CHOCOLATE!

     "Anything is good if it's made of chocolate." -- Jo Brand

     I MUST HAVE CHOCOLATE AND I MUST HAVE IT RIGHT NOW OR I'M GOING TO DO SOMETHING POSITIVELY FRIGHTENING!  That's a direct quote from little ol' me, uttered not too long ago.  And, ladies, you know the feeling, don't you?  Gentlemen, nothing personal, but you have no idea what we're talking about, so go on outside with your bad selves and prune a tree or paint something.  Go on.

     Even if we believe that cravings are all in our heads, it doesn't mean they're not real.  Very real.  There's isn't a single one of us, I'll bet, who hasn't awakened from some other dimension standing in front of the refrigerator holding an empty Ben & Jerry's container and a sticky spoon.  And feeling absolutely awful -- not just uncomfortably full but disgusted with ourselves, our bodies, and our lack of control.  And sometimes don't we let that awful feeling linger through the next day or even the rest of the week?  NO FOOD IS WORTH THAT!

     Why does it happen?  Cravings can be your body's way of crying out for additional calories if you're dieting too stringently, or for carbohydrates if you haven't fueled up sufficiently to get through your day, or they can be the result of wacky hormones.  Whatever the reason, they are often DISTRACTING and DEMANDING and NEED TO BE FED.  NOW.  After falling victim to those distracting demands on many occasions, I've finally learned something that has saved me more than once.  It's okay.  Yes, you heard right.  I believe it's okay to really, really want some chocolate and to go ahead and have some chocolate.  The house will still be standing and your children will still be tucked away safely in their rooms.  Now, I'm not talking about eating an entire family-size bag of M&Ms or a ten-pound Hershey bar (though there's a time and a place for everything).  I'm talking about enjoying a handful of M&Ms or a couple of squares of really incredible dark chocolate or whatever it takes to satisfy your craving.  Because I think you'll find, as I did, that if you go ahead and -- heaven forbid! -- give in to the craving, you can get back to being a sane and productive member of the community.

     Bet let's not kid ourselves.  Every once in a while, whether it's monthly, semi-annually, or holiday-induced, we just have to eat that whole bag of M&Ms, don't we?  I know I do.  And most of the time, I can tell when it's about to happen, and I suppose I could pretend that I have some small measure of control over it, but the fact of the matter is, I am sometimes weak.  And that's okay too.  Not on a daily basis, but occasionally.  Because, for the most part, I think I do a pretty respectable job of keeping a lid on things, and I bet you do too.  So the next time WE HAVE TO HAVE THAT CHOCOLATE, let's HAVE that chocolate, enjoy it thoroughly, and get back to business.  It's okay!

     How do you handle your cravings?  Don't forget to leave a comment!  (Look for the instructions in red at the end of the articles.)