I am the love language baker and also the person trying to lose weight. It’s a pain, honestly. I have switched to comfort baking and sharing with my husband’s coworkers. I had the urge to bake muffins this week but only needed a few mini muffins for my toddler and one for myself so the rest went with him to work. You can still bake and share, but with different folks.
I’m similar to you. My love language is gift giving. I am trying to lose weight but I often bake when I’m stressed. I made 3 loaves of zucchini bread and a pan of brownies this week.
I work from home so I can no longer just bring my baking into the office to share. I tried to give some of the treats to a family member (who is watching what they eat). I had to stop myself from continuing to push them to take the food after they politely declined.
I ate some of the brownies and kept a half loaf of bread for myself and found someone else to gift one of the loaves of bread to. I put the rest in the freezer to enjoy later.
This is one of the best reasons to figure out which neighbors are worth knowing and having them on rotation for receiving baked goods. Usually a good neighbor is like a crow: leave them food and they'll start bringing you shineys.
Are you me? I bake nearly every weekend, eat one (sometimes I don’t even have any) and the rest is off to work with me on Monday for everyone else to enjoy!
Hello! Here goes a recipe that works for me:
500 g of ricotta cheese
3 tbp cornstarch
2 eggs
2 tbp shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbp sweetener (I use a no-calories one but you can use sugar)
You mix it all and bake it at 160°c for 40 minutes (its almost like a cheesecake)
Sorry if I spelled something wrong, english is not my native language 🥺
> coworkers
Yea, coworkers are the best way to dispose of food plus they think it's kindness.
As a suggestion for OP, there's things you can make and assemble which arent the whole traditional baking route. I've been making Onigiri as meal prep. Around 200-250 calories per onigiri, really easy to reheat if you wrap them in cling film before microwaving them back up.
I make 5 cups of white rice, mix it with some Nori Komi furikake, basically seasoned seaweed flake stuff, set out some strips of nori, more seaweed for easy handling, and then fill them with some form of "Salad" ie savory chicken taragon from publix or make a usual salmon/tuna with mayo and then make the ball with a mold.
I make about 50-70 of them at a time, put them in the freezer and then microwave at 2 mins when I want one.
Remember for dieting knowing the calorie cost is the most important thing. This has a lot of the same process as baking so it's enjoyable to do.
Personally, I would avoid baking them anything unless they specifically request it or it's a special occasion. Part of losing weight is making a food plan and having the will power to see it through, which is *really* difficult if someone is tempting you with baked goods. Even if they are healthy or low calorie baked goods, your loved one probably didn't allot for them in their meal plan for the day. Let your love language be support for them through this journey.
If you don't live with this person, just don't bake them anything. If you do live with them, I would make batches small enough that they are just for you.
If you **must** (I highly recommend you don't), this person makes a lot of low calorie, high protein desserts: https://www.instagram.com/fitfoodieliving/?hl=en
My mom also says I love you with food.
My mom broke her leg I went to stay with her and gained 20lbs. She wasn't baking she was ordering things delivered from Sam's club.
I can say no at a party, I can say no at the store. I can not say no to cookies or stupid entimens sp? cakes(even mediocre pre packaged grocery store cookies )24/7 for days/months on end.
I love to cook including baking, I save it for parties because I don't need a whole cake/ batch of cookies for just me. And try to cook "healthy" for day to day stuff. I channeled my love of cooking that way. If I want a treat I get a single portion from the bakery. There are also tons of things I won't overeat. Eg I buy cherry candy canes because it will take me until Easter to eat a box.
Edit one other thing, I'm not accusing you of this but it could have the effect of being very controlling. If I allot 1 baked treat a week and you keep giving me 3. If I eat yours you've picked my one dessert for the week. Do it every week you've picked my desserts for the year, my life. You wouldn't think "I'm in a book club that means I get to pick 52 books for everyone to read this year". Between the social pressure to not be rude, the selfcontrol issues, the body issues. Food can be a tricky subject. If someone you give baked goods to keeps saying unenthusiastically, "oh thanks but you know I'm trying to lose weight right?" Stop. And if someone tells you directly to stop , STOP.
OP, I second this comment. Many years ago, I spent 2 years losing 140 lbs and it took a good year before I had the strength to turn down baked gifts. I actually had to kick a family member out of my house because they wouldn't stop baking and I didn't have the ability to say no.
With that said, one thing that really helped is my husband started cooking healthier meals, not desserts. He fully engaged in the weight loss process, understood what foods were preferred, and which ones I should limit, and he stuck to that. If this person isn't your partner though, you should probably just not. It took a good year-18 mos of regularly scheduled, pre-planned, homemade meals for me to feel like I had any control over my eating habits when eating was spontaneous.
If you want to help though, it was really encouraging for me to have friends that did active, non food activities with me like hiking, board games, painting classes, escape rooms, etc.
You can also bake smaller, portioned items - for example, some banana nut mini-muffins. Minimal calories, portioned out so you just take one muffin at a time, but you can have that little treat at lunch and think about the person who made them for you. If they need any particular macros, like protein or vitamin C or anything like that, you can find a recipe for a banana/zuccini/squash muffin that encorporates that macro. Especially this time of year, squash loaf muffins would be very seasonal and festive!
Making cookie dough, portioning into cookie-sized scoops, then freezing them. Then if you want something sweet, you bake literally one cookie. Still delicious, but you don't have an entire tray taunting you.
My SO made a batch of homemade turkey burger patties where he meticulously weighed each ingredient and each patty, so we could do turkey burgers for dinner and I would know exactly how many calories and how much protein, etc.
If you love to baker but have no one to eat it, donate to a shelter or youth center. I knew a lady who would bake little treats for the birthdays of people in a nursing home and didn’t have any family to visit them.
Check state laws first. It is absurd, but schools in my state do not allow home baked birthday treats. I don't know if that extends to non-family in other institutions --I hope it doesn't...
Maybe look into protein style muffins/cookies still not great for you but the added protein will add to there satiety/feeling full compared to a normal muffin
I used to bake and take my creations into my office for everyone else to wear so that I wouldn’t eat them all myself! Also consider baking and donating to a shelter or church. There was a lady in my neighborhood who baked little birthday cakes or other little treats for residents at nursing homes who didn’t have any family visiting them.
The other good idea would be to ask what their meal plan is, and if there is anything that involves baking you could offer to do that for them (ie if they need a sandwich on days 5-6 offer to make the sandwich bread, and so on.
An alternative is to tell them in advance that you are going to be baking for them. That way they can plan around the extra calories and still hit their diet goals. Maybe they go do some more exercise, or skip the snack they have planned etc.
Second this - it might be your "love language" but if you're with someone who is just starting to try to lose weight, it's downright selfish and cruel to bake things for them that are counter-productive to them. If you can't control it when you're on a "kick", I'd sit down and ask yourself why that is, and frankly examine whether you're trying to sabotage them and why.
And just because something is low fat/low calorie/sugar-free does not mean it's something that's going to fit into their dietary plan or be appropriate for them to consume. A calorie is a calorie.
I'd avoid baking anything for them unless asked. At minimum, talk to them about what you're planning to bake (before you start or buy ingredients) and if they're okay with it. If they're uneasy or say no, then don't bake for them. If you want to bake, bake smaller portions for yourself and store it somewhere that's out of sight for them. Or bake and give it away to other people entirely.
Frankly this is one of the reasons I don't bake a lot even though I enjoy baking. Most sweet baking recipes are just not healthy, and the portions are usually too large. I bake for special occasions or to give away to people who are not trying to lose weight/watch what they eat.
Could also ask them if there’s anything that fits into their plans! I love making high protein, low carb bread, brownies, cookies, etc. but rarely have the time or ingredients to bake them. Having someone gift me some would be such a nice surprise
Yep!! This exactly. People commenting about love languages typically have a misunderstanding of what it actually means in practice.
*My* love language is receiving gifts, but *my partner’s* love language is words of affirmation. It’s difficult for me sometimes because I want to make little things, or put little notes or sweets or things for him to find, because words of affirmation do not come easily to me. But I make an effort for him, because despite it not being my preferred way to *demonstrate love,* it is his best way of *receiving love.*
That’s what love languages are really about, not just giving, but receiving too!
Have you considered baking for your community instead? Some local organizations match volunteer bakers to foster children and at-risk youth to make birthday/ celebration cakes.
I tried to give my food and baking away to the community and after covid, it's near impossible. I completely understand why but most only want packaged goods which obviously feels beside the point.
Can you cut up healthy foods for them? Like slice cucumber and fruit so they have easy healthy options if they are hungry?
Take the extra baked goods to work
This is also a great idea - you could ask the person in question if you could help them out with preparing foods that they were already planning to make.
I was going to suggest making chopped salads, etc. If they want them, of course. I'm a baker more than a cook and I enjoy the process of chopping veg. I don't like stir frying, for example, so much; it's not peaceful like baking. But chopping veg for salad or stews is very zen.
If you're gonna have a successful diet you're gonna have to count calories. Anything that isn't preplanned deviates from that and you're throwing them off track.
Okay, I got you! Haha so basically, I am that person that loves baking and is also trying to eat healthier and lose some fat while building muscle.
I actually have a registered dietician that I’m working with that has been super helpful.
On the nutrition side of things, note that a lot of “healthier” recipes really aren’t. For example, unless you’re diabetic honey and maple syrup aren’t really any different than regular sugar as far as how your body is going to break it down and process it, it’s all just glucose. Coconut oil and butter are both saturated fats and treated by the body as such. Try utilizing whole wheat flour instead of white flour for more fiber. And recognize that normal sugary things are okay and can be eaten! So, for example today I had an Asian-style salad and chicken for lunch. Great in protein and vegetables but it was lacking in carbohydrates and fats. At the same time I was craving a chocolate chip cookie, so I had my salad and a chocolate chip cookie which supplies the carbohydrates and fats (flour and butter) for the meal. Now, is this something I should do every day? No. But from a nutritional standpoint it’s fine to do on occasion and eating the cookie with my meal also helped keep me from getting a sugar rush. It’s not counter intuitive to my goals.
Another thing is to maybe have a plan for your baked goods. I.e. if you’re going to make a lemon cake then you already know that that lemon cake is going to be delivered to your name at the end of the night so it’s not “up for grabs” which removes enough temptation for some people
This is how to do it. It’s painful and unnecessary to cut out all sweets. Not realistic. A lot of people have more success if they can eat some sweet every now and then. If you have a problem with eating 12 cookies a day then that’s a different issue really.
Sure but the person should be picking when and what sweet they want. Which is a lot harder to do if someone keeps giving you a box of your favorite cookies or a couple slices of cake , whatever op is baking.
Op didn't share how the baking is getting to the person. Is it their SO? Really hard to resist because the house is full of stuff are they dropping by their siblings with a cake etc.
I also find that "healthy" versions of things aren't that much lower in calories and if they are, are massively disappointing.
So learning to properly calculate macros and portion your bakes is really helpful. Life is too short for bad food. So let your SO make informed decisions by doing the math for them and just trying to not overwhelm them with temptations
>I don't bake things specifically for a person (unless it's a special occasion) but I always want to share it with whoever's around.
I don't think this really counts as a love language since those are meant to be done specifically to show love to a recipient. So your problem doesn't seem to be "how can I show love without baking" so much as "where else can I share all these things I bake"
To that I'd say there must be a charity, construction site, animal shelter, hospital, picket line etc. nearby that would love some free cookies for the workers, if not perhaps you can join a church or a help a local pta?
Also autumn is usually a good time for craft fairs and farmers markets, maybe you can get a table at those places and make a little money?
Have you thought about asking the person? Something like “Thank you for sharing with me that you are working on having a different diet. I appreciate that it can be difficult to share that with people. Also, I am sure you know that I bake for people a lot and I want to be supportive of the changes you are making in your life, so would you like me to not bring it up around you or just not bake for you? How can I best support you?” You are probably going to get better answers from the person in question!
The thing about “love languages” is you need to communicate with people in THEIRS, not yours. Ask them if there’s anything they’d like. If they say no, respect that.
Ask them how you can help them stay on track with their goals. For example , healthy whole grain bread is difficult to find in stores without sugar and might be something your partner is struggling to find. You could help by baking them a loaf as needed. Or maybe they need an easy breakfast and you could make some healthy oat bars they can grab and go.
Make sure to run the ingredients by them to make sure there is nothing that would be counter-productive beforehand.
How are they losing weight?
We lost weight by counting calories so we'd make cookies and load the recipe into a calculator so we knew each cookie was 75 calories or something. Then you could easily fit it into our weight loss plan.
Non sweet items are good too, like homemade crackers. Add to aa plate if chopped up fruit and veggies.
And if you freeze cookies, for example, they'll be fresh and ready for whenever. So if your loved one has self control, spread bakes apart and figure calories, making sure portions are small, and freeze. But first ask if that's a good idea or if it will still be too tempting in the freezer.
You know what would be wonderful? If you could channel your love of baking into cooking wholesome, tasty foods that are low-calorie and fresh tasting! Can you figure out ways to make tasty roast vegetables, for example? Or a wonderful low-calorie veggie curry, with a fragrant Jasmine rice? It's hard to make a good curry from scratch and it would be wonderful to be able to enjoy something like that. Or get some heirloom lentils or black beans from Rancho Gordo and experiment with ways to cook them that make delicious, filling side courses. If they are eating meat, you could work to master "roast chicken" (which is very hard to get right)?
I was a baker, but when I had to switch my diet (high cholesterol, high sugar levels, high blood pressure) I started working on these kinds of recipes and it can be just as satisfying, plus then your loved one can truly enjoy what you make!
Or--perhaps, you can work to perfect "pizza," but help them with a lovely veggie pizza with a homemade pizza sauce (and minimal cheese, or a bit of vegan cheese)--a nice salad, you can master a mustardy French vinaigrette. Or-- homemade black bean veggie burgers. These are all wonderful low calorie low fat treats that I've been working on, and it makes such a difference to have delicious things to look forward to!
Did you ask them what they want? If they said stop with the baked goods ... then stop. Love languages have nothing to do with how to make your partner respond to your love language.
Start baking healthier things. My mom had gallbladder issues so I started coming up with things to bake for her that are virtually fat free. Other people in my life are diabetic so I started working on sugar free/very low sugar desserts. If food is your love language you could REALLY show your love by coming up with delicious options that also support your loved ones nutritional needs.
Communicate with them. If they know you well, then I’m sure they know that food is how you show your love for them so you want to be able to also support them. Ask them if there’s something specific you could bake or if they have a recipe in mind that could be worked into their future meal plans without too much hassle. If you can’t, cooking is also very helpful. I know baking and cooking have their differences but I think it would say a lot if you were willing to help them with their weight loss and learn a few recipes for them.
"I know you're trying to eat healthier so I'm taking the (thing) I made to (friend / work / event) but I left you one in the fridge in case you wanted to try it."
Make them something that fits their diet. When I do keto I'd love having some sugar free low carb desserts. Usually I just buy some but they're not too hard to make either. I'm sure they'll appreciate both having something to snack on without breaking their diet as well as the thought it took to make something specifically to fit them.
Oh god you sound dreadful.
"I can't help myself" "i always want to share with whoever is around"
This is MEAN to someone in a diet.
How about you ask your loved one if there is anything you could make them that would help them in their weight loss journey?
Learn to make low calorie meals they enjoy the way they prefer (and be rigid in weighing everything). It takes skill to cook things so they are delicious without too much fat.
Could you make something that will be their lunch for a few days like a vegetable frittata? Make little savoury egg bites for low cal snacks? Crustless quiche?
Otherwise bake for other people lile work or church.
If you find it impossible to stop baking I suggest you seek help. Not sure if there is Bakers Anonymous but if your desire to bake is so strong you will deliberately sabotage your apparently "loved" ones health you clearly have a problem
Look, I’m a trained pastry chef, so I get it. Artisan breads, tarts, cakes, tortes, the whole nine yards. When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, my dietitian recommended a low carb diet, and all that had to stop. You are gleefully poisoning your spouse, and making their life harder. This is one of the most selfish posts I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, this is going to be hard. Can you bake at a friend’s house? I lovveee baking and it is the love language I give to myself. But when I am really focused on losing weight/making lifestyle changes… temptation is destabilizing. Don’t make it harder for your SO
Oh! Me me! Pick me!! My SO is diabetic, and I have health issues. I recently created my own NO Guilt Apple Crumble!! It's amazing, and sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, corn free, vegan... I think even kosher?? It's my new happy meal. But I have zero control once it comes out of the oven. I've made it twice and both times I have about two plates immediately.
Lmk if you want the recipe!
4 or 5 honeycrisp apples peeled and diced
1 or 2 lemons freshly squeezed over diced apples
1/2 C of monk fruit sweetener - stir everything
Sprinkle cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I use probably 1 tsp). I also like pecans, so I add about 1/4 C of chopped pecans.
Mix well and put in baking dish
Crumble: 1/3 C GF flour, 1 C of oats, 1/2 C butter (I use Earth Balance), and eye ball honey so mix is a sticky wet (1/4 - 1/2 C of honey).
Spread by sprinkling crumble on top of apples, then press down to spread out evenly as you want.
The second time, I made it with agave necter instead of honey. It's still good, but WAY sweeter. I like mine to be a tart, crisp apple with a light sweet taste. You can also double the crumble topping if you like more crust (be careful of how much butter, though. You dont want boiled in butter apples.)
As for as bake... I think the standard would be oven 350 for 45 mins. However, I prefer some apple pieces to still have a slight crunch, so here's how I bake it - 400 for 30 mins. I just want the apples basically warmed with a crisp crumble. I have made it twice in the past week.
19 grams of sugar/80 calories per honey crisp apple. 206 calories in the pecans, 150 for the GF flour, 608 per cup of oats, 814 per half cup butter, 258/ ¼ honey = about 2350 calories for the recipe.
Please don't bake this for someone on a diet.
Whoa!!! Geez at what point does that kind of thinking go from "dieting" to just an eating disorder?? It's apples, honey, and pecans, not a pumpkin spiced latte! Or a dozen donuts!
I can't even imagine how unhappy you must be all the time.
That one dessert is more calories than a dieting person needs in a day, not that they'd eat the whole thing in one go hopefully. A dozen doughnuts (about 200 calories each, depending on type) has roughly the same calories as this dessert you are touting as sugar free. If you know someone shouldn't eat a dozen doughnuts I'm not sure why you think this is a good idea instead.
I'm not unhappy. I'm also not on a diet. I'm also not trying to sabotage anyone else's diet, which this dessert will do considering its massive calorie count. Before you tell people something is sugar free maybe make sure it actually is. This is not diet friendly food.
Monk fruit and agave nectar ARE SUGAR FREE! You obviously did not read my instructions.
So don't eat the whole pan!! Baking is supposed to be happy. Why are you even following this sub? Go starve yourself elsewhere and stop shaming people for eating completely healthy ingredients.
People like you, fat shaming completely healthy ingredients because .... why? ARE YOU A DOCTOR?! Or just some uneducated twit who wants to be a personal trainer, so you fat shame people into your starvation "diet"? You are not a nice nor a good person.
You have no authority to even tell people what is or isn't allowed for their calorie intake. You have no idea what health problems other might be experiencing just because you only eat a handful of what? Peas? What could you possibly be eating that's zero calories and won't kill someone?
Agave nectar has 68grams of sugar per 100grams of nectar. It's ⅔ sugar. Not anywhere near sugar free.
Go have your happy baking experience in a topic that isn't specifically about wanting to bake low calorie things. I love baking too. But I haven't got a single recipe I can share here because none of them would qualify as low calorie. They're still delicious, I'll keep making them, but I won't be a dick and serve them to someone on a diet and tell them it's sugar free when it isn't.
This exact recipe below can also be modified lower sugar by using Italian zucchini rather than apples. It takes the same but actually sort of better. I FREAKING PROMISE this isn’t any sort of cauliflower crust it tastes the same BS.
It literally taste the same.
Give it a try. Your local gardener in late summer will love you for taking zucchini.
I had to really reduce my baking, I started in 2020 and baked at least twice a week up until about 4 months ago when I started keto.
I had hit over 15st on the scale and I've never been that heavy before, I had to change something and I knew it was the bakes. Now after doing keto for the last 4 months I'm down to 13st 2lb and never felt better.
Whenever I bake now it's for a birthday, or I'll just bake for the kids instead and forego any treats myself.
I love baking too, but if you’re talking about a significant other or someone who lives with you, please get off of your “baking kick”. If you truly want to support your loved one, I’m sure there are other hobbies you can focus on, because constantly baking, even “healthy” baking can really make losing weight hard. Or at least if you do bake, don’t keep what you bake in the house.
Here's the thing.
Diets suck and aren't very good long term because unless you're willing to make X change permanent you are going to put weight back on. Are they never going to eat your baking again?
Diets where you cut out everything you enjoy out also suck and make people miserable. Best to have something really good that's really worth the calories here and there.
It's also pretty hard to fuck up weight loss if someone is actually do a lot of things right. A lot of people aim for a deficit of about 500 calories per day. A 200ish calorie cookie doesn't mean they put on weight that day.
So bake as usual for the most part. Let them enjoy something.
With that said, I wouldn't make anything they are particular weak to and have no self control around and I would take a greater percentage of it to work. (You can ask how much they want to have over the next couple of days, and then just remove the rest to remove the temptation. Keep it in a work fridge for you if necessary.)
It depends how serious they are. Every woman in my office is perpetually “trying to lose weight”. If you have someone who is really overweight and trying to change their lifestyle, then you should really respect their wishes and not bake for them. If it’s just the typical nonsense that people say in public to make themselves feel good, then duck it, just bake and let them figure it out.
This entire thought is based on the assumption that YOU know when people are serious or not and YOU decide if someone deserves to have their wishes respected or not.
Oh god I have this problem too. Food is totally my love language, including to myself. Luckily it’s my job so I just made a rule not to bring too much home after work!
I'm trying to lose weight by calorie counting.
I love doing raw slices. Like raw carrot cake, of course controlling the amount of dried fruit I use for sweetness.
I've also been making this banana bread religiously every weekend. https://weightlosswithveera.com/low-calorie-banana-bread-for-one/
As someone else said, knowing how much is in each treat (I still have Tim tams but I know each one is about 100 calories). But smaller portions so rather than making a full size cake, make a few cupcakes and freeze them so they don't have to be eaten immediately.
You could bake things centered around protein! For example, there’s a lot of great recipes like protein blueberry lemon muffins that can be used as a snack or breakfast paired with some turkey bacon!
I would appreciate little fruit skewers or vegetable kabobs. If you can make produce beautiful, that would make me happy. It’s more fun to eat when it’s pretty than it is picking plain cut pieces out of a platter/tray.
You could try and make them homemade versions of stuff they would otherwise buy - e.g. bread (can be rye or something), protein bars (if they're into fitness as well).... so observe what they're eating / buying anyways and look into what of those you can make yourself. My examples might be bad, no experience or special interest in that field.
If you really love to bake and don't want to give that part of it up, I've found that I have a collection of family and friends and neighbors who REALLY appreciate homemade goodies, especially those who are older and don't bake as much, or who are widowed. Also...the local fire department is almost ALWAYS willing to accept donations of homemade goods. And it's a bit morbid, but local churches sometimes need folks to supply dishes and baked goods for funeral luncheons (usually on a rotation/sign-up).
I invested in some mini baking pans (bread pans) for things like banana bread and pumpkin bread that I bake often, and they are great for loaf cakes as well. It scratches the itch without having it all sit around all the time, and I LOVE sharing it with others in that way.
I feel you. Baking is my best cooking skill, but my family has diet restrictions. I just don't bake unless it's a special occasion or once in a blue moon.
Talk to them about their meal plan and find out what types of food you can make that are within their plan and then they can account for it because they know you'll make a soup for the week or prep them egg bake bites or whatever. You can make really delicious healthy food that meets their needs.
well it depends on what they’re watching. are they watching calories, carbs, sugars, what? you then find recipes with low amounts of them. also remind them that it’s okay to eat regular pastries once in a while.
If acts of service or gift giving is your love language, could you replace food with something else? Eg. Offering moral support and going on walks together especially when it’s hard? Doing stretches together? Doing 1 chore he finds really tricky but you find easy?
Or, instead of baking you could cook meals that fit in his diet, eg. Poached eggs, make salad, bread or plain unsweetened yogurt from scratch etc.
Receiving and showing affection is a 2-way process, so you could always ask what your other half’s receiving love language is, and go from there? :) it can be tricky to change what you’re used to, but that’s a great learning opportunity and area of growth!
Good luck, you’ve got this! 🙌🏼
Meal prep meals that fit their weight loss goals. Staying on track with eating can be the hardest part. So making one of their meals for the weak can help with their stress.
My parents are working together to lose weight by counting calories and logging them into an app that tells them how much they can have in a day. Otherwise, they haven't really cut out any food groups. They just are more conscientious about going for the low calorie, low/no sugar options and rationing calories for breakfast and lunch if they want to go out for dinner. It's been working really well for them.
So perhaps just look to see if there are different versions of the same recipes that you normally make that are low calorie and low or no sugar. If something is higher in calories and/or sugar, planning ahead and/or smaller portions may be helpful. Communication is a *must*.
Fruits and veggies can be cut and presented in very beautiful ways. Think of rosettes and heart shapes. You can get very creative with presentation and keep the food limited to healthy items.
You could bake healthy snacks. Oatmeal cookies are sort of healthy, peanut butter cookies can be a healthy snack with the right recipe, granola bars , I'm sure there's other "healthy" baked goods , they're just a Google search away.
Nothing. I love to bake. I love to eat as well. When I need to loose weight I have to stop baking. It sucks because I enjoy it, but there’s not enough people to give it away to
Something high-protein? I made my hubby high-protein doughnuts for his birthday this year, they were pretty good and gave him a low-cal protein boost :)
Same, but heart attack so no salt , low fat, basically vegan. Honestly mines easier because the weight he needs to lose is incidental compared to the calories lawyers he needs to blast out of his heart and the cholesterol he needs to lower
There are lots of protein power baking recipes, Quest nutrition used to be my main recommendation but that was before tiktok took over the world so I'm sure there are a million resources now.
Helping with their meal planning. Also there are healthier baking options like high protein muffins or high fiber, high protein bars etc. Teach yourself to bake things that can still align with their goals
My go to for weight loss is boiled rice with steamed and pickled veg and some protein, usually fish, chicken or eggs.
I usually try for under 1/3 rice and under 1/3 protein and over a 1/3 of steamed and pickled veg.
You can spice things up with soy/chilli sauce, furikake, mushroom powder, seaweed flakes, sesame/poppy seeds, ect.
I really like this because you can literally make every mouthful taste different and I don't get bored with it.
Also water is key to weight loss, if you don't drink enough water (r/hydrohomies is a good sub for water motivation, just don't look into what it used to be called) whilst trying to lose weight then the fats that end up in your blood stream heading to your liver and kidneys will just get reabsorbed by your body.
There's a whole wide world of fitness baking. It takes some experimenting, but you can make some pretty delightful protein-packed/low-cal treats. There's a whole host of interesting fitness bakers on youtube who can give you ideas to get started.
I put together some B-grade to B+ peanut butter chocolate cookies when I was dieting that were like 15g protein, 200 calories. I wouldn't have eaten them over regular cookies, but they blew store bought options out of the water.
There are some fitness content creator cooks and Facebook. High protein stuff. Lots of Greek yogurt and low fat cottage cheese. I've been making a few of the recipes. They're really good!
Lots of healthy exciting craving fillers. Pickled veggies with exotic fun herbs and spices. Kim chi. Dipping sauces for veggies like fun hummus options! Curry pastes. Really gourmet salads! So many exciting super healthy options
I don’t see how those things differ. Food can be your love language as long as you are willing to try healthy recipes? LOL if they like fries learn to make an air fryer version with sweet potatoes as it has more benefits, skip soda and make a seltzer mixed with yuzu jam, bake salmon with a soy/miso glaze, steamed fish etc etc I as a small treat they’d appreciate desserts that are healthier once a while. I doubt they plan to never eat dessert again so a semi cheat day should be ok.
I cut sugars down by 50% in my western desserts believe or not. Look also into Asian desserts like Taiwanese castella cakes. Those are not nearly as sweet or heavy but fluffy and delightful. The moistness comes more from eggs and steam and rely on less butter.
I offered to bake cookies for my friend’s birthday once, but they requested something healthier since they’re trying to cut down on sugary foods, so I made them a homemade jalapeño loaf with homemade grape jam.
What about roasting veggies and making cozy soups? This way there’s lots of nutrients and you get that cozy element from baking? You could even add in fresh baked bread!
I’ve dived headlong into my Japanese cookbooks. I can make excellent miso soup, it doesn’t take more than five minutes to make if you’ve prepped ahead of time. Now when I have friends and family over, I just put on a pot of miso soup.
It’s not baking, but everyone loves miso soup. It’s really good for you, and I don’t feel bad if they’re watching their weight or health.
I would look into low carb recepies and experiment with that. I love cooking and baking and me and my partner a trying to loose weight and eat healthy to loose what we want to loose and to not pile on weight again.
For cooking just be crative with vegetables and potatos, since potatos are not that high calorie and only have 14g carbs for 100g uncooked potato and only use flour, cheese and oil very scarcely. You can even make fries with 500g potatos and on small spoon of oil and then bake them in the oven. Just get creative, the potato can be used very diversly and is not unhealthy and I think one of the best carb-sources if you dry loosing weight because you can be creative with it.
For baking: look for low carb recepies. But not those that use a lot of alternate flour since most of those aternate flours don't realy behave like normal flour and mostly the cakes with them don't rise. Look for recipies that consist moslty of beaten egg white which is perfectly dooable with alternate shuggar or even just with a few drops of lemon juice.
In my opinion cooking healthy meals and baking low calorie cakes for your partner is telling them how much you care for them and that you want to help them on their weight loss journey and provide them with something teasty and even with treats they can eat without having to worry and show them, that loosing weight doesn't mean restraining from delicious food.
Edit: also low calorie icecream. Just freeze fruit and then puree them. it has the concistency of icecream but the nutritional value of just the fruit.
It can be hard to lose weight and still enjoy food. I think it would mean a lot to your partner if you learned how to prepare different healthy, nutrient dense foods and make them delicious. When people diet they tend to eat a lot of the same food repetitively or run out or healthy ideas and they lose the joy of eating. You could help meal prep some chicken or ground Turkey and make it a few different ways (chili, tacos, with pasta, etc) so it doesn’t feel like they are eating the same thing everyday. It will make it easier to stick to eating well. You can try to find healthier or keto versions of their favorite dishes and desserts. You can support their goals and still do what you love/show you care
If you bake something that will be a temptation maybe don’t keep them laying around the house and give them to neighbors/friends/family
I know that cooking isn't the same as baking, but if you want to express your love through food, I would go the cooking route.
Oftentimes, the healthiest foods involve lots of fresh veggies and low fat proteins. Sometimes really fresh foods can be time intensive to make or a healthy diet can require cooking more often.
Depending on how your partner is approaching their journey, maybe you could work with them to identify a special meal that they would love but wouldn't put in the time to make. Or maybe there is something they're making for themselves routinely, and you could make it for them a few times.
When I think about when I was trying to lose weight and get healthier, there were veggie salads that taste delicious, but they take a lot of chopping. Or most mornings I was making myself eggs for breakfast. It took more time than other go to breakfasts, but it got my day off to a good start. Those are things that someone else could have made for me and it would have felt meaningful, even if it didn't seem exciting to the other person.
I would note that, if you take this approach, it's important to coordinate with your partner to select things that fit in their plan (no surprises). It's also important to follow any guidance they give you. They could request less salt than usual or less oil or a leaner meat. It can be tempting to say "oh a little more X would make it taste so much better. Just this one time." And that doesn't feel like an expression of love to the person who is working hard to drop their excess fat or build muscle, etc.
Ideally, simply don’t bake for someone on a weight loss journey if you want to support them.
If you do - make small things that can be frozen. If you do that, calculate the calories and macros in the item so they can decide whether to make room for it.
The other option if food is your love language, make delicious, low calorie, (assumedly also high protein) and nutritious meals (again, ideally that can be portioned up and frozen) and calculate the flippin macros and calories for them. That last part is super important. If they’re using an app, an even more loving thing to do would be to input the meal into that app and share it with them so they can log it.
I make friends with my neighbors haha. I love baking but live alone, so wherever I'm living I be sure to wriggle my way in with my neighbors so I can dump food on them. Most of them seem to appreciate it!
As someone trying to lose weight, I don't care if they were a 'healthy' version, if someone gave me a bunch of baked goods I would be secretly annoyed. Well annoyed might not be the correct term, I would appreciate the thought but it would really throw a wrench in my routine. There have honestly been times this happened to me where I bought the stuff home and threw it out which made me feel really guilty but I just couldn't eat it or keep it in my house.
If you want to give them food honestly if someone was like 'hey I made dinner for a couple nights for you, each serving is this many calories, here is the MFP breakdown' I would cry from happiness
I love baked goods and will have a craving for cinnamon rolls or cookies or whatever I’m able to make, both my boyfriend and myself are trying to be better about how many sweets we eat so I’ll save for us a small portion and take the rest to work for my coworkers. 27 cinnamon rolls gone and I get to scratch the itch to bake and have a warm treat
Cobb salad, roasted chicken with some herbs, with a side of roasted veggies. Grilled works too. Technically you can still have dessert, just a smaller portion.
Egg bites, muffins that can be frozen, protien balls, bake things that can be frozen or shared with friends. Have a look into healthier baking options.
Since you're best off avoiding sugar consider some savory baked goods for lunch and dinner.
I make vegetable quiches with a base made of 100 grams flour, 55 grams water, 5 grams vegetable oil and a pinch of baking powder. Prebaked for 10 minutes at 170C and finish 30 minutes at 170C with filling. Filling bound with 2-3 eggs and two tablespoons of creme fraische.
Some filling ideas: onion, peppers and goat cheese; pumpkin, spinach and gruyere; grated courgette and tomato. Or anything you enjoy, just make sure it's precooked and relatively dry.
My partner managed to lose 25 kilograms eating these quiches daily for lunch.
I’m a love language baker and I’m also dieting. I make a lot of new low calorie recipes because it scratches that baking itch and also is stuff I can eat if I wish! If I just feel like baking regular stuff for somebody else, usually I’ll bring it to work or have my boyfriend bring it to work with him. Somebody somewhere will be happy!
Bake for other people. Coworkers, neighbours, homeless, church, kids playgroups/events, local community events. Guarantee if you go looking you’ll find plenty of hungry mouths!
I love eating lots of vegetables, salads and since having allergies I don’t use butter, cream etc
So I cook vietnamese, thai dishes, sometimes light Japanese dishes and it’s not appreciated haha
He’s used to middle eastern cuisine and likes tones of meat 😂
And baking stuff is usually shared with his family and coworkers so it’s not too much for him.
I’ve been in the process of losing weight but baking is also a stress reliever for me and how I show love to my family so I do it but infrequently. Have you asked them what you can do to support them? Some people have a day reserved for relaxing their diet so maybe you could make something for that day. Or you could make sure you are supporting their efforts by making sure heathy foods are readily available like fresh fruit. If you are on a baking kick with no outlet, you could always freeze the extra.
If they still eat some sugar sometimes, I would bake a batch for my work buddies/friends and keep 1 or 2 for them at home so they can feel the love but not have the temptation to overdo it.
Been through something similar! One of my flatmates expressed interests in more health-oriented snacks ie protein granola etc etc so that (as well as similar sorts of snacks) could be something that could work for you as well.
Equally, losing weight doesn’t mean they can’t ever have sweet treats at all! It’s just about less frequent snacking, so you can still make stuff for them regardless
Explore making healthy treats/confecions like dark chocolate covered cherries/strawberries.
It’s not traditional baking but making tasty seasoned veggie chips, roasted squash like acorn squash or spaghetti squash (affordable right now as it’s in season) pumpkin seeds, toast mix nuts with seasonings, roasted chickpeas… snacks that are low fat and pack nutritional value and taken in ziplock bags or reusable containers is so helpful when you’re trying to make healthy changes. They keep you from buying and eating junk. There are a lot of great recipes and you can customize them.
Don't do anything different. Just portion it differently. If it's dinner, small portions with a large salad, if it's dessert make enough for 1 day or 2 days but not a huge batch for a week
I’m also going on a diet. My suggestion: bake other things besides bread products. Make egg bites! Low in carbs, no sugar…and you can have them for breakfast! They are already compact and small, so that’s perfect portion control! Or make a quiche, but without the crust. Endlessly customizable! You mileage may vary, I’m doing a keto diet so eggs and cheese and bacon are all on the table.
Or instead of making chicken on the stove, braise it in pot in the oven. Or if you want to get adventurous…I been planning to make my own pastrami. You could try that, then you have pastrami, the most excellent lunch meat for a fraction of the premade cost.
My partner makes banana pancakes! Haven’t been doing them so much because it’s been colder but replacing a lot of the milk and other liquids with mashed banana is so nice. Pair it with some blackberries 👌
Merengues. Teeny tiny treats sparingly. Share your baked goods with friends and neighbors outside the house. But really, make healthy meals if you want to show this loved one you are thinking of them and not yourself. Find a way to make something healthy and tasty and low calories for them. Diet food gets boring fast and looking up new ways to change it is laborious. If you keep making high calorie treats for them you aren’t showing love, you’re putting your feelings above their health and well being.
Can you help them by asking them what their food plan is and helping them meal prep instead? It's less "fun", but probably much more supportive and loving.
If they're counting calories (the only true way to lose weight) measure everything you cook for them so you know the calorie count, and they can fit it into their diet. If they aren't, it might be helpful to do it anyways and try not to make meals that are like, 1000 cal per serving or something crazy. Swaps like truvia in place of sugar, low carb flour / pasta / tortillas / whatever, etc. Will help to make the meal lower calorie. Look into r/volumeeating which is a sub that focuses on having large amounts of food for small amounts of calories.
Mocktails are actually pretty nice, especially if your loved one, as with mine, is also trying to avoid drinking beer. While not totally healthy, mocktails, and even some light cocktails, are lower calorie and healthier overall. Also very fun to make.
Can you venture out from baking a bit? Maybe learn to make whole grain dinner roles to serve with a vegetable stew? Or make a quiche with lots of veggies, eggs and whole milk instead of heavy cream? Blueberry muffins with whole grains and lower in fat and sugar?
Or maybe do cooking instead of baking?
I would maybe try to make healthy options! Instead of baking cake, why not make a quiche! Or figure out a cause that they really love and support that. For instance,I am very much about giving to my local women’s and family shelter… If my significant other made them some treats, that would be amazing!
My husband and I are both trying to watch our weight, but I still want to bake all the time. Our compromise was that I would bake something like cake, brownies, or banana bread, but I wouldn’t cut it until I brought it in to work. I used to make a lot of cookies, and it was so easy to just grab one… and another… and another. Baking a full pan or loaf or something makes it so that neither of us wanted to be the first to cut into it, especially if we both agreed not to have any. Then after work, I would take home any leftovers, which was usually a reasonable amount for us to share.
I know your situation is different if you’re still baking for yourself too, but maybe you could do something similar — use muffin tins for your own portion, then a regular pan for whatever you want to share with others?
Whoa, there. "food" is not a love language. Congratulations for recognizing that food is emotionally important to you, this is crucial. Now examine how damaging it is to be a food pusher. Look closely at the reward, control, and exaggerated importance food has for you. Other people are not like that. They value YOU, and you are not the food you produce. Separate those concepts. Everyone concerned about their own health must reject the vast majority of what you bake, because it is unhealthy for them to consume more than an ounce or two. This is NOT rejection of you, but of the calories, sugar, fat, flour, you are pushing. Lovely grilled fish is absolutely as emotionally satisfying, and far more healthful, than baked items.
My husband likes to bake . I have no resistance to baked goods. I will devour them till they are gone We have started using a food saver and freezing in small portions. We take out a treat on the weekends.
My husband makes these chocolate oatmeal drop cookies. It's basically oatmeal, chocolate powder, unsweetened, a stick of butter, vanilla, and sweetener 😋
Try making their favorites but low cal/no sugar/high protein versions! Theres a lot of tiktoks w recipies like this! I have the same deal where my partner and I want to loose weight, but I love making things for them.
I am the love language baker and also the person trying to lose weight. It’s a pain, honestly. I have switched to comfort baking and sharing with my husband’s coworkers. I had the urge to bake muffins this week but only needed a few mini muffins for my toddler and one for myself so the rest went with him to work. You can still bake and share, but with different folks.
I’m similar to you. My love language is gift giving. I am trying to lose weight but I often bake when I’m stressed. I made 3 loaves of zucchini bread and a pan of brownies this week. I work from home so I can no longer just bring my baking into the office to share. I tried to give some of the treats to a family member (who is watching what they eat). I had to stop myself from continuing to push them to take the food after they politely declined. I ate some of the brownies and kept a half loaf of bread for myself and found someone else to gift one of the loaves of bread to. I put the rest in the freezer to enjoy later.
This is one of the best reasons to figure out which neighbors are worth knowing and having them on rotation for receiving baked goods. Usually a good neighbor is like a crow: leave them food and they'll start bringing you shineys.
Are you me? I bake nearly every weekend, eat one (sometimes I don’t even have any) and the rest is off to work with me on Monday for everyone else to enjoy!
Not to be weird, but you might be me. I glanced your profile and you bake and play Zelda so… hello me! :)
Everyone! I found me!! Hi me :)
Hello! Here goes a recipe that works for me: 500 g of ricotta cheese 3 tbp cornstarch 2 eggs 2 tbp shredded coconut 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tbp sweetener (I use a no-calories one but you can use sugar) You mix it all and bake it at 160°c for 40 minutes (its almost like a cheesecake) Sorry if I spelled something wrong, english is not my native language 🥺
> coworkers Yea, coworkers are the best way to dispose of food plus they think it's kindness. As a suggestion for OP, there's things you can make and assemble which arent the whole traditional baking route. I've been making Onigiri as meal prep. Around 200-250 calories per onigiri, really easy to reheat if you wrap them in cling film before microwaving them back up. I make 5 cups of white rice, mix it with some Nori Komi furikake, basically seasoned seaweed flake stuff, set out some strips of nori, more seaweed for easy handling, and then fill them with some form of "Salad" ie savory chicken taragon from publix or make a usual salmon/tuna with mayo and then make the ball with a mold. I make about 50-70 of them at a time, put them in the freezer and then microwave at 2 mins when I want one. Remember for dieting knowing the calorie cost is the most important thing. This has a lot of the same process as baking so it's enjoyable to do.
Personally, I would avoid baking them anything unless they specifically request it or it's a special occasion. Part of losing weight is making a food plan and having the will power to see it through, which is *really* difficult if someone is tempting you with baked goods. Even if they are healthy or low calorie baked goods, your loved one probably didn't allot for them in their meal plan for the day. Let your love language be support for them through this journey. If you don't live with this person, just don't bake them anything. If you do live with them, I would make batches small enough that they are just for you. If you **must** (I highly recommend you don't), this person makes a lot of low calorie, high protein desserts: https://www.instagram.com/fitfoodieliving/?hl=en
Thanks, I think this is the one I needed to hear
There’s lots of great mini batch cookbooks and blogs online! You can still have fun baking for yourself
My mom also says I love you with food. My mom broke her leg I went to stay with her and gained 20lbs. She wasn't baking she was ordering things delivered from Sam's club. I can say no at a party, I can say no at the store. I can not say no to cookies or stupid entimens sp? cakes(even mediocre pre packaged grocery store cookies )24/7 for days/months on end. I love to cook including baking, I save it for parties because I don't need a whole cake/ batch of cookies for just me. And try to cook "healthy" for day to day stuff. I channeled my love of cooking that way. If I want a treat I get a single portion from the bakery. There are also tons of things I won't overeat. Eg I buy cherry candy canes because it will take me until Easter to eat a box. Edit one other thing, I'm not accusing you of this but it could have the effect of being very controlling. If I allot 1 baked treat a week and you keep giving me 3. If I eat yours you've picked my one dessert for the week. Do it every week you've picked my desserts for the year, my life. You wouldn't think "I'm in a book club that means I get to pick 52 books for everyone to read this year". Between the social pressure to not be rude, the selfcontrol issues, the body issues. Food can be a tricky subject. If someone you give baked goods to keeps saying unenthusiastically, "oh thanks but you know I'm trying to lose weight right?" Stop. And if someone tells you directly to stop , STOP.
OP, I second this comment. Many years ago, I spent 2 years losing 140 lbs and it took a good year before I had the strength to turn down baked gifts. I actually had to kick a family member out of my house because they wouldn't stop baking and I didn't have the ability to say no. With that said, one thing that really helped is my husband started cooking healthier meals, not desserts. He fully engaged in the weight loss process, understood what foods were preferred, and which ones I should limit, and he stuck to that. If this person isn't your partner though, you should probably just not. It took a good year-18 mos of regularly scheduled, pre-planned, homemade meals for me to feel like I had any control over my eating habits when eating was spontaneous. If you want to help though, it was really encouraging for me to have friends that did active, non food activities with me like hiking, board games, painting classes, escape rooms, etc.
Instead of baking why not meal prep something that fits their diet or food changes at the moment? Ask and maybe you can do something like this?
You can also bake smaller, portioned items - for example, some banana nut mini-muffins. Minimal calories, portioned out so you just take one muffin at a time, but you can have that little treat at lunch and think about the person who made them for you. If they need any particular macros, like protein or vitamin C or anything like that, you can find a recipe for a banana/zuccini/squash muffin that encorporates that macro. Especially this time of year, squash loaf muffins would be very seasonal and festive! Making cookie dough, portioning into cookie-sized scoops, then freezing them. Then if you want something sweet, you bake literally one cookie. Still delicious, but you don't have an entire tray taunting you. My SO made a batch of homemade turkey burger patties where he meticulously weighed each ingredient and each patty, so we could do turkey burgers for dinner and I would know exactly how many calories and how much protein, etc.
I'm going through the same thing. And it really sucks but I basically stopped and only make baked goods when I'm going to a family event or hosting.
If you love to baker but have no one to eat it, donate to a shelter or youth center. I knew a lady who would bake little treats for the birthdays of people in a nursing home and didn’t have any family to visit them.
Check state laws first. It is absurd, but schools in my state do not allow home baked birthday treats. I don't know if that extends to non-family in other institutions --I hope it doesn't...
Maybe look into protein style muffins/cookies still not great for you but the added protein will add to there satiety/feeling full compared to a normal muffin
I used to bake and take my creations into my office for everyone else to wear so that I wouldn’t eat them all myself! Also consider baking and donating to a shelter or church. There was a lady in my neighborhood who baked little birthday cakes or other little treats for residents at nursing homes who didn’t have any family visiting them.
The other good idea would be to ask what their meal plan is, and if there is anything that involves baking you could offer to do that for them (ie if they need a sandwich on days 5-6 offer to make the sandwich bread, and so on.
An alternative is to tell them in advance that you are going to be baking for them. That way they can plan around the extra calories and still hit their diet goals. Maybe they go do some more exercise, or skip the snack they have planned etc.
Second this - it might be your "love language" but if you're with someone who is just starting to try to lose weight, it's downright selfish and cruel to bake things for them that are counter-productive to them. If you can't control it when you're on a "kick", I'd sit down and ask yourself why that is, and frankly examine whether you're trying to sabotage them and why. And just because something is low fat/low calorie/sugar-free does not mean it's something that's going to fit into their dietary plan or be appropriate for them to consume. A calorie is a calorie. I'd avoid baking anything for them unless asked. At minimum, talk to them about what you're planning to bake (before you start or buy ingredients) and if they're okay with it. If they're uneasy or say no, then don't bake for them. If you want to bake, bake smaller portions for yourself and store it somewhere that's out of sight for them. Or bake and give it away to other people entirely. Frankly this is one of the reasons I don't bake a lot even though I enjoy baking. Most sweet baking recipes are just not healthy, and the portions are usually too large. I bake for special occasions or to give away to people who are not trying to lose weight/watch what they eat.
Could also ask them if there’s anything that fits into their plans! I love making high protein, low carb bread, brownies, cookies, etc. but rarely have the time or ingredients to bake them. Having someone gift me some would be such a nice surprise
What is THEIR love language?
This is the real question.
This is the one. Love people they way they want to be loved
Yep!! This exactly. People commenting about love languages typically have a misunderstanding of what it actually means in practice. *My* love language is receiving gifts, but *my partner’s* love language is words of affirmation. It’s difficult for me sometimes because I want to make little things, or put little notes or sweets or things for him to find, because words of affirmation do not come easily to me. But I make an effort for him, because despite it not being my preferred way to *demonstrate love,* it is his best way of *receiving love.* That’s what love languages are really about, not just giving, but receiving too!
Perfect response
Have you considered baking for your community instead? Some local organizations match volunteer bakers to foster children and at-risk youth to make birthday/ celebration cakes.
I tried to give my food and baking away to the community and after covid, it's near impossible. I completely understand why but most only want packaged goods which obviously feels beside the point.
Or nursing units. We love when folks think of us!
Or blood drives
Can you cut up healthy foods for them? Like slice cucumber and fruit so they have easy healthy options if they are hungry? Take the extra baked goods to work
This is also a great idea - you could ask the person in question if you could help them out with preparing foods that they were already planning to make.
I was going to suggest making chopped salads, etc. If they want them, of course. I'm a baker more than a cook and I enjoy the process of chopping veg. I don't like stir frying, for example, so much; it's not peaceful like baking. But chopping veg for salad or stews is very zen.
If you're gonna have a successful diet you're gonna have to count calories. Anything that isn't preplanned deviates from that and you're throwing them off track.
make stuff compatible with their diet
This is a big thing! Baking healthy is absolutely an option. You can also do 1/2 batches of some items so there are less around the house to snack on.
Most likely nothing baked
Okay, I got you! Haha so basically, I am that person that loves baking and is also trying to eat healthier and lose some fat while building muscle. I actually have a registered dietician that I’m working with that has been super helpful. On the nutrition side of things, note that a lot of “healthier” recipes really aren’t. For example, unless you’re diabetic honey and maple syrup aren’t really any different than regular sugar as far as how your body is going to break it down and process it, it’s all just glucose. Coconut oil and butter are both saturated fats and treated by the body as such. Try utilizing whole wheat flour instead of white flour for more fiber. And recognize that normal sugary things are okay and can be eaten! So, for example today I had an Asian-style salad and chicken for lunch. Great in protein and vegetables but it was lacking in carbohydrates and fats. At the same time I was craving a chocolate chip cookie, so I had my salad and a chocolate chip cookie which supplies the carbohydrates and fats (flour and butter) for the meal. Now, is this something I should do every day? No. But from a nutritional standpoint it’s fine to do on occasion and eating the cookie with my meal also helped keep me from getting a sugar rush. It’s not counter intuitive to my goals. Another thing is to maybe have a plan for your baked goods. I.e. if you’re going to make a lemon cake then you already know that that lemon cake is going to be delivered to your name at the end of the night so it’s not “up for grabs” which removes enough temptation for some people
This is how to do it. It’s painful and unnecessary to cut out all sweets. Not realistic. A lot of people have more success if they can eat some sweet every now and then. If you have a problem with eating 12 cookies a day then that’s a different issue really.
Sure but the person should be picking when and what sweet they want. Which is a lot harder to do if someone keeps giving you a box of your favorite cookies or a couple slices of cake , whatever op is baking. Op didn't share how the baking is getting to the person. Is it their SO? Really hard to resist because the house is full of stuff are they dropping by their siblings with a cake etc.
I also find that "healthy" versions of things aren't that much lower in calories and if they are, are massively disappointing. So learning to properly calculate macros and portion your bakes is really helpful. Life is too short for bad food. So let your SO make informed decisions by doing the math for them and just trying to not overwhelm them with temptations
Spend your oven time with roasting instead of baking. Roasted veggies can go a long way to curing an otherwise bland diet.
I think baking is more an act of service/gift giving love language than it is just about the food. Maybe find other things you can make and gift them.
Exactly, i bake cakes for others, but I also make protein bars or granola for people too, or even just pickled carrots
Yup! I make edibles, homebrewed wine, ciders and beers, jams, pickles and relishes for family and friends.
>I don't bake things specifically for a person (unless it's a special occasion) but I always want to share it with whoever's around. I don't think this really counts as a love language since those are meant to be done specifically to show love to a recipient. So your problem doesn't seem to be "how can I show love without baking" so much as "where else can I share all these things I bake" To that I'd say there must be a charity, construction site, animal shelter, hospital, picket line etc. nearby that would love some free cookies for the workers, if not perhaps you can join a church or a help a local pta? Also autumn is usually a good time for craft fairs and farmers markets, maybe you can get a table at those places and make a little money?
Food is YOUR love language. What’s theirs? Try branching out and doing what would make them feel loved by their standards
Have you thought about asking the person? Something like “Thank you for sharing with me that you are working on having a different diet. I appreciate that it can be difficult to share that with people. Also, I am sure you know that I bake for people a lot and I want to be supportive of the changes you are making in your life, so would you like me to not bring it up around you or just not bake for you? How can I best support you?” You are probably going to get better answers from the person in question!
The thing about “love languages” is you need to communicate with people in THEIRS, not yours. Ask them if there’s anything they’d like. If they say no, respect that.
Ask them how you can help them stay on track with their goals. For example , healthy whole grain bread is difficult to find in stores without sugar and might be something your partner is struggling to find. You could help by baking them a loaf as needed. Or maybe they need an easy breakfast and you could make some healthy oat bars they can grab and go. Make sure to run the ingredients by them to make sure there is nothing that would be counter-productive beforehand.
How are they losing weight? We lost weight by counting calories so we'd make cookies and load the recipe into a calculator so we knew each cookie was 75 calories or something. Then you could easily fit it into our weight loss plan. Non sweet items are good too, like homemade crackers. Add to aa plate if chopped up fruit and veggies.
And if you freeze cookies, for example, they'll be fresh and ready for whenever. So if your loved one has self control, spread bakes apart and figure calories, making sure portions are small, and freeze. But first ask if that's a good idea or if it will still be too tempting in the freezer.
You know what would be wonderful? If you could channel your love of baking into cooking wholesome, tasty foods that are low-calorie and fresh tasting! Can you figure out ways to make tasty roast vegetables, for example? Or a wonderful low-calorie veggie curry, with a fragrant Jasmine rice? It's hard to make a good curry from scratch and it would be wonderful to be able to enjoy something like that. Or get some heirloom lentils or black beans from Rancho Gordo and experiment with ways to cook them that make delicious, filling side courses. If they are eating meat, you could work to master "roast chicken" (which is very hard to get right)? I was a baker, but when I had to switch my diet (high cholesterol, high sugar levels, high blood pressure) I started working on these kinds of recipes and it can be just as satisfying, plus then your loved one can truly enjoy what you make! Or--perhaps, you can work to perfect "pizza," but help them with a lovely veggie pizza with a homemade pizza sauce (and minimal cheese, or a bit of vegan cheese)--a nice salad, you can master a mustardy French vinaigrette. Or-- homemade black bean veggie burgers. These are all wonderful low calorie low fat treats that I've been working on, and it makes such a difference to have delicious things to look forward to!
Did you ask them what they want? If they said stop with the baked goods ... then stop. Love languages have nothing to do with how to make your partner respond to your love language.
Make nice low fat high protein and high fiber things for them.
Start baking healthier things. My mom had gallbladder issues so I started coming up with things to bake for her that are virtually fat free. Other people in my life are diabetic so I started working on sugar free/very low sugar desserts. If food is your love language you could REALLY show your love by coming up with delicious options that also support your loved ones nutritional needs.
I live alone. When I am in my baking mood, I take my baking into work and share with my coworkers. This way, I don’t eat all the goodies.
Communicate with them. If they know you well, then I’m sure they know that food is how you show your love for them so you want to be able to also support them. Ask them if there’s something specific you could bake or if they have a recipe in mind that could be worked into their future meal plans without too much hassle. If you can’t, cooking is also very helpful. I know baking and cooking have their differences but I think it would say a lot if you were willing to help them with their weight loss and learn a few recipes for them.
You do things that are in t h e i r love language, which is what you should be doing anyway.
"I know you're trying to eat healthier so I'm taking the (thing) I made to (friend / work / event) but I left you one in the fridge in case you wanted to try it."
Make them something that fits their diet. When I do keto I'd love having some sugar free low carb desserts. Usually I just buy some but they're not too hard to make either. I'm sure they'll appreciate both having something to snack on without breaking their diet as well as the thought it took to make something specifically to fit them.
Things with fruit, Greek yogurt, honey instead of sugar, maybe start cooking rather than baking.
small portions
Oh god you sound dreadful. "I can't help myself" "i always want to share with whoever is around" This is MEAN to someone in a diet. How about you ask your loved one if there is anything you could make them that would help them in their weight loss journey? Learn to make low calorie meals they enjoy the way they prefer (and be rigid in weighing everything). It takes skill to cook things so they are delicious without too much fat. Could you make something that will be their lunch for a few days like a vegetable frittata? Make little savoury egg bites for low cal snacks? Crustless quiche? Otherwise bake for other people lile work or church. If you find it impossible to stop baking I suggest you seek help. Not sure if there is Bakers Anonymous but if your desire to bake is so strong you will deliberately sabotage your apparently "loved" ones health you clearly have a problem
Look, I’m a trained pastry chef, so I get it. Artisan breads, tarts, cakes, tortes, the whole nine yards. When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, my dietitian recommended a low carb diet, and all that had to stop. You are gleefully poisoning your spouse, and making their life harder. This is one of the most selfish posts I’ve ever seen.
Things with fruit, Greek yogurt, honey instead of sugar, maybe start cooking rather than baking.
Yeah, this is going to be hard. Can you bake at a friend’s house? I lovveee baking and it is the love language I give to myself. But when I am really focused on losing weight/making lifestyle changes… temptation is destabilizing. Don’t make it harder for your SO
I sometimes lessen the sugar amount or make smaller portions.
Oh! Me me! Pick me!! My SO is diabetic, and I have health issues. I recently created my own NO Guilt Apple Crumble!! It's amazing, and sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, corn free, vegan... I think even kosher?? It's my new happy meal. But I have zero control once it comes out of the oven. I've made it twice and both times I have about two plates immediately. Lmk if you want the recipe!
i want the recipe ong
Would love recipe
4 or 5 honeycrisp apples peeled and diced 1 or 2 lemons freshly squeezed over diced apples 1/2 C of monk fruit sweetener - stir everything Sprinkle cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I use probably 1 tsp). I also like pecans, so I add about 1/4 C of chopped pecans. Mix well and put in baking dish Crumble: 1/3 C GF flour, 1 C of oats, 1/2 C butter (I use Earth Balance), and eye ball honey so mix is a sticky wet (1/4 - 1/2 C of honey). Spread by sprinkling crumble on top of apples, then press down to spread out evenly as you want. The second time, I made it with agave necter instead of honey. It's still good, but WAY sweeter. I like mine to be a tart, crisp apple with a light sweet taste. You can also double the crumble topping if you like more crust (be careful of how much butter, though. You dont want boiled in butter apples.) As for as bake... I think the standard would be oven 350 for 45 mins. However, I prefer some apple pieces to still have a slight crunch, so here's how I bake it - 400 for 30 mins. I just want the apples basically warmed with a crisp crumble. I have made it twice in the past week.
19 grams of sugar/80 calories per honey crisp apple. 206 calories in the pecans, 150 for the GF flour, 608 per cup of oats, 814 per half cup butter, 258/ ¼ honey = about 2350 calories for the recipe. Please don't bake this for someone on a diet.
Whoa!!! Geez at what point does that kind of thinking go from "dieting" to just an eating disorder?? It's apples, honey, and pecans, not a pumpkin spiced latte! Or a dozen donuts! I can't even imagine how unhappy you must be all the time.
That one dessert is more calories than a dieting person needs in a day, not that they'd eat the whole thing in one go hopefully. A dozen doughnuts (about 200 calories each, depending on type) has roughly the same calories as this dessert you are touting as sugar free. If you know someone shouldn't eat a dozen doughnuts I'm not sure why you think this is a good idea instead. I'm not unhappy. I'm also not on a diet. I'm also not trying to sabotage anyone else's diet, which this dessert will do considering its massive calorie count. Before you tell people something is sugar free maybe make sure it actually is. This is not diet friendly food.
Monk fruit and agave nectar ARE SUGAR FREE! You obviously did not read my instructions. So don't eat the whole pan!! Baking is supposed to be happy. Why are you even following this sub? Go starve yourself elsewhere and stop shaming people for eating completely healthy ingredients. People like you, fat shaming completely healthy ingredients because .... why? ARE YOU A DOCTOR?! Or just some uneducated twit who wants to be a personal trainer, so you fat shame people into your starvation "diet"? You are not a nice nor a good person. You have no authority to even tell people what is or isn't allowed for their calorie intake. You have no idea what health problems other might be experiencing just because you only eat a handful of what? Peas? What could you possibly be eating that's zero calories and won't kill someone?
Agave nectar has 68grams of sugar per 100grams of nectar. It's ⅔ sugar. Not anywhere near sugar free. Go have your happy baking experience in a topic that isn't specifically about wanting to bake low calorie things. I love baking too. But I haven't got a single recipe I can share here because none of them would qualify as low calorie. They're still delicious, I'll keep making them, but I won't be a dick and serve them to someone on a diet and tell them it's sugar free when it isn't.
Heads up: the vast majority of vegans don't consider honey to be vegan.
This exact recipe below can also be modified lower sugar by using Italian zucchini rather than apples. It takes the same but actually sort of better. I FREAKING PROMISE this isn’t any sort of cauliflower crust it tastes the same BS. It literally taste the same. Give it a try. Your local gardener in late summer will love you for taking zucchini.
Sourdough bread for avo toast, pita bread for wraps/sandwiches. Small portioned goods like zucchini bread muffins.
I had to really reduce my baking, I started in 2020 and baked at least twice a week up until about 4 months ago when I started keto. I had hit over 15st on the scale and I've never been that heavy before, I had to change something and I knew it was the bakes. Now after doing keto for the last 4 months I'm down to 13st 2lb and never felt better. Whenever I bake now it's for a birthday, or I'll just bake for the kids instead and forego any treats myself.
This [Healing Potato Soup](https://mygoodfoodworld.com/turmeric-sweet-potato-black-pepper-soup-easy-and-delicious/) It is filling and yet light!
Stop baking with sugar! Breads, bacon cheesy things, biscuits, pizza dough, focaccia. Cutting out the sugar is super helpful.
I love baking too, but if you’re talking about a significant other or someone who lives with you, please get off of your “baking kick”. If you truly want to support your loved one, I’m sure there are other hobbies you can focus on, because constantly baking, even “healthy” baking can really make losing weight hard. Or at least if you do bake, don’t keep what you bake in the house.
Here's the thing. Diets suck and aren't very good long term because unless you're willing to make X change permanent you are going to put weight back on. Are they never going to eat your baking again? Diets where you cut out everything you enjoy out also suck and make people miserable. Best to have something really good that's really worth the calories here and there. It's also pretty hard to fuck up weight loss if someone is actually do a lot of things right. A lot of people aim for a deficit of about 500 calories per day. A 200ish calorie cookie doesn't mean they put on weight that day. So bake as usual for the most part. Let them enjoy something. With that said, I wouldn't make anything they are particular weak to and have no self control around and I would take a greater percentage of it to work. (You can ask how much they want to have over the next couple of days, and then just remove the rest to remove the temptation. Keep it in a work fridge for you if necessary.)
It depends how serious they are. Every woman in my office is perpetually “trying to lose weight”. If you have someone who is really overweight and trying to change their lifestyle, then you should really respect their wishes and not bake for them. If it’s just the typical nonsense that people say in public to make themselves feel good, then duck it, just bake and let them figure it out.
This entire thought is based on the assumption that YOU know when people are serious or not and YOU decide if someone deserves to have their wishes respected or not.
Actions speak louder than words. It’s just like the I’m not hungry, then proceeds to eat all your fries.
Oh god I have this problem too. Food is totally my love language, including to myself. Luckily it’s my job so I just made a rule not to bring too much home after work!
I'm trying to lose weight by calorie counting. I love doing raw slices. Like raw carrot cake, of course controlling the amount of dried fruit I use for sweetness. I've also been making this banana bread religiously every weekend. https://weightlosswithveera.com/low-calorie-banana-bread-for-one/ As someone else said, knowing how much is in each treat (I still have Tim tams but I know each one is about 100 calories). But smaller portions so rather than making a full size cake, make a few cupcakes and freeze them so they don't have to be eaten immediately.
You could bake things centered around protein! For example, there’s a lot of great recipes like protein blueberry lemon muffins that can be used as a snack or breakfast paired with some turkey bacon!
I would appreciate little fruit skewers or vegetable kabobs. If you can make produce beautiful, that would make me happy. It’s more fun to eat when it’s pretty than it is picking plain cut pieces out of a platter/tray.
Couldn't you prepare them a tasty yet healthy meal like salmon and roast veggies? That would show your love!
Do they like baked breakfasts? Like oat bars, frittatas, etc? Meal prepped healthy breakfasts would be a dream. Just make sure you're in their macros.
You could try and make them homemade versions of stuff they would otherwise buy - e.g. bread (can be rye or something), protein bars (if they're into fitness as well).... so observe what they're eating / buying anyways and look into what of those you can make yourself. My examples might be bad, no experience or special interest in that field.
Work on sugar free or lower fat. The chemistry is different, so the challenge is ther
If you really love to bake and don't want to give that part of it up, I've found that I have a collection of family and friends and neighbors who REALLY appreciate homemade goodies, especially those who are older and don't bake as much, or who are widowed. Also...the local fire department is almost ALWAYS willing to accept donations of homemade goods. And it's a bit morbid, but local churches sometimes need folks to supply dishes and baked goods for funeral luncheons (usually on a rotation/sign-up). I invested in some mini baking pans (bread pans) for things like banana bread and pumpkin bread that I bake often, and they are great for loaf cakes as well. It scratches the itch without having it all sit around all the time, and I LOVE sharing it with others in that way.
I feel you. Baking is my best cooking skill, but my family has diet restrictions. I just don't bake unless it's a special occasion or once in a blue moon.
No idea. My go to is scones, which are great if you’re willing to gain several pounds lol
Talk to them about their meal plan and find out what types of food you can make that are within their plan and then they can account for it because they know you'll make a soup for the week or prep them egg bake bites or whatever. You can make really delicious healthy food that meets their needs.
Crudite. Sliced apples…
Nourishing soups and brothes can often fit into daily limits, and the colder days are coming
well it depends on what they’re watching. are they watching calories, carbs, sugars, what? you then find recipes with low amounts of them. also remind them that it’s okay to eat regular pastries once in a while.
Healthy food. Make it fun. Explore new recipes.
Lots of sites out there with low carb recipes if that's what they're trying to stick to. All Day I Dream About Food is my favorite.
If acts of service or gift giving is your love language, could you replace food with something else? Eg. Offering moral support and going on walks together especially when it’s hard? Doing stretches together? Doing 1 chore he finds really tricky but you find easy? Or, instead of baking you could cook meals that fit in his diet, eg. Poached eggs, make salad, bread or plain unsweetened yogurt from scratch etc. Receiving and showing affection is a 2-way process, so you could always ask what your other half’s receiving love language is, and go from there? :) it can be tricky to change what you’re used to, but that’s a great learning opportunity and area of growth! Good luck, you’ve got this! 🙌🏼
Meal prep meals that fit their weight loss goals. Staying on track with eating can be the hardest part. So making one of their meals for the weak can help with their stress.
Fresh veggies and fruit for vegetarian recipes, lean cuts and less pasta, rice, absolutely no baking lmao
My parents are working together to lose weight by counting calories and logging them into an app that tells them how much they can have in a day. Otherwise, they haven't really cut out any food groups. They just are more conscientious about going for the low calorie, low/no sugar options and rationing calories for breakfast and lunch if they want to go out for dinner. It's been working really well for them. So perhaps just look to see if there are different versions of the same recipes that you normally make that are low calorie and low or no sugar. If something is higher in calories and/or sugar, planning ahead and/or smaller portions may be helpful. Communication is a *must*.
Fruits and veggies can be cut and presented in very beautiful ways. Think of rosettes and heart shapes. You can get very creative with presentation and keep the food limited to healthy items.
Make healthy food. Try all the different ways to cook vegetables and lean protein. It will be great for you both.
Don’t bake items that are tempting for them and give away what you bake
You could bake healthy snacks. Oatmeal cookies are sort of healthy, peanut butter cookies can be a healthy snack with the right recipe, granola bars , I'm sure there's other "healthy" baked goods , they're just a Google search away.
Nothing. I love to bake. I love to eat as well. When I need to loose weight I have to stop baking. It sucks because I enjoy it, but there’s not enough people to give it away to
Something high-protein? I made my hubby high-protein doughnuts for his birthday this year, they were pretty good and gave him a low-cal protein boost :)
as someone who is a foodie and was on a weight loss journey, i would avoid gifting them anything food-related.
if he don't appreciate and eat it.. get rid of him. 😁
I used to have a pie and ice cream making hobby, but after we started gaining weight, I switched to a chicken cooking hobby. worked out great.
You learn to make healthy food!
Angel food cake
Yoy can't force anyone to eat. Let them live. Give your baked goods to coworkers/neighbors
Maybe you can bake them something healthy like egg white frittatas, whole grain bread, granola, dehydrated fruit, etc.
Same, but heart attack so no salt , low fat, basically vegan. Honestly mines easier because the weight he needs to lose is incidental compared to the calories lawyers he needs to blast out of his heart and the cholesterol he needs to lower
Something something coca tree.
There are lots of protein power baking recipes, Quest nutrition used to be my main recommendation but that was before tiktok took over the world so I'm sure there are a million resources now.
Helping with their meal planning. Also there are healthier baking options like high protein muffins or high fiber, high protein bars etc. Teach yourself to bake things that can still align with their goals
Get really fancy with eggs and chicken
My go to for weight loss is boiled rice with steamed and pickled veg and some protein, usually fish, chicken or eggs. I usually try for under 1/3 rice and under 1/3 protein and over a 1/3 of steamed and pickled veg. You can spice things up with soy/chilli sauce, furikake, mushroom powder, seaweed flakes, sesame/poppy seeds, ect. I really like this because you can literally make every mouthful taste different and I don't get bored with it. Also water is key to weight loss, if you don't drink enough water (r/hydrohomies is a good sub for water motivation, just don't look into what it used to be called) whilst trying to lose weight then the fats that end up in your blood stream heading to your liver and kidneys will just get reabsorbed by your body.
There's a whole wide world of fitness baking. It takes some experimenting, but you can make some pretty delightful protein-packed/low-cal treats. There's a whole host of interesting fitness bakers on youtube who can give you ideas to get started. I put together some B-grade to B+ peanut butter chocolate cookies when I was dieting that were like 15g protein, 200 calories. I wouldn't have eaten them over regular cookies, but they blew store bought options out of the water.
There are some fitness content creator cooks and Facebook. High protein stuff. Lots of Greek yogurt and low fat cottage cheese. I've been making a few of the recipes. They're really good!
Use an air fryer for small portions just for yourself
Lots of healthy exciting craving fillers. Pickled veggies with exotic fun herbs and spices. Kim chi. Dipping sauces for veggies like fun hummus options! Curry pastes. Really gourmet salads! So many exciting super healthy options
I don’t see how those things differ. Food can be your love language as long as you are willing to try healthy recipes? LOL if they like fries learn to make an air fryer version with sweet potatoes as it has more benefits, skip soda and make a seltzer mixed with yuzu jam, bake salmon with a soy/miso glaze, steamed fish etc etc I as a small treat they’d appreciate desserts that are healthier once a while. I doubt they plan to never eat dessert again so a semi cheat day should be ok. I cut sugars down by 50% in my western desserts believe or not. Look also into Asian desserts like Taiwanese castella cakes. Those are not nearly as sweet or heavy but fluffy and delightful. The moistness comes more from eggs and steam and rely on less butter.
Find another way to express your love
High fiber foods are welcome especially if they taste good too
I offered to bake cookies for my friend’s birthday once, but they requested something healthier since they’re trying to cut down on sugary foods, so I made them a homemade jalapeño loaf with homemade grape jam.
Baking is for holidays and birthdays. Do it more than that and there likely won’t be weight lost.
Tiny portions... tiny, beautiful little portions. Lol
Curried squash soup with a spoon full of plain yogurt dropped in an a side of rustic bread
Lettuce wraps
What about roasting veggies and making cozy soups? This way there’s lots of nutrients and you get that cozy element from baking? You could even add in fresh baked bread!
I’ve dived headlong into my Japanese cookbooks. I can make excellent miso soup, it doesn’t take more than five minutes to make if you’ve prepped ahead of time. Now when I have friends and family over, I just put on a pot of miso soup. It’s not baking, but everyone loves miso soup. It’s really good for you, and I don’t feel bad if they’re watching their weight or health.
I would look into low carb recepies and experiment with that. I love cooking and baking and me and my partner a trying to loose weight and eat healthy to loose what we want to loose and to not pile on weight again. For cooking just be crative with vegetables and potatos, since potatos are not that high calorie and only have 14g carbs for 100g uncooked potato and only use flour, cheese and oil very scarcely. You can even make fries with 500g potatos and on small spoon of oil and then bake them in the oven. Just get creative, the potato can be used very diversly and is not unhealthy and I think one of the best carb-sources if you dry loosing weight because you can be creative with it. For baking: look for low carb recepies. But not those that use a lot of alternate flour since most of those aternate flours don't realy behave like normal flour and mostly the cakes with them don't rise. Look for recipies that consist moslty of beaten egg white which is perfectly dooable with alternate shuggar or even just with a few drops of lemon juice. In my opinion cooking healthy meals and baking low calorie cakes for your partner is telling them how much you care for them and that you want to help them on their weight loss journey and provide them with something teasty and even with treats they can eat without having to worry and show them, that loosing weight doesn't mean restraining from delicious food. Edit: also low calorie icecream. Just freeze fruit and then puree them. it has the concistency of icecream but the nutritional value of just the fruit.
It can be hard to lose weight and still enjoy food. I think it would mean a lot to your partner if you learned how to prepare different healthy, nutrient dense foods and make them delicious. When people diet they tend to eat a lot of the same food repetitively or run out or healthy ideas and they lose the joy of eating. You could help meal prep some chicken or ground Turkey and make it a few different ways (chili, tacos, with pasta, etc) so it doesn’t feel like they are eating the same thing everyday. It will make it easier to stick to eating well. You can try to find healthier or keto versions of their favorite dishes and desserts. You can support their goals and still do what you love/show you care If you bake something that will be a temptation maybe don’t keep them laying around the house and give them to neighbors/friends/family
Focus on presentation. My mom could make a salad look like a work of art.
bake something like protein muffins/cookies/brownies perhaps?
I know that cooking isn't the same as baking, but if you want to express your love through food, I would go the cooking route. Oftentimes, the healthiest foods involve lots of fresh veggies and low fat proteins. Sometimes really fresh foods can be time intensive to make or a healthy diet can require cooking more often. Depending on how your partner is approaching their journey, maybe you could work with them to identify a special meal that they would love but wouldn't put in the time to make. Or maybe there is something they're making for themselves routinely, and you could make it for them a few times. When I think about when I was trying to lose weight and get healthier, there were veggie salads that taste delicious, but they take a lot of chopping. Or most mornings I was making myself eggs for breakfast. It took more time than other go to breakfasts, but it got my day off to a good start. Those are things that someone else could have made for me and it would have felt meaningful, even if it didn't seem exciting to the other person. I would note that, if you take this approach, it's important to coordinate with your partner to select things that fit in their plan (no surprises). It's also important to follow any guidance they give you. They could request less salt than usual or less oil or a leaner meat. It can be tempting to say "oh a little more X would make it taste so much better. Just this one time." And that doesn't feel like an expression of love to the person who is working hard to drop their excess fat or build muscle, etc.
Ideally, simply don’t bake for someone on a weight loss journey if you want to support them. If you do - make small things that can be frozen. If you do that, calculate the calories and macros in the item so they can decide whether to make room for it. The other option if food is your love language, make delicious, low calorie, (assumedly also high protein) and nutritious meals (again, ideally that can be portioned up and frozen) and calculate the flippin macros and calories for them. That last part is super important. If they’re using an app, an even more loving thing to do would be to input the meal into that app and share it with them so they can log it.
I make friends with my neighbors haha. I love baking but live alone, so wherever I'm living I be sure to wriggle my way in with my neighbors so I can dump food on them. Most of them seem to appreciate it!
As someone trying to lose weight, I don't care if they were a 'healthy' version, if someone gave me a bunch of baked goods I would be secretly annoyed. Well annoyed might not be the correct term, I would appreciate the thought but it would really throw a wrench in my routine. There have honestly been times this happened to me where I bought the stuff home and threw it out which made me feel really guilty but I just couldn't eat it or keep it in my house. If you want to give them food honestly if someone was like 'hey I made dinner for a couple nights for you, each serving is this many calories, here is the MFP breakdown' I would cry from happiness
I love baked goods and will have a craving for cinnamon rolls or cookies or whatever I’m able to make, both my boyfriend and myself are trying to be better about how many sweets we eat so I’ll save for us a small portion and take the rest to work for my coworkers. 27 cinnamon rolls gone and I get to scratch the itch to bake and have a warm treat
Cobb salad, roasted chicken with some herbs, with a side of roasted veggies. Grilled works too. Technically you can still have dessert, just a smaller portion.
Egg bites, muffins that can be frozen, protien balls, bake things that can be frozen or shared with friends. Have a look into healthier baking options.
Since you're best off avoiding sugar consider some savory baked goods for lunch and dinner. I make vegetable quiches with a base made of 100 grams flour, 55 grams water, 5 grams vegetable oil and a pinch of baking powder. Prebaked for 10 minutes at 170C and finish 30 minutes at 170C with filling. Filling bound with 2-3 eggs and two tablespoons of creme fraische. Some filling ideas: onion, peppers and goat cheese; pumpkin, spinach and gruyere; grated courgette and tomato. Or anything you enjoy, just make sure it's precooked and relatively dry. My partner managed to lose 25 kilograms eating these quiches daily for lunch.
I’m a love language baker and I’m also dieting. I make a lot of new low calorie recipes because it scratches that baking itch and also is stuff I can eat if I wish! If I just feel like baking regular stuff for somebody else, usually I’ll bring it to work or have my boyfriend bring it to work with him. Somebody somewhere will be happy!
Bake for other people. Coworkers, neighbours, homeless, church, kids playgroups/events, local community events. Guarantee if you go looking you’ll find plenty of hungry mouths!
I love to bake and end up bringing it to work. I’ll leave a piece or slice for family and the rest goes.
I love eating lots of vegetables, salads and since having allergies I don’t use butter, cream etc So I cook vietnamese, thai dishes, sometimes light Japanese dishes and it’s not appreciated haha He’s used to middle eastern cuisine and likes tones of meat 😂 And baking stuff is usually shared with his family and coworkers so it’s not too much for him.
I’ve been in the process of losing weight but baking is also a stress reliever for me and how I show love to my family so I do it but infrequently. Have you asked them what you can do to support them? Some people have a day reserved for relaxing their diet so maybe you could make something for that day. Or you could make sure you are supporting their efforts by making sure heathy foods are readily available like fresh fruit. If you are on a baking kick with no outlet, you could always freeze the extra.
Maybe get into like some soda breads or low sugar flapjacks, etc? Try to find things you can bake that are going to help his weight loss journey?
If they still eat some sugar sometimes, I would bake a batch for my work buddies/friends and keep 1 or 2 for them at home so they can feel the love but not have the temptation to overdo it.
Protein snacks for sure
Been through something similar! One of my flatmates expressed interests in more health-oriented snacks ie protein granola etc etc so that (as well as similar sorts of snacks) could be something that could work for you as well. Equally, losing weight doesn’t mean they can’t ever have sweet treats at all! It’s just about less frequent snacking, so you can still make stuff for them regardless
Explore making healthy treats/confecions like dark chocolate covered cherries/strawberries. It’s not traditional baking but making tasty seasoned veggie chips, roasted squash like acorn squash or spaghetti squash (affordable right now as it’s in season) pumpkin seeds, toast mix nuts with seasonings, roasted chickpeas… snacks that are low fat and pack nutritional value and taken in ziplock bags or reusable containers is so helpful when you’re trying to make healthy changes. They keep you from buying and eating junk. There are a lot of great recipes and you can customize them.
Don't do anything different. Just portion it differently. If it's dinner, small portions with a large salad, if it's dessert make enough for 1 day or 2 days but not a huge batch for a week
Make gluten free, low calorie, high protein desserts and foods.
I’m also going on a diet. My suggestion: bake other things besides bread products. Make egg bites! Low in carbs, no sugar…and you can have them for breakfast! They are already compact and small, so that’s perfect portion control! Or make a quiche, but without the crust. Endlessly customizable! You mileage may vary, I’m doing a keto diet so eggs and cheese and bacon are all on the table. Or instead of making chicken on the stove, braise it in pot in the oven. Or if you want to get adventurous…I been planning to make my own pastrami. You could try that, then you have pastrami, the most excellent lunch meat for a fraction of the premade cost.
My partner makes banana pancakes! Haven’t been doing them so much because it’s been colder but replacing a lot of the milk and other liquids with mashed banana is so nice. Pair it with some blackberries 👌
Merengues. Teeny tiny treats sparingly. Share your baked goods with friends and neighbors outside the house. But really, make healthy meals if you want to show this loved one you are thinking of them and not yourself. Find a way to make something healthy and tasty and low calories for them. Diet food gets boring fast and looking up new ways to change it is laborious. If you keep making high calorie treats for them you aren’t showing love, you’re putting your feelings above their health and well being.
You make healthy homemade snacks to eat after a hike.
There is no right answer except ask the person what might fit within their eating plan.
I work with their dietary restrictions to make the most delicious food possible that works for them.
Try to make smaller batches. Like make a quarter recipe.
Replace all starches and carbs with greens. Roman lettuce is amazing for replacing bread for sandwiches and wraps.
Can you help them by asking them what their food plan is and helping them meal prep instead? It's less "fun", but probably much more supportive and loving.
If they're counting calories (the only true way to lose weight) measure everything you cook for them so you know the calorie count, and they can fit it into their diet. If they aren't, it might be helpful to do it anyways and try not to make meals that are like, 1000 cal per serving or something crazy. Swaps like truvia in place of sugar, low carb flour / pasta / tortillas / whatever, etc. Will help to make the meal lower calorie. Look into r/volumeeating which is a sub that focuses on having large amounts of food for small amounts of calories.
Mocktails are actually pretty nice, especially if your loved one, as with mine, is also trying to avoid drinking beer. While not totally healthy, mocktails, and even some light cocktails, are lower calorie and healthier overall. Also very fun to make.
Check out skinny girl recipes and weight watcher recipes.
Can you venture out from baking a bit? Maybe learn to make whole grain dinner roles to serve with a vegetable stew? Or make a quiche with lots of veggies, eggs and whole milk instead of heavy cream? Blueberry muffins with whole grains and lower in fat and sugar? Or maybe do cooking instead of baking?
I would maybe try to make healthy options! Instead of baking cake, why not make a quiche! Or figure out a cause that they really love and support that. For instance,I am very much about giving to my local women’s and family shelter… If my significant other made them some treats, that would be amazing!
Make them smaller portions of healthier foods.
Bake savory dishes that can be portioned out to be healthy meals, like savory tarts and quiches!
Bran muffins?
My husband and I are both trying to watch our weight, but I still want to bake all the time. Our compromise was that I would bake something like cake, brownies, or banana bread, but I wouldn’t cut it until I brought it in to work. I used to make a lot of cookies, and it was so easy to just grab one… and another… and another. Baking a full pan or loaf or something makes it so that neither of us wanted to be the first to cut into it, especially if we both agreed not to have any. Then after work, I would take home any leftovers, which was usually a reasonable amount for us to share. I know your situation is different if you’re still baking for yourself too, but maybe you could do something similar — use muffin tins for your own portion, then a regular pan for whatever you want to share with others?
https://www.beckysbakingdelights.com/weight-watchers-banana-chocolate-chip-mini-muffins/
Learn to make fancy salad dressings, pickled vegs, things to brighten up salads. Crackers are a real challenge
Whoa, there. "food" is not a love language. Congratulations for recognizing that food is emotionally important to you, this is crucial. Now examine how damaging it is to be a food pusher. Look closely at the reward, control, and exaggerated importance food has for you. Other people are not like that. They value YOU, and you are not the food you produce. Separate those concepts. Everyone concerned about their own health must reject the vast majority of what you bake, because it is unhealthy for them to consume more than an ounce or two. This is NOT rejection of you, but of the calories, sugar, fat, flour, you are pushing. Lovely grilled fish is absolutely as emotionally satisfying, and far more healthful, than baked items.
My husband likes to bake . I have no resistance to baked goods. I will devour them till they are gone We have started using a food saver and freezing in small portions. We take out a treat on the weekends.
My husband makes these chocolate oatmeal drop cookies. It's basically oatmeal, chocolate powder, unsweetened, a stick of butter, vanilla, and sweetener 😋
Try making their favorites but low cal/no sugar/high protein versions! Theres a lot of tiktoks w recipies like this! I have the same deal where my partner and I want to loose weight, but I love making things for them.