This has been a constant source of frustration for me. I love cake! It's my favorite desert, especially cold... is that weird? I love a big slice of cake and a glass of skim milk. Just makes me happy all over! It's comparable to what I imagine going to a spa would be... just heavenly!

I'm a novice at cakes (still learning soo much!), so I do tend to convince myself that I need to do a little sampling. I want to see how my frosting is effected if I add a little of this, or a little of that for example. I don't want to send a cake with a customer not feeling fulling confident that it tastes good.

I've lost some weight over the last few weeks, but haven't made even one cake since my weight loss began. So far I've lost about 8 lbs and I'm going for 14 more before my vacation on April 24th. I do have at least three cakes to make before then, so this is going to be a battle of the wills for me.

I am no stranger to the food log when I diet. I write everything down on an excel chart that fits my specific body's needs etc. It was part of my trainer/ex boyfriend's routine he put me on. It does really help. You can figure out what you need to change when you hit the plateau.

I do know how to lose weight when I need to, I have all the knowledge I need to get where I want... I just wish there was something I could do to stop the cravings or even change my outlook on cake and it being wonderful. I wish my taste for cake would grow up and get to be like my husband who hates it.

AND YES, I too get OBSESSED with any cake or dessert if I know it is in the house. I leave a fork near it and just munch all day... sometimes even eat it as my lunch. I have a real problem, I think I need the 12 steps for sugar... I know how it is being a SAHM, I am one... I love every bit of it except for the 24 hour access to our fridge and baking closet. If we don't "Have" a dessert around, I start getting out the flour and sugar and make one... VISCIOUS CYCLE.

You guys.... you don't understand...

I could sit here at the computer and have a bag of MMF pieces and a tub of frosting (vanilla is the only one I like in the tub) and I could just eat it. Plain. And LOVE it. I would be so comfortable and satisfied just eating the worst crap. Surely there is a screw loose in my head.

Is anyone else OCD like I am about this???

God I hope I'm not the only one.

I love sweets....... not cake i dont really care for cake at all but i love choclate anything chewy. On the 22nd of February i began my weight loss plan. I went to a weight loss dr and got some prescriptions one is a metabolisim booster and one is to help with hunger. So far i have lost 5 pounds. I have a long way to go but i can say that with the hunger pill i do not snack at all. Three meals a day is all i eat. No soda what so ever. That is hard for me because i could live off of pepsi. The only exercise i have to do is walk for an hour everyday. when he told me no snacking i thought how will i make it one day but i have to force myself to eat my three meals. Everyone in my famliy loves pepsi so it is always in the house, some days are really hard i swear i hear it calling my name LOL when i pour my son a glass i just smell it. HOwever i know i need to lose this weight and be healthy so i havent caved in. My dr said i can still have candy or ice cream or whatever i want but i must eat it with my meal and if i want something sweet then to eat less carbs and just less in genereal for that meal. HOnestly if i could still have my pepsi this would be a piece of cake. Perhaps you can look into getting help from your dr. I too know how to lose the weight but knowing how and having the will power to do it are different.

You are definitely not alone! I really will eat sugar (in any form) until it makes me sick. I have learned to trust my logical brain when it tells me to throw away a perfectly good cake because I know my emotional brain will convince me to eat every last piece within a few days.

If there was a sugar OCD support group, I'd sign up right away.

Hey guys! I feel your pain! I have the world's biggest sweet tooth. If anything sweet is around and I know it's there - I just have to have it. However, I started Weight Watchers back in September and I was doing really well - lost about 15 pounds - but I found the weeks where I was doing a cake were weeks that I never lost and sometimes gained! It was just me snacking on the cake and frosting - testing the frosting to make sure I had enough vanilla, salt, whatever - and apparently all those little nibbles really added up! Cuz you really never know how many points you're eating. In one of my meetings - someone said if she puts peteroleum jelly on her lips while baking - it will keep her from nibbling, and another said she'll brush her teeth first. I haven't tried these ideas but I will - but maybe they'll help some of you too. I know it's hard - it's just not fair that we all have sweet taste buds! Why can't I love veggies or fruit instead?! Oh well. Good luck to all of you, and happy baking!

Well, it's not that I don't have the willpower, I do. I've lost 70 lbs in a year after my daughter was born... I was always within healthy weight range before I got preg. But I just can't help but LOVE sweets. That's my problem. I can refrain from eating things when I am dieting, but the thought of eating these things is always in the back of my mind. I don't let myself cheat.. but that doesn't mean my mind doesn't torture itself when I keep from eating badly.

So I can't even make cakes at all during this time. It is one thing to CRAVE a food that you don't have access to... but when it is in your home and readily available to you... that is quite another. I don't want to put myself through unneccessary torture.

For me, after I had my baby... it seems like I gain weight easier and it doesn't come off as easy as it used to!!! Yikes... I guess getting older... that reality is hard when you always see yourself as the same person as when you were 16 LOL! Maybe a little wiser... but I still feel I should be able to lose 5 lbs in 3 days! LOL Oh why do we have to get older!

Hey I just had an idea... whenever I crave sweets (you guys too) we should swish Listerine - then for sure we won't be in the mood for it!!!

Hey that actually might be a good idea...

Parismom, I think am a lot like you. What kinds of things are in your diet? I've been having the worst time. I think about sweets nearly all day long. I've always been an athlete, and ate whatever I wanted. I lost the 45 pounds I gained after having my two girls, but over the last three years since I've finished school and stopped playing soccer competitively, I've gained it all back.

It's so hard being home all day with access to sugar, flour etc. I've been trying these last three years to stop gaining and get back to where I was, but nothing seems to work. I do pretty good for a few days and then make a dessert for my children and husband and end up eating most of it myself. So frustrating!!!

Hi, my name is Katherine and I'm a sugar addict.

I'm in the same boat. I crave sugar 24/7. I rejoined Weight Watchers, but haven't been following the program. I find that when I cheat and eat a lot of junk that I'm embarassed to go back for my weigh ins and just stop going. Same thing with Curves, I haven't been back there in a while either. I'm so ashamed of myself and my eating habits that I hide sweets and gorge myself when DH isn't around. I don't understand this because he does not make negative comments about what I eat.

I know how to lose weight, I've done it before, I just don't know how to make myself do it. I have cakes to do every week, and so many recipes that I want to try and add to my 'menu' for my business, but I just eat everything. I've tried chewing gum while working, but it doesn't help me. Nothing seems to stop me from tasting, then eating more, then finishing off all of the cake scraps and icing. Oh, this is depressing, sorry.

Hi Katherine!

Don't worry -you're not alone - I feel EXACTLY the same way. I haven't gone to my past 2 WW meetings - I'm too embarrassed to let it be known that I've put on some weight! I've got the WW scale at home from Wal Mart so I know exactly what I am, so there's really no need to weigh in anyway and see it written in black and white. Like you - I've lost 25 pounds before when I was in college the old fashioned way - eating right and exercising - but then I had the time to work out and the gym was free at school. Now with 2 little kids and working full time - I haven't exercised in years, and I know that's a big part of my weight problem. But I did lose some with WW so I know I can still do it- it's just a matter of applying myself and not having so many sweets! In fact - after my first one - I lost all my baby weight just by cutting out sugar (I was amazed that even the low fat chocolate milk I got at the store as a treat had like 40 grams of sugar! Now Hershey's make a low fat sugar free version and it's awesome, but I can only find it at Super Wal Mart - but you should try it!). So that shows you how much I love sweets!

My husband is not a sweet person either - he totally can't understand why I crave them so much - but I can't help it! I just LOVE sweet and fattening foods! THere's a lot of things I like that they make low fat and sugar free versions of - but when it comes to cake and frosting - there just is no substitute. So I just try to eat just a teeny tiny bit but it never works out that way. It's like all or nothing ---- and I certainly wouldn't be happy with nothing!

So anyway - don't be so hard on yourself. Sometimes hiding it could be what's making you gorge on it when you get the chance. But I tend to hide it too. I don't necessarily "gorge" when my hubby's not around but since he just doesn't like sweets very much, somehow I don't want to eat a lot in front of him. I can't explain why. Just like you - it makes no sense cuz he never says anything - but somehow I'd rather not.

So don't be depressed. Loving sweets is probably what got a lot of us into this business anyway and I know most of us get a lot of joy out of it and have a lot of fun with it. I love creating things that people get excited about and then they love eating it too! Enjoy your sweets - just try a little at a time - after all, WW talks a lot about portion control and that's the hardest to learn - that portions are so much smaller than you'd expect. But the lady told me once that the 20th bite will taste just as good as the first, so if you just take 3 - you'll still enjoy it but will savor each bite more. Hopefully that will help you out too.

Have fun and happy baking!

Couple of ideas. When the cakes are ready to be trimmed (that's when I eat all the scraps! argh!! ) make sure your belly is full already so you couldn't eat a ton even if you wanted to.

Another thing that might help is typing up the reasons why you want (or need) to lose weight and taping them up right in front of you while you decorate.

I have yo-yo'ed so much in this last year that I've started decorating. This is the one career I shouldn't have started. I liken it to an alcoholic working as a bartender.

Good luck in your weight loss efforts!
-Krissy

Quick throw all the utensils and bowls in the sink with hot soapy water right after their use.No licking fingers...

Ha Ha... Temptation is sooooooooo hard.. Honestly I will not deprive myself of something sweet.. So every now and then I make Cake Pops (balls). Those puppies will stop the sweet tooth.. VERY SWEET!!!!!

One of the best Oprah shows I've ever seen was about her own weight loss struggles. She stated that she used to think she was someone who loves potato chips (her vice apparently). The she realized that she may start eating the chips because it's what she wanted but by the time she finished the bag, it wasn't about the chips anymore. It became emotional eating.

I'm that way about sugar. I think it's because I love sugar but perhaps there's something more behind it. One thing I do know for sure is that longer I go without it, the less compulsive I become. The cravings never really go away. But it's a slippery slope. One bite of a dessert will quickly have me pigging out again.

I pray that everyone here will overcome their sugar battle!

PyxxYdust...that is what I was trying to explain but could not get it out... I am like all or nothing... my husband says that I don't know moderation... He doesn't condemn me or say anything bad, he always says that I don't need to lose weight... of course then I get comfy and eat more...and here we go again.... But he just said it is a good thing I don't like alchohol like I like sweets. And yes, when he is at work is the most likely time I will make something bad and eat the whole thing before he gets home!!! I could make a cake and eat it myself till I get sick and stop... then pick back up after a few hours and do the same thing...till the whole cake is gone. And yeah, I don't want my husband to think I'm crazy... I've eaten alot of junk and he will say something like, you are going to feel sick after all that. He doesn't say 'you're going to get fat'.. but when he tries to help me with this addiction - he is telling me what I already know what want to ignore. I literally will eat sweets till I feel sick.

I think maybe an answer to this is to see the cake as something we CAN have rather than can't have. That makes us want it more I think, this idea thatw e are not allowed. Like when I am on a diet...foods I normally don't eat, I really want...only b/c I know I can't have them right then. Make sense? It is all about convincing your mind to see it as ok. Then maybe we'll see the cake, have a little or not... as long as we know if we want it, it is right there... I will struggle with that....b/c right now my mind thinks I want it and I want all of it.

Hi Parismom!

I can totally see where you're coming from. I could eat a whole cake and frosting in a sitting. Especially if it's chocolate buttercream! Why not - all that extra fat and calories?! What the heck. It's such a shame that everything so good is really so bad. And then there's people that can eat whatever they want and not gain an ounce. I hate them all! Ha ha. Just makes me want to drown my sorrow in more sweets - speaking of emotional eating!

Me too.....! I start thinking, what the heck... can this REALLY make me gain weight TODAY? Then I tell myself no and I eat it.... I probably do gain weight in a day... at least a crap load of water weight if not actual fat...

For me its the gum trick.... before starting a few pieces of sugar free gum so that you have a huge wad of it in your mouth and nothing else will fit in!!!

I did the South Beach diet last year and lost 24 pounds in like a 3 month period ..it was awsome ... BUT then I went back to my old habits and discovered baking ... so it's all back on again

on that diet you have to eat 6 meals a day including snacks .... and I think that is the trick ... my worse habit is that I eat breakfast then skip lunch or eat junk until dinner

my sister had a gastric bypass done and she credits the weightloss on the fact that she has to eat small meals all day long since her intake capacity is minimal ... because she still eats anything she wishes including sugar which supposedly the body can't tolerate after this procedure

with that said ... as good as the Southbeach diet was it's not realistic to give up carbs(specially for a baker) I have not been able to bring myself to do it again .. I'm considering weight wachers .. people that have done that diet have maintained better than any others I know ....

and that is my two cents worth on the permanent struggle with weight loss

Oh yeah, I do the 6 small meals a day thing when I diet... But even then, I am just not in the mood to eat green beans and carrots in between my meals... I force myself. I'm not really hungry on the diet but I just want sugar really bad. Half the time I eat badly with sweets I just want it, not b/c I'm starving.

I just started SugarBusters again (LOL, I do this every Lent) and also gave up eating out or any prepared foods (like sandwiches from the deli of the grocery store).

When we do SugarBusters, we all lose weight. I have to get my sweet fixes from fruit or from stuff made with Splenda. It's not as good as a pan of Ina Garten's fudgy brownies, but I really am afraid of the complications of being overweight, like diabetes, heart problems, bone problems, etc. If only my resolve was as rock-solid throughout the 46 weeks of the year that aren't during the Lenten season!

One thing we do, though, in order to stay sane is to take Sundays off. That way, anything we're craving like mac & cheese or mint chocolate chip ice cream, we can have. For me, dieting is a control issue...and I've always had issues with authority. LOL

SugarBusters is really an awesome program. We eat such great food and whole grain, nutritious carbs...but taking even the smallest taste of icing or cake (or my weakness, cake batter) sabotages the whole day, so I have to have a willpower of steel, which unfortunately is only rock-solid during Lent.

Now I get to go test that willpower as I have yellow and chocolate cakes to make today!

I forgot to mention that I've been behaving better .. not on a full diet .. but not eating sweets and at least three meals a day .... well I'm going through some serious withdrawals ... I finish eating and I still feel like I want to keep eating ... like I'm not satisfied ... and what I really want is chocolate real bad. This happened last time when I did SB diet ... it went away after the first week.... but right now I'm craving sooooo bad . Right about now I know exactly what drug addicts go through!

Well, what I say is:

"You only live once".

LOL.

Paris..I feel you girl!!! I am like krissy too in that I yo-yo especially during busy cake times. And so when I put on a few extra pounds I do go to the South Beach diet but I modify it a bit because that thang just ain't realistic! But I do really like the fact that you can snack because I get really sluggish mid-morning and late afternoon and it says to have a piece of skim-milk cheese. And I have an Advant-Edge bar for breakfast which curbs my sweet tooth. I know this isn't healthy by any means but it does help get those pounds off. Because I am definitely an icing taster and that darned fondant!!!!! A pinch here and there will sure add up on those thighs! And I never drink anything but water. I would rather have sugary food than sugary drinks.

And I never drink anything but water. I would rather have sugary food than sugary drinks. [/quote]

never thought of it quite like that ....

well I figure if I'm going to consume a lot of calories I might as well save them for something really good like cake and chocolate!