An evil addiction that seems to take control of my body and force me to indulge in bad behavior despite my conscious efforts to subscribe to a life contrary.
A craving that finds me sneaking out in the middle of the night sometimes to quiet that inner voice... the one that whispers darkly...
"Chocolate... cookies... candy... ice cream...
SUGAR!! GIVE ME SUGAR!!!"
OK, so maybe likening my sugar cravings to Dexter's bloodthirsty dark passenger is a bit over-dramatic, but I really feel sometimes like I have a little angel on one shoulder guiding me towards Whole Foods, and a little devil on the other taunting me with the fact that there's a Dairy Queen open till 2 a.m. just down the street from my new house.
Seriously, though, I have been striving increasingly over the last few years to embrace a healthy lifestyle - buying organic as much as I can afford, eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and avoiding processed foods and ingredients I can't pronounce. But every now and then I am overcome with an overwhelming desire for sweets - especially chocolate - and I never seem to be satisfied by a little taste.
Once I start, I tend to continue binging on whatever treat is in front of me until I feel physically nauseated or just disgusted with myself. I've been known to down whole tubes of raw chocolate chip cookie dough before ever getting to bake a single cookie. Just this evening, after doing my weekly grocery shopping and coming home with all of these wonderfully healthy items...
And ended up eating these not-so-healthy items (but man, they were soooo yummy - pretzels, Oreos, and potato chips dipped in chocolate!)...
I know sugar leads to a host of health problems (including quite possibly this annoying mystery forehead rash that keeps coming and going - more on that sometime later) - not just obesity and diabetes, but, as more recent research suggests, even heart problems, inflammation and brain impairment! I definitely feel the difference the next day at the gym when I'm dragging because I ate a ton of candy the night before instead of fruits for dessert.
I truly enjoy eating healthy, and I feel so good when I do. There are so many delightful healthy dishes that I love to cook and love eating even more, so why do I still get and give into those cravings when I know they are so bad for me? It's an ongoing battle, and I eat much healthier most of the time than I used to, but sometimes I swear it's an alter ego taking over and reaching for that bag of M&Ms, not Heather.
I try not to keep unhealthy foods in the house, as I have no capability to ration them into reasonable portions and end up gobbling them up all at once, but I still end up making special trips to satisfy a craving when a piece of fruit won't curb the urge for sweets.
If anyone has any suggestions for how to kick the sugar habit, please let me know!
I guess it's justified that I indulged in these sweet, fattening treats today, of all days - it is, after all, National Dessert Day! Isn't there always an excuse? ;)
What's YOUR dark passenger? Is it a sweet tooth like mine, or (gulp) something worse? Maybe I shouldn't ask... feel free to comment anonymously if your comment is more Dexter than Willy Wonka.
