I'M OFFICIALLY DIVORCED
This may come as a complete shock to you...you may not even know how entrenched I was. But I've officially done it, made up my mind, taken the first step...I've finally gotten a divorce...from sugar!
For as long as I can remember, I've had a complete love affair with anything sweet that begins with D. Dessert...All of it! Brownies, cookies, cake with buttercream icing, ice cream, cream puffs, chocolate, lobster tales, banana bread with chocolate chips (of course), muffins, cupcakes, chocolate cheesecake, and the list goes on.
I could easily polish off a sleeve (or two) of "The Most Stuff," "Mega Stuff," or "Double Stuff" Oreos without a pause. Anything chocolate to me, especially dark chocolate, was reason enough to eat it. At home, especially during this pandemic, if I didn't have any dessert within my reach, I would create my own. One of my go-to's was Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with Almonds with lots of dark chocolate chips mixed in. Sometimes one cup...most often two cups. And when it came to ice cream, I could easily finish off a pint, but most nights, I would try my hardest to only eat half of the Non Dairy Ben & Jerry's "Peanut Butter Half Baked." After all, the calorie count for the entire pint was almost the amount I technically should be eating in a DAY.
I would try to resist my cravings, making wise choices while grocery shopping. Those choices you ask? NOT buying dessert. Because I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that whether it was dairy free and gluten free, or not, I would fully indulge. If I tried to eat just a little bit, the sweet monster in my kitchen would be reminding me of the delicious delights waiting for me.
Now I get it, you may be thinking, "really, this is the big divorce news?" No drama? No crazy stories? Let me clarify...dessert was life for me. I lived for dinners ending so I could finally order chocolate cake topped with ice cream and whipped cream. Was always up for a quick ice cream run to Dairy Queen for mint chocolate chip ice cream with EXTRA (like a separate cup) of chocolate sprinkles so I could continuosly dip my ice cream in sprinkles. Would easily look over the dessert menu prior to ordering a meal at a restaurant. Was very well aware that dessert at brunch buffets and diners always looked way better than they tasted, but filled my plate with sweets anyway. And my eyes were always peeled for the sweet stuff no matter where I was, especially at a birthday party, holiday, and most definitely my mom's homemade desserts!. Now candy didn't really do it for me unless it was a topping to ice cream, so there's that! Sour Patch Kids, Gummy Bears, and Swedish Fish weren't my poison, although Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish are not-so-secretly making my mouth water just thinking about eating them at a Movie Theater.
I grew up in a relatively healthy household. No soda was present and to date, I've only taken one sip in my entire life and spit it out immediately.