The Sweet Life

via mychinaconnection.com

I simply adore sweets. This is not a secret. Would be a very hard one to keep since I share recipes on a regular basis and in a get to know me post I listed my addiction. Doughnuts is one of my favorites, even when I used to help make, decorate and sell them for a living, I never got tired of them. I have several favorites for different reasons, from the crispy edges of old fashioned to the sweet yummy flavors of maple or chocolate and pink with sprinkles simply because I feel like a child again...oh and I could pop doughnut holes by the dozen!! I have often said I walk all the miles that I do to be able to indulge in a doughnut afterwards. My family even says when I loose weight that I went on a coffee and doughnut diet. When we used to go to Las Vegas I had to head to the Crispy Cream factory over at the Excalibur and have a freshly made one. One good trick for day olds is to microwave them a bit, mmm....When in San Francisco I have to go to Pier 39 and get the mini hot cinnamon and sugar doughnuts....Oh and now have found a place about an hour away from home that makes fresh, made to order hot apple cider doughnuts!

Hot made to order apple cider doughnuts!

Caught in the act... not a pretty pic

I also have a weakness for cookies ...you will notice that is what I bake most often. Like doughnuts I can live on them. I must always give cookies away after baking them or that is what will happen, all real food will be ignored for cookies. I am not picky either, do not think there is a cookie that I have tried that I do not like.

via www.foodnetwork.com

Please do not even get me started on cake, of any kind really, and well chocolate in any form is always a weakensss.....

Makes me weak in the knees! Pic via www.mortons.com

My mouth is watering and my heart is palpitating! Pic via www.foxling.com

So whats my point here? Simply this. I need to cut back. I am so addicted that it seems sugar makes up most of my diet in one form or another. I could substitute an artificial sweetener, but no matter what they say, I can always tell...sure it is fine in my coffee or even on my strawberries and cereal, but in bake goods, I pick it out right away. Goodness knows I have tried. I have often in breads, muffins and cakes added apple sauce, unsweetened to sub as the sugar, and it is ok in those applications, but not everything will do well without real sugar, white or brown ( brown is my favorite...I could eat that by the spoonful! ) and well life is indeed a lot sweeter with sugar in it.

Oh I love pie too!

The trick I think I need to re-learn is moderation. I thought I had it mastered once, had not had a doughnut for a couple of years, a cookie once in a while, a cupcake, well only if a mini one ...Whole Foods is great for minis!

Well except this time....red velvet....simply had to have....

I have come to the realization that I can not limit myself to a piece of dark chocolate a day, or a divine treat once in a blue moon like the article(s)  by Mireille Guiliano of "French Women Don't Get Fat" fame...no, no, no, because like my fellow "Queens" over at Queen Of Your Own Life, and the recent blog written by Kathy Kinney ( you might recall her as Mimi on The Drew Carey Show) , sugar screams my name "..like a banshee coming strait out of hell." Yes, it is that bad. I obsess over it, and anything that is made with it. Here is the rub, it is very bad for me, for most people, more so because apparently my fibromyalgia simply does not tolerate it very well. It can cause the mood swings ( goodness knows I have enough triggers for that) it can make my belly bloat and well all that goes with being a bit too gassy...and well I have to exercise like a mad woman to be able to eat the amount that I have been consuming since last Fall as a way to put a band aide on my life. 

Only wish I looked this glamorous when I exercised!  pic via google image search

In my mind I know I need to get off the sugar train, put in my foam ear plugs and lower the blinders, but I simply do not know how to do it. Kathy in part of her title to her blog said it all "The Battle For Me" . If I want to be happier, healthier, stop the mind numbing, ugly cry inducing mood swings and be a better Queen, then I need to remember it is worth it and that I have the power to do this! Of course it is so easy to say when sitting at my computer, what happens when I go to the kitchen and the Easter Candy my daughter brought is there, or I flip through the pages of my very new, just arrived yesterday Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Desserts book...or the Cooking Channel and Food Network air my favorite (centered around desserts and baking) shows? Oh and I so do not want to give up baking, it has really quite often been a life saver on the low days. If any of you readers have a clue, send me a life saver, and not the candy version, because I truly need to live a sweet life, with a little less sugar!