The Bake Off

I defy anyone to watch The Great British Bake off television programme and NOT eat anything!  All those delicious looking cakes, breads, pies etc has you salivating and reaching for whatever is in the larder.

This week on the main 5 channels there are 47 programmes about food.  Magazine advertisements splash food in your face liberally; newspapers print 'health' columns about the benefits or drawbacks of eating and drinking common food staples - burnt toast is the latest big No No.  And if you visit your local library or bookstore the shelves of cookbooks and diet advice are overwhelming. 

Food is big money.  Chefs of distinction have their own brands of cookware, famous vegetarians launch their personal range of food packaging.  Food is in your face!

Having been to the supermarket to gather in a store of 'proper/good' food stuffs the bill came to double what it would normally be.  It seems healthy eating means valuing yourself monetarily.  But there were still things I wouldn't buy - cherries for example.  They seem so very expensive. 
"Hey, Mr Government, bring down the prices of healthy foods and put up the prices of ready meals, pizzas and crisps if you want us to make the right choices."

Talking of crisps - how many do you get in a packet these days?!  No wonder they aren't satisfying anyone and leading us to buy jumbo bags!  OK so now I am being a grumpy old woman. Let's get back to the Bake Off.

How does Mary Berry keep her figure?  Are some people genetically built that way regardless of what they eat?  Does she have a portion control policeman on her shoulder or does she have food allergies that prevent her from putting on weight?  Does she exercise every day or have servant to cook her meals?

I don't have a secret solution to my size but when stress or distress come into my life my stomach tightens and I lose my appetite until the anxiety passes.  In times of grief I eat 'baby' food - soup, rice pudding, toast, a glass of milk or cup of hot chocolate.  I eat very little when under pressure, angry, unwell or upset.  Whereas the opposite occurs for some of my friends.  It is those times I 'comfort' eat but I don't desire lots of chocolate, cake, biscuits, crisps.  The reason is deep seated.  These things were literally out of my reach as a child.  Self discipline not to overindulged was ingrained by circumstances out of my control and now they are within my control hard to shake off, but not impossible, if I want to change this lifetime habit/thought pattern.

Childhood and food memories/associations play a big part in our adult life.  Were you rewarded with food? Did you interpret an ice cream as a treat as a sign of love craved for?  Food is not the problem, it is our relationship with it that is.  It can be an addiction like a magnet gathering pins.  The pins can be useful and harmful.  We know that but still perpetuate the problem by repeating, repeating and repeating the same habits.  I hope to break the cycle of mine - the cycle that tells me 'I can't do this' or 'I can't be bothered.  50 days to go.  Now what do I do with this cake?