Craving Something Sweet?

A few weeks ago, I was feeling somewhat under the weather.  In this “pandemic” situation, it is not good to tell anyone that you aren’t feeling well, but I woke up with a sore throat, achy ears, and a bit of a headache.  This is the type of day when my eating habits are challenged the most. 

I know for a fact that I am an “emotional” and “habitual” eater, and while I have made great strides over the past couple of years in my health journey, when things in my life become overwhelming or if I am not feeling well, I tend to reach back to my old habits.  And my fallback is always something sweet. In this case, I had a bowl of chicken soup (100% legal and nourishing), but I was still left with that sweet craving. 

In my head I went through everything that I have in my cupboards but I didn’t come up with anything interesting.  Then, of course, my brain told me that the grocery store was open and that it is just a 2 minute drive (or a 10 minute walk if I was so inclined) and, if I ventured out, I would have unlimited access to anything sweet that I wanted.  However, none of it would be “legal” (on program) for me and I would end up setting back my week before I even started it.

Then I remembered that I had some “Stevita Cocoa Delight” in my cupboard.  100% legal for me with just 3 ingredients – cocoa powder, stevia extract, and vanilla flavour (from vanilla beans).  Add a couple of teaspoons to some hot water et voilà! – I have chocolate in a mug.  The hot chocolate has a nice, rich chocolate taste, and by the time I finished the cup, my brain was satisfied.  The best part was that it only ended up costing me 11 calories and 0 side effects.

Win-win for me! I hope that you can find something that fits within your eating restrictions to help you get through this type of situation on challenging days!