No Chocolate Success

Well I did it. No chocolate for 20 some odd LONG days. I did not replase but did have it late the first night that I could have it. YUMM. I'm on a new journey...a new HEALTHY journey. I'm going to give up soft drinks and then progress to no sweet tea or lemonade. This will probably be a true test for me. I'm on day 3 right now and I've only had water and lemonade. Nothing beat a good lemonade on a hot day.

I'm going to bring my stubbornness out...I'm going to succeed. I'm hoping to make small steps in my healthy diet. Like Lance Armstrong stated, "One small step for man, one giant leap for man kind." This is my one small step in my diet....one giant leap to a healthy and skinnier life (so I hope).

Still No Chocolate....

So its been just about 2 weeks without chocolate. I was doing pretty good with not having cravings for a while. Things seemed to be pretty easy. That was until Friday came along and I went to the grocery.

Friday at work I decided that I would eat later in the day. 2pm rolled around and I started to get hungry. Well silly me forgot to pack a lunch and my work day was about to end. We had some granola bars and I figured I would just eat one to hold me over until I got home. Well bad news...all of the granola bars had chocolate in them. Agghhh!!

Later that night, Jason and I decided to eat first (which is usually good b/c you don't tend to buy as much food when you are full) before going to the grocery. So as we are going through the grocery I thought that I would get some Slim Rite drinks. (They are so yummy!) Well I picked up a case and put it in the buggy...looked down and said, "I can't get these." They were chocolate.

At this point...my no chocolate for 20+ day's was getting old. I thought...I could just relapse once and be done. But I am just about half-way through my no chocolate I hate to ruin it now. I wanted to get some diet/protein bars but just about all of them had chocolate in them. I was annoyed. I wasn't so much craving chocolate...I was just frustrated that the foods I wanted to buy had chocolate in them. Vanilla Slim Rites just didn't sound as good.

Not having the cravings has really surprised me. But I understand how some addicts can relapse because their addiction is all around them. OR the thing that they can't have but desire to have is in the front of their mind and it seems to be all around them. Shopping on friday night proved this concept to me. I would be fine with no chocolate if chocolate wasn't around me so much. Can I totally avoid contact (seeing, hearing, smelling chocolate) all of the time? No.

13 days without chocolate...little support from Jason (well he supports me but will rub the fact that he gets to eat chocolate in my face...my thoughts...NOT SUPPORTIVE). This exercise for class is to help me understand what addicts go through. Share what you think...

Updates on No Chocolate

So its officially been 5 days without chocolate. I am surviving! It's actually not been all that difficult. I don't really miss the chocolate cravings until I think that I haven't had chocolate for a while. Throughout all of this...I am happy that I have had no chocolate. I just lean on other sweets...haha!

Maybe if I give up chocolate then I can learn to be more self-discipline and can give up other things...like soft drinks. MAYBE...just maybe!

If you are joining me in the challenge...how are you doing? Are you finding it to be come challenging that you thought? Let me know!

Addictions

Wondering about the title (if you didn't read it, I'm sure you just did!).

Right now just started another course for my masters in social work. I am enrolled in a course about addictions. I just started the course last night. We were challenged to give up one thing for the rest of the class. It could be anything, sugar, coffee, soft drinks, facebook, chocolate, etc. In giving up this item/concept for 20+ days, we are to be thinking about how it would feel to have an addiction.

So for the next 20+ days, I am giving up....CHOCOLATE.

My hopes are to blog about this experience. Starting at midnight last night...I have not had any chocolate today. This is going to be hard for me...I think a difficult struggle at first. This is prime wedding time...no chocolate wedding cake for me. No quit sugar or chocolate fix with a Hersey kiss.

Anyone else want to join in giving up something for the rest of June?

Hope you all (the 2 or 3 that follow) will encourage me and continue to follow.