Smugly overweight??
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ariant23
Posts: 161 Member
Ok - I'm looking for some "no, you're not crazy" here. And I totally don't mean to offend anyone. But I had this conversation with my husband the other day and he said I was crazy. I'm about 30 lbs. overweight, but outside of the concept of portion control, it's because I'm an awesome cook. I make great bread, baked goods, amazing sauces, roasts, etc. and I make almost all of it from scratch. We go through tons of butter, eggs, flour, potatoes, sugar, etc. I love to cook, I love making big meals for my little family of 4, and it's even more exciting when I can show it off. I'm a stay-at-home mom, I feel like you should get a 5-star meal if you come over for dinner. and that's not to say we don't eat out some times, and I don't stock some junk food, but mostly, if I eat it, I made it.
To the I'm not crazy point, I feel like my fatness is "more ok" that someone who did it with eating out or prepared foods from the grocery store. I realize it's completely stupid, but that's the thought I have when I debate adding a pat of butter to finish a sauce and make it shiny (which is why you add a smidgen of butter at the end). AND because I make so much from scratch, it's a huge pain to count calories because only a few things come with "reliable" labels as we go through tons of produce and protein. So when i do count my calories, it adds tons of time to my food prep (3 meals and 3 snacks a day for my very skinny and active girls).
Is there anyone out there like me? or is my husband right?
To the I'm not crazy point, I feel like my fatness is "more ok" that someone who did it with eating out or prepared foods from the grocery store. I realize it's completely stupid, but that's the thought I have when I debate adding a pat of butter to finish a sauce and make it shiny (which is why you add a smidgen of butter at the end). AND because I make so much from scratch, it's a huge pain to count calories because only a few things come with "reliable" labels as we go through tons of produce and protein. So when i do count my calories, it adds tons of time to my food prep (3 meals and 3 snacks a day for my very skinny and active girls).
Is there anyone out there like me? or is my husband right?
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Replies
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Personally It does not matter to me how I got fat, whether from homemade food or restaurant food. Point is, I ate too much of it, all of it. Fat is fat, no matter where it came from.
I am worth the time it takes me to log everything I eat. At this point in my life it is what I have to do to keep up with my new lifestyle.
I realize it may take you a little extra time to log everything when you cook as you do for a family, but it is up to you to decide whether it is worth it or not.
Good luck in your journey.0 -
I'm glad you like to cook. It's great way to nurture your family and show them that you love them. However--and you're not crazy, just making some wrong conclusions--there are ways to do this that are healthier for you and your husband and kids. Lots of "butter, flour, sugar, eggs" just aren't healthy. Try a new assumption--you can make really fantastic meals which nurture your family, AND make these meals extremely healthy at the same time. Get a few cookbooks from the library which are about making delicious foods which use whole grains, lots of fruits and veggies, and less "white " foods. And include your kids in the cooking process, so that they can learn how to appreciate really good food. Thirty pounds isn't the mark of a great cook; it's the mark of a person who is eating inappropriately. It isn't going to go away by itself--I've been there, and now have almost 50 to lose.0
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I'm a barely passable cook and still packed on the pounds, lol.
Doesn't matter how they got there.
I totally get you on the difficulty in logging portions and such when cooking from scratch. I do OK with lunch and snack because I just make it for me but at night when I'm busy and making a meal item from scratch - very hard to do.0 -
You're trying to rationalize why you're overweight0
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If carrying around that 30 pounds isn't bothering you and you are happy with your lifestyle, well. . . leave it at that. Why did you join MFP?0
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Is there anyone out there like me? or is my husband right?
There's lots of us out there like you-pretty much any of us can find a way to rationalize what we do or don't do. But your husband is also right.
While you may say that you are overweight because you are a stay at home mom who is a great cook, you'll find the exact opposite: those who feel they are overweight because they are single moms who can't cook or feel too exhausted to cook and have to rely on drive thru or take out (that is also not often labeled or portioned correctly.)
If the weight loss was important enough, the time it takes to calorie count wouldn't stop you. (That's not a judgment, weight can't always be the # 1 priority in life.) As someone who is already a good cook, it's hard to imagine it adding that much more time. You could even go the route where you learn what a serving size is by appearance (deck of cards, your fist, etc) and arrange your plate that way.
All that said, it's not the worst thing in the world if you are a great cook who likes her own food. So instead of being smugly overweight, maybe you can be comfortably or contentedly overweight? Or something.0 -
I think that from a weight standpoint, it's a calories in/calories out thing…but from health perspective, 30 lbs. overweight from eating a great diet is going to be a lot different long term than someone who's packed full of empty calories and deficient in micronutrients. It's important to remember that a person can be obese and malnourished (and people commonly are here in the U.S. these days, particularly teen-agers).
I'm in your camp. I'm also a fat foodie, and in order to lose weight, I've started eating a lot more limited diet, because it's difficult to accurately count calories in complex recipes. That said, my husband bought me a scale, and I'm going to start trying to work it out…because once you get the facts on a recipe…you have it forever. I get where you're coming from about altering recipes on the fly, but I figure I'll get close enough. Good luck on your weight loss journey. 0 -
I'm a fantastic baker, not to shabby in the kitchen, make tons of homemade food for my family but I'm overweight because I eat too much, period. I don't think it matters how I got here. I need to make changes.
So no, I don't have any pride in eating to much of my homecooked food for my extra pounds.0 -
I understand having a sense of pride about food that you've taken the time to prepare from scratch. My husband and I have always liked to cook, and I run a small cake business out of my house, so I know how you feel. Making quality, from-scratch food items is very important to me, and I gained weight because I love food - I love to make it, I love to serve it, I love to eat it.
But I guess I never really thought about whether or not it was somehow better that I got fat from food I made myself. And thinking about it now, I don't think it is better. The result would have been the same no matter how I got there. I was heavy, physically uncomfortable, and stuck in a body that couldn't do what I wanted it to. Before, I had no concept of portion size, especially when it came to calorie dense foods like cheeses, oils, and butters. Now that I do, I make my food with even more care, and I appreciate it even more - not only for how it tastes, but for what it can do for my body.
I still use things like oils, cheeses, butter, flour, and sugar, but now I use them in more appropriate portions. If I have a recipe that I make somewhat often, I take the time to weigh and measure out the ingredients and enter it as a recipe on MFP so that I can log it over and over again without much trouble. It does take a little time to get the hang of counting calories, especially when it comes to fresh foods, but as someone else mentioned, I'm worth it. I was happy to enjoy my food when I was obese. But I'm happier to enjoy my food AND know that my body is strong and capable. Learning that I can have both has made all the difference.
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You're trying to rationalize why you're overweight
this.
The winning trick is to be able to do all that good cooking, be a weight you're comfortable and happy with, all while still enjoying what you've cooked.
I know quite a few stellar cooks on MFP and am glad to call them my friends.
ETA, I am also a great cook.0 -
Bottom line?
You eat more than you should. Just like most of the rest us on MFP.0 -
diabetes cares about visceral fat, how it got there is irrelevant.
It is somewhat smug to assume your fat is better than the next persons, but everyone has these things about them. You can continue creating masterpieces with as much cream and butter as you can, but that just means you can eat less of it. Alternatively you can start omitting the pats of butter that makes the sauces shiny and the various other things and see whether people notice. You don't need to drastically change everything, but little things do make a difference long term.
I cook and bake too all the time as my son is anaphylactic to dairy and I just logged one recipe per day and now I have almost everything I cook in here. I also noticed that most of my recipes amount to between 250 and 300 cals a portion, so if it all fails I can enter those as quick cals and add rice or pasta to it and be done with it. Is it perfect? No, but it's okay to do it once in a while.0 -
Paula Deen is a fantastic cook as well. Now she is battling Diabetes. Just sayin.0
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Ok - I'm looking for some "no, you're not crazy" here. And I totally don't mean to offend anyone. But I had this conversation with my husband the other day and he said I was crazy. I'm about 30 lbs. overweight, but outside of the concept of portion control, it's because I'm an awesome cook. I make great bread, baked goods, amazing sauces, roasts, etc. and I make almost all of it from scratch. We go through tons of butter, eggs, flour, potatoes, sugar, etc. I love to cook, I love making big meals for my little family of 4, and it's even more exciting when I can show it off. I'm a stay-at-home mom, I feel like you should get a 5-star meal if you come over for dinner. and that's not to say we don't eat out some times, and I don't stock some junk food, but mostly, if I eat it, I made it.
To the I'm not crazy point, I feel like my fatness is "more ok" that someone who did it with eating out or prepared foods from the grocery store. I realize it's completely stupid, but that's the thought I have when I debate adding a pat of butter to finish a sauce and make it shiny (which is why you add a smidgen of butter at the end). AND because I make so much from scratch, it's a huge pain to count calories because only a few things come with "reliable" labels as we go through tons of produce and protein. So when i do count my calories, it adds tons of time to my food prep (3 meals and 3 snacks a day for my very skinny and active girls).
Is there anyone out there like me? or is my husband right?
If I do say so myself, I am a pretty damn fine cook. I kept the weight off with my own cooking with portion control. I like my own cooking but I ate small portions of it - that's really the key. You can like what you make - just a sensible amount of it.0 -
Boom.You're trying to rationalize why you're overweight0 -
You're trying to rationalize why you're overweight
yerp.0 -
I'm a bit of a wine connoisseur, myself. It's been over a decade since I've tasted from a bottle less than $15.
Sure, I get drunk and beat my wife and kids, fight cops when I drink, and have a slew of DWIs - - but the important thing is that because I drink better booze, I'm not as bad as those other drunks.
This comparison brought to you by the letter J and the number 3.0 -
Ok - I'm looking for some "no, you're not crazy" here. And I totally don't mean to offend anyone. But I had this conversation with my husband the other day and he said I was crazy. I'm about 30 lbs. overweight, but outside of the concept of portion control, it's because I'm an awesome cook. I make great bread, baked goods, amazing sauces, roasts, etc. and I make almost all of it from scratch. We go through tons of butter, eggs, flour, potatoes, sugar, etc. I love to cook, I love making big meals for my little family of 4, and it's even more exciting when I can show it off. I'm a stay-at-home mom, I feel like you should get a 5-star meal if you come over for dinner. and that's not to say we don't eat out some times, and I don't stock some junk food, but mostly, if I eat it, I made it.
To the I'm not crazy point, I feel like my fatness is "more ok" that someone who did it with eating out or prepared foods from the grocery store. I realize it's completely stupid, but that's the thought I have when I debate adding a pat of butter to finish a sauce and make it shiny (which is why you add a smidgen of butter at the end). AND because I make so much from scratch, it's a huge pain to count calories because only a few things come with "reliable" labels as we go through tons of produce and protein. So when i do count my calories, it adds tons of time to my food prep (3 meals and 3 snacks a day for my very skinny and active girls).
Is there anyone out there like me? or is my husband right?
It's all about health to me. How is your blood work? I can't imagine eating that way every day could be healthy for you and your family but if you are then what does our opinion matter?0 -
You're trying to rationalize why you're overweight
this.
The winning trick is to be able to do all that good cooking, be a weight you're comfortable and happy with, all while still enjoying what you've cooked.
I know quite a few stellar cooks on MFP and am glad to call them my friends.
ETA, I am also a great cook.
this…
I cook too and am a pretty good cook, and I come from an italian family so I like to eat "good" food. However, I just eat less of all the good stuff that I like and make sure that I am in a deficit…
I guess it comes down to what is a priority. Do you want to eat good, but a little less AND lose weight. Or do you want to eat a lot of good food, and remain overweight? Only you can make that decision … I prefer the best of both worlds…eat less and be 12% body fat ...0 -
I'm a bit of a wine connoisseur, myself. It's been over a decade since I've tasted from a bottle less than $15.
Sure, I get drunk and beat my wife and kids, fight cops when I drink, and have a slew of DWIs - - but the important thing is that because I drink better booze, I'm not as bad as those other drunks.
This comparison brought to you by the letter J and the number 3.
LOL that is a bit of an over the top analogy…but I see what you did there…well played...0
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