JANUARY 2023: Let’s talk about cravings

I’ve overcome a few cravings in my past, but I seem to develop new ones. It reminds me of that carnival game, Whac-A-Mole. Those groundhog heads keep popping up as fast as we can hit them down! I’m beginning to wonder if we are always meant to crave something. What do you think about this idea?

I am content with three meals a day and a morning recess snack and an after-school snack. I’ve never been an evening snacker. If you’re keeping count, that’s five times a day that I eat. Mostly, a healthy something. But, these days, I really crave chocolate. At lunchtime, specifically.

Why do I love it so much?

Dark chocolate is my favourite and if it’s with nuts, I can barely control myself. Chocolate has become its own ‘food group’ in my life! I crave it everyday and give into the craving.

In the 80’s, I saw this saying on a T-shirt: “Life’s uncertain, eat dessert first” and I have embraced this philosophy in my own life. The time has come to re-think it when it comes to chocolate. It’s not an appetizer.

I’m remembering now that my mom used to eat a whole chocolate bar after lunch each day. Occasionally, I’ll eat the whole thing to honour her (smirk). More often, I eat a chocolate bar over two days. Way too many calories!

Extra weight is creeping onto my body. The day after the last time I weighed this much, I went into labour and pushed out my first-born! He weighed 8 lb 10 ounces, and I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within five days! Although I don’t have my periods anymore, no baby will appear to save me at this age!

I exercise more to offset my intake of chocolate. A friend reminds me that “You can’t outrun your fork” and I understand what she’s trying to tell me, even though I don’t use a fork to eat my chocolate.

The burning question is: do I try to modify or eliminate this food group? I’m struggling to reduce the serving size, but it seems cruel to eliminate it entirely. Tell me what you do?

Shonda Rhimes wrote about saying ’yes’ to her body in Year of YES: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person. She captures how thrilled she is to be able to do more as her weight reduces. I am re-reading it to inspire myself.

We are curating new courses from other people in 2023. If you know an expert who’s interested in offering a course online, please introduce them to me? I’d like to find out more about their area of expertise to see if it’s a good fit for our boutique site.

Thanks for reading my lingering thoughts. I look forward to sharing more with you in the future. Please visit my new website and passion project, Grow at Your Pace to find out about the other things that I’m creating.

Do you want to learn how to curate and host a fantastic series to raise your profile?

After curating Spoken Lives for 7 years, I want to share the business layer of having your own series. I have developed an online course to teach others how to Plan, Launch and Earn with their own Speaker or Storytelling Series. Sharing our stories can be a powerful way to heal ourselves and others.

I’ll be launching this course, Your Applause Academy from Grow At Your Pace, soon and sending out a notice so you will be the first to know about this important step in my new journey.

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