WEEK 17-6: Saint Beck Diet Girl

A neighbor of mine has an overproductive apple tree, so she hosted an apple-pie-making party. Despite how good I've been on my diet this week, I didn't have a lot of faith in my pie-denial abilities, but I still wanted to go to the party and have a good time. So, to offset any pie-related slip-ups in the afternoon, I went to a morning step aerobics class at my gym.

I never go to the gym on weekends, mostly because the classes are scheduled too early. But today I got up 2 hours early to go to that class. Another reason I don't go to the gym on weekends is because the too-early classes are also at a higher intensity than I'm accustomed to. But today I took an advanced step aerobics class and kept up with no problems. Really, could sainthood be far behind?

But, wait, there's more! When I walked into the party, the scent of baking apples and cinnamon enfolded me like a long-lost love. Oh, it smelled delicious! Several people had already finished their pies and they were available for sampling -- a smorgasbord of deep dish apple pie, crumble apple pie, apple brown betty, apple raisin pie, apple cranberry pie, apple walnut pie, all of it warm and gooey and heavenly. And right alongside the pies were party snacks, including a sinful selection of cheeses, accompanying crackers, some potato chips, and a vegetable and hummus tray.

I had come to the party directly from the gym and prepared to have a little something to eat. But faced with all those pies and all that cheese, I found myself thinking how much I'd rather see a low number on the scale Monday than have any of those tempting foods! So instead I stuck with some carrots and hummus and was quite happy.

Surely these miracles are the first step in my canonization! But I am still human... I succumbed to making my own pie, then brought it home to bake (there's nothing homier than the fragrance of an apple pie in the oven). Then I had a slice for dessert after dinner, but it was part of my food plan, so I'm still on the side of the angels!