Confessions of a reformed (well…almost) chocaholic

Once upon a time, I’d have a daily hot date with the vending machine on the second floor.

The Twirl and the Twix were my nemeses.

I held a genuine belief that in some significant way they helped me get through the afternoons at work.

I’d read yet another idealistic ‘All I want to eat is food that nourishes my body’ article.

I just refused to believe the day would ever come when I didn’t want to stuff my face with a whole box of Miniature Heroes.

Another article with an interview with a glowing, slimmed-down goddess. ‘Now I’ve started eating right and I’m much fitter, I just don’t fancy any junk any more.’

Right. You’re either deluded, insane or just plain saying bullshit things you think you should be saying.

Then a huge incentive presented itself in my life. The Wedding Dress.

Getting engaged was the catalyst for one of the biggest shifts in my life so far.

I had more motivation than ever to reign in the chocaholic behaviour and get involved with a new way of eating and exercising.

I joined a brilliant gym, made some pretty drastic changes to meal choices and portion sizes and pretty fast there was less of my legs, hips and arse to pinch when I was laying down. (Might sound weird…but this was one of my ‘is this actually working?’ barometers.)

I can’t remember exactly when things started to change, but it actually happened.

The thing I’d thought was completely fabricated by fit and healthy lunatics.

I genuinely didn’t fancy any rubbish.

My taste buds underwent a personality transplant.

I craved mental things like avocado, broccoli and brown rice.  I began to resent eating out in restaurants that served what had begun to feel like junk.

I loved how I felt. I loved waking up earlier and feeling more energetic. I loved being able to accomplish more every single day. I loved feeling better about my (still much to be improved) body and how it looked in clothes. I still sucked my tummy in 24/7, but I was a work in progress.

It was unbelievable to me that this had happened, when I’d been a committed daily chocolate consumer for pretty much my entire life.

But girls, it was real. And it was good.

If you’re a cynic about all this, I’d recommend giving it a bash.

It feels like an un-achievable thing, I know. I felt that too.

But if you wish you could effortlessly replace that afternoon/evening/breakfast chocolate fix with a handful of nuts (don’t worry….I thought that was about as likely as my sleep thief baby sleeping through the night at one time) then you owe it to yourself to at least try.

After a few weeks…maybe a little longer…of sticking to a regular fitness regime and better eating, you will notice a big difference in what you want to eat. Your body begins to communicate with you by telling you that you fancy foods that will nourish it.

I still enjoy the odd bit of chocolate. But when I say odd, I mean that it’s almost August and there are still Easter eggs in the cupboard.

It just doesn’t taste like it used to.

Funny how that works……