I can hear shrieks of “The world is coming to an end!” and “We’re doomed!”, and like you I understand the gravity of the situation and recognize its serious implications, but I assure you there’s no need to worry. This is not permanent, and I fully intend to resume my duties as a chocoholic and connoisseur of all things sweet in a couple of weeks’ time. I have done this before, albeit it being for 10 days, and everything turned out fine.
I have not been blackmailed or challenged or threatened at gunpoint; no, I have simply realised that my chocolate consumption – which has increased in the last couple of months due to all the stress at work – has caused me to gain a few undesirable pounds that I would really like to lose.
Today I will treat myself to one last bar of chocolate before my self-imposed ban, but after that there will be no more Oreo, Cadbury, Mars, Snickers, Maltesers, Lindt, Nutella, chocolate creams, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pudding, chocolate drops, brownies, cakes, the yummy desserts I had a few days ago… okay so maybe it was a bad idea to list all these things because my mouth is watering already.
Thankfully we purchased a treadmill two days ago, and I’m hoping the exercise will help me drop those pounds extra quickly. This ban will last for two or three weeks and will be the longest I’ve stayed without any chocolate. To compensate for my loss I will treat myself to dates, nuts, low-fat fruit yoghurt and crisps, and maybe the occasional cracker. No more late-night dinners or snacks, and I definitely have to cut down on my 5-6 spoonfuls of sugar per coffee/tea mug.
These will be a rough few weeks and will probably do nothing for the Writer’s Block I’m currently going through, but I will persevere! I’m making this public so you can all hold me to my decision and shame me if I ever break it, and I trust you to do that. =D
In the mean time, have you ever banned yourself from chocolate or any other thing you like (it doesn’t have to be food)? How did you manage? How can you suggest any fat-free snacks for me? Do you think I’ll survive?
Zen Scribbles 
Zen; you and you alone knows what is best for you, and nobody should shame you for that. However, with that said, you should never be unhappy with who you are. If you believe you need to ban yourself from Ambrosia (sometimes referred to as that gorgeously delicious stuff), then that is purely your prerogative.
In my case, I didn’t go on a total ‘ban’ per se. Instead of having a couple chocolates per day, I limited myself to one, and continued this whilst maintaining vigorous exercise to ensure I became incredibly muscular. HA! I wish. All jokes aside, that strategy sufficiently worked. After two weeks I dropped a good few kilograms (I won’t state how many because it’s quite the scary figure) 😀
As for fat free snacks, you could always try dry biscuits?
My thoughts exactly. I don’t really care what others think, and I’m just doing this for me. =] And it’s good to hear that the strategy worked for you; this means my chocolate ban won’t be in vain.
Dry biscuits? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of those..
I’ll admit the title did cause some palpitations. 😉
I suppose some restraint in our life’s passion can be good thing… as long as it’s not permanent.
Oh dear, sorry about that! I guess I should’ve toned down the title a bit, haha.
And no worries – it’s definitely not permanent. I’ll go back to it as soon as I’m happy with myself again. 😉
I gave up chocolate once for 6 months and I have been debating doing it again. There is something cleansing about acknowledging our little “addictions” isn’t there.
Oh my goodness, six months? However did you manage? I would’ve succumbed to temptation within a month!
It wasn’t easy – from Halloween to May Day and the holidays were very difficult. Surprised that after a few months I really didn’t find myself missing it so much. Of course on the 6 month day all my friends buried me in chocolate so I got right back on the bandwagon. 🙂
Definitely the worst months for a self-imposed chocolate ban! You have good friends; that’s what anyone should do after six months. 😉
I’m currently on a self-imposed tomato ban. Admittedly, this is because tomatoes make my stomach hurt, but it’s still really hard to do. Tomatoes are in tons of delicious things that you don’t even think about until you can’t eat them — pasta, pizza, ketchup, bbq sauce … etc. There are obviously ways to compensate, usually by substituting some sort of cream/garlic sauce, but if I’m lactose intolerant like my mother claims … I don’t know what I’m going to do, lol.
You know, at first I wondered what’s so bad about a tomato ban, but once you listed those things… I totally understand why it would suck. D= I don’t think I could make do without tomatoes; ketchup is one of my favourite condiments. Good luck!
I am proud of you — better you than me though
Haha, thanks! It’s always better when it’s other people. 😉
It is – if I give up something significant I will let you know so you can gloat
I will keep an eye out for that! 😉
You’re a better woman than me! I enjoy my daily chocolate treat, but when I see a couple pounds creep on, what I let go is the bread. I don’t eat a lot of bread, but the market down the street has the yummiest, naughtiest bread, and I like to get it to accompany dinner sometimes. And I know that’s the culprit, because when I stop buying it for a while, those extra pounds go away. And then my brain forgets, and I buy it again…
Ooh, bread is delish! I too crumble at the sight (and smell) of bread, so I don’t blame you. You reminded me that I would have to cut down on it if I want to drop those pounds. So much carbs. =[
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Anything but chocolate… You have just become my superhero because this is such an amazing and difficult feat! 😀
I expected such reactions, but never superhero status! Thank you, Dianne, that made me laugh. Day 1 is okay so far – no withdrawals yet!
5 to 6 spoonfuls of sugar per cup of tea or coffee? I say cut that out and keep the chocolate!
I can’t. D= I don’t enjoy my tea or coffee unless they’re very sweet. I have been told I should try to find some sugar substitute.
They make some good ones now.
You can try honey for the tea. =)
Doesn’t that contain more calories than sugar though?
Honey has lots of health benefits as opposed to sugar, and you need less of it to make it just as sweet.
Fair enough! I’ll be sure to try it today, thanks. 😀
I would be selective, sticking with the good stuff and having one or two in the weekend, as a reward. No bread and sugar should be more than enough. Chocolate addiction is something new to me but I am not at risk since my taste buds are very demanding and where I live I can’t get those I truly and only enjoy. Think active, especially walking – the best exercise for body and mind. If I stop dancing, for instance, I can starve to death and still gain extra pounds.
Well that’s what I’m planning to do after I lift the ban. I just thought quitting for a couple of weeks would speed up the weight loss process. =] I’m watching my calorie intake these days (1200 calories per day) and doing an hour of fast walking on the treadmill every day. I’m pleased to say that there have been great results!
I know exactly how you’re feeling. Starting tomorrow, I am eating more healthy and cutting down massively on snacking in work. It’s just getting too much, and these extra pounds…well, I need to get rid of them! I had a stint of running every other day for a few weeks at the start of the year, got ill and stopped! So, I’m going to try to get some motivation to start it again this week (using the Zombie Run! app on my phone.) Who needs chocolate, anyway? (Cue Apu singing the last bit of ‘Who Needs The Quick-E-Mart)
How’s that going for you now? =D I’ve been sticking to my diet and so far have lost around 7 pounds. Not bad for less than a week! I can sympathize with you about the running thing… I’m so unfit it’s almost ridiculous.
… and I do. I need chocolate. I’m going through withdrawals! =[
Well, was going well yesterday. Fruit instead of chocolate in work, salad instead of something and chips. Then, in work, I had the two guys (also on healthy eating kicks) sitting there torturing me by going “you should have a burger. Are you having a burger for tea? A big, fat, juicy burger…”
Evil! But Mum’s doing sausages + veg so no burgers for me, no matter how much they got to me!
I know how you feel about withdrawal. Chocolate always seems to perk me up in work, and I felt tired as hell today!
That’s pretty mean of them! Though you know you could have homemade burgers; they usually have less calories.
And I totally understand what you mean about chocolate – nothing makes me feel better than a large caramel bar. yum.
They keep saying they’re mentally strengthening me. But we have a laugh, when they’re not being cruel. I don’t usually have burgers at home, but there’s a Burger King near work which I’ve stopped going to as much, way before the health kick anyway. But I did forget how much I enjoyed salad, and I’ve managed so far not to snack in work unless it’s fruit or a breakfast bar. It’s going all right, just looking forward to when I feel a bit better about myself and can think I can occasionally treat myself to something a bit less healthy 😛
You know, there’s a McDonald’s next to my place of work, and I loved going there for fries. Then I discovered the amount of calories in them – oh dear. And salad is delicious! My current favourite is tuna salad. And I look forward to that time too. 😀
admitted we were powerless of chocolate & that our lives had become unmanageable –
quitting and staying are two different things – but both are possible
Almost a week later, I’m still going strong. It’s possible to quit, but it’s pretty unbearable. =[
Just don’t forget, that for women, it takes twice as long to lose weight as it did for us to gain it. So don’t be too hard on yourself. 😀
Well, in less than a week I’ve lost around 7.7 pounds, so I believe I’m doing quite well, don’t you think? 😉
Oh my gosh that’s awesome! 😀
You’ll survive.. but, as to the quality of that survival, I can’t speak. 😛 I’m a huge proponent of “everything in moderation.” So, get your time on your treadmill, and still let yourself indulge on a snickers bar from time to time… because, well, it satisfies! 😉 Yummy snacks – grapes and strawberries have always been easy (and delicious) things to grab out of the fridge. You can also go for pretzels (that aren’t too salty) or celery sticks dipped into peanut butter too. (Or an apple dipped in peanut butter for that matter.) Best of luck! (Though I can see you say you’ve already lost 7.7 pounds, so I don’t think you need any luck – seems like you are doing fantastic already.)
Well I’m still being firm about it. No chocolate for nearly ten days then. I’ve just about broken my past record, haha. I have some chocolate and candy coming in the mail soon, so I’m sorta “saving up” for those. That said, those snacks you suggested sound good! Pity grapes are not in season yet. Also, make that 8.5 pounds today, but thank you! 😉
Hooray! Great Job!
Just about strawberry season here. I live near the fields and I can see them starting to come in. Yum!