The Chocolate Wars

Welcome to the post in which I tell the (not at all) heartbreaking tale of how I bid a temporary farewell to one of the loves of my life: chocolate.

Keep your jelly beans, your saltwater taffy, your gummy worms. In my book, any candy that isn't chocolate really isn't worth it. And those others certainly don't have dark chocolate's benefits, which include heart-healthy flavanols, improved cholesterol profiles, and the release of mood-boosting endorphins. (Granted, some of those studies were observational, but chocolate has been spreading good vibes since the days of the Mayans, so it has definitely outlived the "health fad" stage.)

As they say, however, too much of a good thing... Well, I don't exactly know how the rest of the saying goes, but I'm sure it's cautionary in nature.

I had noticed as of late that my chocolate consumption was on the increase. I won't say by how much, but I considered getting a t-shirt that reads "Chocolate is My Emotional Support Animal." What better time to test my resolve by committing to a chocolate-free week? As fate would have it (and I blame the Mayan gods for this one), the week coincided with me breaking a tooth and needing to have it pulled.

Perhaps this goes without saying, but I didn't really feel like eating much of anything those first few days, let alone chocolate. And after that short cold-turkey period, avoiding chocolate still wasn't too difficult. I had to make more conscious choices, such as lemon gelato and peanut butter protein bars, but I was relieved to find that I was able to wrestle my self-control away from chocolate. Without the broken tooth, though, who's to say? So maybe I should credit the Mayan gods instead of blaming them. (No, still blaming them.)

Now that the week is over, I'm back to eating chocolate again, but less of it and more mindfully. I knew going in that this would be a Leave It, because there's no way I'm giving up chocolate forever if I don't have to. But it was a good experiment, and I plan to repeat it from time to time, just to show those Mayan gods who's boss.

Check back on Friday for this week's bonus post! Until then, (chocolate) kisses to all!