Sweet Tooth

People often remark that they think I'm "so disciplined." I'll admit, I have my strengths and I might have a hard time missing a day at the gym, but I am also a closet (well, I guess not anymore) sweet food addict. I have tried to stop this habit and even gone so far as to put some major wagers on it and even refusing to purchase anything with chocolate or sugar in it. But, I always succumb in the end to this unforgiving addiction. If you had asked me 6 months ago if I was the worst person I knew when it came to sweets, I would have answered an emphatic, "yes!" But, I met my match in my friend, Rachel. Without divulging her skeletons too much, this girl would truly put me to shame with any pan of brownies, batch of cookies, ice cream or any other delectable treat. So, we made a pact as of February 3rd (Super Bowl day, mind you) to not eat another treat until March 1st. When consulting our husbands about our plan, her husband literally laughed out loud and said, "Even if you swore to me at end of the month you hadn't eaten any treats, I still would never believe you- it's impossible." I might also mention that she is hypoglycemic (her body craves sugar in ways that normal people's don't and this sometimes translates into her eating spoonfuls of sugar just to get a "fix"). Anyway, we decided that we were going to do it, with or without the confidence of our hubbies. So, it began on February 3rd and ended only yesterday. We had more than a few phone calls to each other in moments of weakness and let me say that it was a lloooonnnngg month, but WE MADE IT!!! No chocolate, no candy, no cheesecake bars (our fave), cookies, cupcakes- NOTHING. And, to make things even more official, I even swore off any food that had any sugar or corn syrup in the ingredients during that last week. This is a lot more difficult than one might think. Just check your bread, salad dressing, mayo, crackers, etc.. And, so, yesterday, I enjoyed 3 chocolate chip cookies, a donut hole, a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream with hot fudge, and a few handfuls of chocolate chips. And, I thought this a pretty good day considering I definitely had the potential to binge. No, I'm not going to go straight back to where I was- the inescapable life of a sugar addict. My tolerance for incalculable amounts of sugar is definitely a lot lower as I discovered tonight when Rachel and her husband treated us to homemade crepes, but I have resolved to be stronger and now I know I can do it. I didn't go a whole month of passing up peanut butter bars, ice cream with all the fixings, iced sugar cookies, funfetti cake truffles, Ghiradelli brownies, and my favorite chocolate cookies to go right back to where I was. And, so for all you sugar addicts out there- it can be done. Because if I can do it, anyone can.