplies. I texted a friend and invited her and her husband over to decorate and eat cookies. Then I realized that I should make other cookies as well, if I was going to have company over. So, I purchased some chocolate chips. As we were getting ready to go to the checkout, I told my 14 year old to grab some old-fashioned oats so she could try making oatmeal cookies again. I told her to buy the kind that weren't quick oats as that was probably the mistake she had made with the last batch. Oh, yeah, and they had a display of marshmallows and krispies on sale by the checkout so I grabbed the makings of rice krispie treats.

We went home and painted ornaments and then started making cookies. I wasn't going to eat any, well, maybe one or two. I felt strong.

I don't know how many cookies I ate - I couldn't count on two hands probably. And cookie dough (it was so good!). All the cookies turned out fabulously. I kept chugging water to keep my tummy feeling full and I ate a huge baked potato with cheese before we started baking so I wouldn't be hungry for hours, but it didn't stop me from sampling throughout the entire bake-fest.

Fortunately, I had made a pot of veggie soup that morning, which we all ate for dinner. It couldn't have had very many calories since it was entirely made up of fresh veggies. I ate a huge bowl between batches of cookies to also keep me feeling full.

We ended up baking for hours - mostly my 14 year old and myself since the two little ones got bored after a while. They did enjoy cutting out the christmas cookies and, much later, decorating them. So did my friend and her husband. I made them a huge bag of cookies to take home with them. However, we still have several bags of cookies in the pantry that I need to dispose of (and, hopefully, NOT by eating them myself).

I enjoyed our day though. And while I feel disturbed at the number of cookies I ate yesterday, I know it could have been way worse. I know I didn't eat until my stomach feel achingly full or mindlessly. I enjoyed every cookie I ate. I was thoughtful of every cookie I ate. I know that I will need to be extra good today and have a really good workout to use up all those extra calories, but that's okay. I enjoyed our bake-fest and I would rather enjoy holiday baking with my kids and even eat a little too much on that day then try to avoid things we love doing together because I'm too concerned with calories. It's okay to indulge sometimes. It just has to be within reason, done with full acknowledgement and understood there is a need for a little extra effort in the following days.

Yeah, I had a moment of angst when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw I was up 2 pounds. But, instead of giving up on my efforts and pulling out a bag of cookies to drown my misery into, I ate a bowl of wheatabix with no sugar and donned my workout clothes. It's all give and take, right?