I hestitate to write this post for fear that I will sabotage myself. So I will keep is short and simple. Here goes: I love to eat anything sweet. I love chocolate. I crave ice cream. I devour cookies. I snarf down brownies. I can't pass up a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. I salivate over Mile High Mud Pie from The Ram. I don't really like berry pie, but I'll eat two pieces anyway. I stash Peppermint Patties in my pantry where only I know where they are.
Getting the picture? I am a sweet-freak with no control.
Er, at least I
was without control. Until January 1, 2009. That was when my journey began. And here we are, February 1st 2009 and so far so good. In december, when I was contemplating what torture I would put myself through for the year 2009 in order to assist the removal of excess baby weight, I thought I would maybe cut off all sweets except one per week. Then I thought I would allow myself some palate-pleasing something-er-other once a month. I thought again about maybe one tiny sweet per day (one Peppermint Patty, perhaps)... I toyed with all the options. But as the new year came closer, it occurred to me that there is no virtue in being thin. In fact, I know that some of the skinniest people on earth eat horribly, and some of the chunkiest eat extremely healthy.
So I opted for virtue: why not reign in this area of my life - that is FOOD - and start gaining control. As in self-control. As in, "No, I don't have to grab a handful of chocolate chips every time I venture to the panty." As in, "Yes, I can bake a batch of cookies and only eat a few over the many days the batch hangs around." As in, "It may not feel like it now, but this is not the only sweet thing that will come across my path this month or week or day or hour. There will be other opportunities to eat a sweet...I don't have to take
this one."
Now I am a recovering sweet freak. I suppose I will always want to endulge, but I am hoping that I won't always take the gluttenous road. I am hoping that this is an area I can experience great victory in over the entire year.
Wanna know my tricks?
1. My sister, who was an amazing example last year, showing me what self-control looks like and talking with me about it openly and honestly, even while I was shoving my face with every M&M in sight.
2. Pledging to drink a tall glass of water every time I craved. It's amazing how many times I misread my body, thinking that my need for sweet food is actually thirst.
3. Finding a few healthy things that satisfy the cravings. Vanilla yogurt with mueslix or raisens mixed in; cranberries; prunes (but only a few!!); popcorn sprinkled with water & salt (water makes the salt stick).
4. Remembering something Davis said when he was all of four years old: "Mom, I don't like to eat sweets because whenever I eat them
it only makes me want more and more!"
I needed to borrow my Dad's Expedition for a couple of days while our van was in the repair shop. They are out of town so I took the liberty. I grabbed the keys from their kitchen counter and grabbed from a Costco-sized bag THE BIGGEST HANDFUL of M&Ms I could. Not being able to drive their unfamiliar big rig with only one hand, I looked for some place to set my copious number of candy-coated chocolates. Finding nothing ideal, I carefully placed them on the center consul and slowly, ever-so-slowly, drove off. Though my pile was large, I really did not want to lose even one. 
