[CHANGES] Cookie Comfort & more

[Sandra Ahten]

The Reasonable Diet “Changes” Newsletter
9/23/05

This issue contains:

1. Some Inspiration: “Cookie Comfort”
2. Healthy Living Tip:  Biaggi’s
3. Free Public Talk at Urbana Library
4. UI Campus Announcement: Trying Again
5. Too Busy? Try the TeleGroup


1) Cookie Comfort

Copyright 2005 by Sandra Ahten

It feels like the world is spinning out of control. War, hurricane, a 
stampede, our jails filled, my heart sinking. I want comfort. I want a 
chocolate chip cookie. I wish I could give the world a big ol’ batch of 
chocolate chip cookies and make everything better. But cookies aren’t a 
solution; or are they?

Just as some people have sharp eyesight or a dull sense of smell, taste 
sensation is also on a continuum. Perhaps that explains why some people are 
not that interested in food. Let me assure you that I am not one of them. I 
eat because I love food. I also eat to procrastinate, to celebrate, to drown 
my sorrows, and to calm my nerves. I eat to socialize. Sometimes I eat 
because I’m tired, and often I eat for comfort. It’s easy to see why I 
gained weight, isn’t it?

Today I wanted the world to stop spinning out of control. I couldn’t make 
that happen and so I just had a cookie. Not a little wimpy cookie either, 
but a big soft decadent white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie. Did it 
take the weight of the world off of my shoulders? Frankly, yes! I did feel 
some comfort from its sweet goodness. I knew I was indulging. Transported, I 
closed my eyes and I savored every minute of it. I was determined to extract 
every bit of comfort that I could from my favorite comfort food.

There was a time when I wouldn’t have been able get any comfort from a 
chocolate chip cookie. Why? Guilt. Guilt because I never had just one or 
two. Guilt because they were an indulgence, on top of other indulgences, on 
top of other indulgences, and the result was an increasingly unhealthy 
weight.

How did I make peace with chocolate chip cookies? It has been a journey that 
is, of course, about more than chocolate chip cookies. It is about growing 
up and, ironically, although I may use cookies to escape now and again, it 
is about living in reality.

My reality is that cookies are a red-light food. No cookie in my home lasts 
more than 24 hours. A chocolate chip cookie can beckon me out of sound sleep 
at 2am. So, simply, I no longer have them in my home. When I want a cookie I 
go out, I buy one, I eat it, it’s gone.

My reality is that I had to learn how many calories I could eat to maintain 
weight and how many to lose, and how many calories a cookie contained. I had 
to train myself to become a conscious eater.

My reality was that I had to learn to be patient with myself and not abandon 
all the good habits that I was trying to establish, just because I had a 
trying day, week, or even a difficult month.

My reality is that I had to learn alternative methods of comfort, and even 
other methods of procrastination, and of drowning my sorrows.

I had to live in the grown-up reality that cookie binges would not stop 
unless I took measures to stop them. Only with these discoveries and 
practices in place could I get rid of the guilt and make peace with 
chocolate chip cookies - and, hence, peace with myself. With my own peace of 
mind intact and feeling a bit of comfort instead of despair, I am able then 
to show up for duty to do my own small part to stop the spinning out of 
control world. I can collect donations, call my representative, or write a 
prisoner. I can do my part. So I guess the bottom line is that, yes, cookies 
can be a solution. Got milk?

2) Healthy Living Tip:
Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, 2235 S. Neil Street, in Champaign, has several 
healthy entrées. The Chicken Pietro is a good choice; as is the breadcrumb 
crusted oven roasted Shrimp Oreganata with capellini pasta in a fresh 
tomato-basil sauce. Seared salmon or talapia are also excellent. To avoid 
the guilt factor, and really enjoy my entrée, I simply pass on the bread and 
olive oil, which at 119 calories per tablespoon just adds up too fast.


3) Free Public Talk at Urbana Library

I will be giving a free public talk in the auditorium of the Urbana Library, 
210 W. Green St., on Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 7PM.

The talk is titled “Holiday Weight – No Way!”

Kirsty Alley says her annual holiday weight gain started at Halloween and 
went through Valentines Day. This talk will offer sane solutions that fit 
with busy lives, including recipes, eating out and party tips, and winter 
solutions for exercise.

4. UI Campus Announcement: Trying Again
If anyone on campus would like to host a Reasonable Diet group in their 
building please contact me. The host will have all group fees waived.

5. Too Busy? Try the TeleGroup

If you are not in the Champaign Urbana area or are just too pressed for time 
to leave your home or office, this is the group for you! Web, email, or 
phone reservation required. You will get a pin number to participate.  You 
can even use your cell phone. http://www.reasonablediet.com/enroll.htm