Resolutions for 2016 #20

In 2016 we will…

Bake.

Maybe it’s because it’s my birthday today (Happy Birthday me!) but I’ve been thinking rather a lot about cake today! I am a big fan of baking, but lack of time and my inability to step away from the cake tin if there is even the mere crumb of yummy goodness left in there has meant that my baking hobby has fallen by the wayside. But, I am absolutely determined that this must change in 2016 and I am hereby putting ‘do more baking’ up there in the top ten resolutions I absolutely must stick to!

Baking is incredibly good for our health for a whole host of different reasons:

  1. It’s therapeutic – Can you think of anything more relaxing than stirring flour into butter and sugar and watching the soft, snowy powder miraculously turn into creamy gorgeousness? And, what about when you’ve had a stressful day at work, or someone’s really wound you up the wrong way? A good old 10 minute knead on some dough is sure to banish feelings of anger and frustration.
  2. It requires attention – When you’re following instructions, like a recipe, it requires your absolute concentration and focus on that one job. And, whilst you’re attention is distracted with thoughts of how many eggs need to go in and what temperature the oven should be set at, all other worries and negative thoughts slip away.
  3. It’s healthy – OK so if you end up eating all the results of your baking experiments, then no, it’s not exactly marvellous for your health, but if you can limit yourself to a slice of cake a day you’re actually giving yourself some tremendous health benefits. A little bit of what you fancy does you good, we all know that, so if eating a slice of something a little bit naughty makes you feel good, then we say do it! Also, when you bake, you know exactly what ingredients has gone into a recipe, meaning it can be as healthy, or as unhealthy, as you choose.
  4. It’s creative – Baking allows you to have fun, in a way that, as adults, we are not often encouraged to do. Have fun coming up with different flavour combinations and icing styles to create modern day masterpieces Mary Berry would be proud of.
  5. It creates a healthy attitude to food – This is a particularly valuable lesson to pass onto children so that they can enjoy food from a young age and take it with them into adulthood. Food is not a thing to be scared of or be obsessed over, it is basically fuel for our bodies that we can also enjoy and have a lot of fun with.

Who’s going to join me then? Let’s start 2016 off with a healthy hobby that is not only good for our mental health and wellbeing, but also means you need never buy cake from the shops again!

I’d love to hear from you – please email me your favourite healthy bake recipes to info@artofhealthyliving.com or post on the Art of Healthy Living Facebook page.

Tags from the story
,
More from Becky Stafferton
Resolutions for 2016 #24
In 2016 we will… Have more sex! Given half the chance, most...
Read More
0 replies on “Resolutions for 2016 #20”