Why I Quit Being a Baker

Fat Baker turns FitPro. Is that how I should have titled this blog?

Someone call the SEO police and let me know!

Ok. All jokes aside-

[Tweet “It’s hard to admit when a passion turns into poison.”]

I got into baking for many reasons- Who doesn’t love a delicious decadent chocolate cake covered in ganache with chocolate curls lightly dancing on top? The thought of it makes my mouth water. From an artistic perspective, cake decorating is highly expressive and challenging. Throw in the scientific aspect of perfecting buttercream in 100% humidity and I’d say this has all the elements of an Olympic sport. No wonder everyone loves to watch cake shows on the Food Network Channel! I’m a glutton for a challenge.

The best part of baking… CELEBRATING! Who doesn’t love a good party?! Weddings, Birthdays, Award Ceremonies, Openings… They’re the times people come together to have fun, love, and be joyous. Dessert is everything we want life to be.

I took every course I could to learn how to bake intricate tasty cakes. I threw myself into perfecting delicate fondant toppings, spun sugar flowers, and hand-painted details. I toyed with changing careers to become a full-time baker. I interviewed at restaurants for pastry chef positions, baked cakes on the side for friends, and considered opening a bakery.

And then, I quit.

You see, I’m not one of those of bakers who doesn’t eat what they make.

I eat it ALL.

In retrospect, I didn’t realize that I was completely addicted to sugar. Since I was eating everything I was making by testing cake batters, licking spoons, and having a slice of a finished cake, I was eating a LOT of dessert.

The basic ingredients to making any dessert taste divine is SUGAR, DAIRY, & WHITE FLOUR. Do you have any idea how many calories, fat, and carbs are in a given slice of chocolate cake?

I’ll use Cheesecake Factories Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake as an example-

Calories 1680

Saturated Fat 49g

Sodium 970mg

Carbohydrates 206g

They don’t list Fat, Trans Fat, Sugar or Protein.

Say what?!

I know. It’s crazy.

I made a point to try to use as much organic and local ingredients as possible. But, sugar is sugar, fat is fat, and carbs are carbs. None of what I was putting into my body was helping my health. I was fat, tired, and lethargic.

My passion had turned into poison.

Have you ever heard the term-Junk Food Junk Mood by Lindsey Smith? I think it aptly describes how sugar is a brief mood booster and the crash is filled with depression.

While I was making all these fantastic cakes, I wasn’t that happy with myself. I didn’t feel good most of the time and that seeped into many areas of my life. I tried to get into shape. As much as I tried to workout, my nutrition was atrocious. I never ate vegetables. EVER. You cannot outwork a bad diet. It only gets worse as you get older and your metabolism slows.

Finally, my interest in health outweighed my interest in baking.

There wasn’t a defining moment that I walked out of the kitchen and hung up the apron. It was a gradual decline until I stopped. Now, I only bake for special family occasions. I will admit that my interest in pursuing gluten, dairy, sugar free desserts is piqued. I think most protein powder based recipes taste marginally ok. I definitely believe that there is a lot that could be done there.

However, my passions have taken me on another journey. Instead of connecting with people through sugar, I now connect with people through powerful one-on-one coaching.

Instead of celebrating birthdays and special occasions with sugar, I now spend time celebrating achievements of success with my clients by high-fives, hikes, hugs, and an occasional bottle of champagne.

Overall, I think everyone benefits from this much more and would agree that we all feel a lot better the next day without the sugar crash.