Wednesday 11 March 2015

Giving Up One Thing... And Starting Another Habit

There is something that I feel the urgent need to own up to something, like a kid who has snatched several chocolate coins from a bowl while your eyes were focused on the TV and immediately feels guilty afterwards. I feel as though something very heavy is leaning uncomfortably on my chest, blocking all airways as I try to leap over the hurdles that red-handed, no-doubt-who-did-it guilt plays on my conscience. 

The problem? Ever since I gave up my beloved chocolate - produced from the finest-tasting beans in the world which, unlike the hideous-looking red kidney beans, aren't pumped with protein or blood pressure-raising levels of fibre - three weeks ago, I've been hoping to give my body a break from treats. By 'treats', I don't mean the fish-flavoured ones that my four cats happily devour every day, assuming that Felix biscuits are as much of a right as sleeping in class is (which, ever since education was created, is definitely a major no-no)! For humans anyway, biscuits, cakes and occasionally sweets are what I would classify as treats because, unlike the several portions of fruit and vegetables that I consume each day, they are supposed to be in small quantities and eaten every now and then. 

Reading this, you would think that abstaining from all things sweet for most of the time is a straightforward affair, undoubtedly easier than bluffing your way through a Biology exam, but that merely highlights an error in your judgement: you are wrong. Hear the sirens screeching louder than a rejected X Factor contestant's voice in the background? That just reiterates my point - steering clear of what was created with the purpose of tempting you is far from easy work!

Also, I suppose that we are more vulnerable to such sweet things when we have given up something, albeit not necessarily a product that falls into the treats category, because we feel a bit emptier than usual. And guess what? If we feed our vulnerability, one terrible thing happens: an addiction is formed. 

Ugh, I can't begin to point how determined I was to make Lent a more positive occasion, instead of whinging about the many branded chocolate-flavoured biscuits that I cannot touch, sniff, nibble and eat for another three-and-a-half weeks, but something more sinister ruined my golden opportunity. The beast? None other than Jammie Dodgers - a jam-flavoured biscuit that, until now, I had hardly ever placed in my mouth (which, during periods of manic hunger, I use as a somewhat invalid excuse to make up an entire childhood's worth of packets for) - and fig rolls, along with a few wine gums added to the mixture! 

Usually, you can guarantee that I will turn my nose up at any processed biscuits that you encounter in the supermarket aisles because a) they are often expensive, b) the longer-than-a-supermodel's-legs list of ingredients is not only a massive pain to read but contains many words which I don't feel comfortable about consuming and c) homemade always taste better. Hence why I would dive into a tub of freshly made gingersnaps whenever I bothered to devote a Saturday morning to making them - the shop-bought variety aren't worth a second glance!

However, curiosity - and the remains of my longing for chocolate - tricked me into trying these biscuits several weeks ago. Might as well give it a go, I absent-mindedly thought, assuming that I would either spit the mouthful out or stay as far away as possible from the packet afterwards. Before I knew it, I literally formed an allegiance to what would soon become an empty-packet of biscuits (who, by the way, were finished off by my brother - not even a bag of Haribos can truly be mine!). 

Like lust, I am hopeful that my new-found passion for biscuits and occasionally wine gums/fizzy Haribo sweets (whose name I can never be bothered to remember) will subside once Lent draws to an end, which I'm relieved to declare is now less than a month away. I'm really unsure on how much longer I can rely on fig rolls to sooth my chocolate cravings because, believe or not, I get bored rather easily! 

So, how would I describe my so-called 'detox'? Up until now, pretty good with plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts and protein, though Jammie Dodgers have literally created a food group of their own. Definitely feeling purer and lighter than ever!

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