Saying no to free cake 🎂

The day finally came when I was fully tested when my office had cake for somebody’s birthday. I said no. I knew it would be difficult and I would get push back for skipping the cake as I knew it was the right thing to do both for my future and my health. People thought I had been overlooked or something. No I just didn’t want cake, even if it was free and delicious. I went back to my private office and bit down on a banana for the sweetness, knowing that I had been left out by my intentional decision.

For a long time I’ve been going in this direction. Ever since I’ve been on my own I’ve eaten a lot of frozen vegetables and in recent years a lot of frozen fruit. But only lately has my desire to be healthier really bitten down hard, especially since turning forty. At first it was about limiting portion sizes and not stuffing my face with unneeded calories but it quickly morphed into more healthy eating and always having a good supply of fruits and vegetables at home and in my office for easy consumption.

What happened? I turned forty. I was reviewing my Mission Fifty plan and realized that I am not doing enough on my diet. Walking is good – doing a lot of steps, my savings plan is solid even if the markets are weak, I’ve learned a lot since my journey with my licensed mental health counselor and the time after it in self reflection. But what I was choosing to eat needed improvement.

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast really hit home for me when they pointed out the simple truth about weight reduction. You can’t lose weight by exercise – it’s simply to easy to rack up calories with the sugary and processed foods that are so conveniently around us. But you can by reducing your intake of calories.

I never have eaten much fast food. I don’t like all the wasteful packaging or the cost of eating out. It’s always been rare for me to have cookies, candy or crackers at home. But the convenience of chicken paddies and what I thought was inexpensive pasta with sauce seemed like such a go to washed down by several cold glasses of milk or maybe apple juice. I don’t do soda but I like sweet and I’m a bit fan of the dairy industry and rural life more generally. I figured every cold glass of milk I drank was supporting hard working dairy farms and a working rural landscape.

But the truth is all those things are just a lot of calories, not easy to burn off easily. And there are a lot of easy healthier foods that can be cooked relatively easy. With inflation, prices are uber important. Brown rice with broccoli or other frozen vegetables is an easy option. I don’t cook it even with oil. Super cost effective too. Likewise oatmeal with frozen vegetables. I keep my freezer stocked full of frozen bags of veggies and fruits and my counter at work and home with lots of fruit. And I make fruit my go to when I’m hungry to boost my blood sugar. I’m looking to add frozen salmon to my freezer the next time I go to the store on Sunday.

I’m slowly eating up the remaining less healthy foods at home and do not plan to replace them. Instead I want fruit and vegetables to be the go to, backed up by bulk brown rice, lentils, kidney beans and other healthy easy things to cook and store. I will still do pancakes or bisquick biscuits from time to time or even occasional vanilla low fat yougurt I got which is amazingly tasty with fruit. Or even eggs with a lot of veggies. But in moderation.

As I don’t eat out, what I put in my grocery cart is ultimately what I eat. My pantry is under my control. I don’t ever want to be hungry, indeed part of my food choices going forward really seeks to have as low of a glycemic index as possible to avoid being hungry and over eating. But that free cake threatens to undermine my goals.