Sugar. And Chocolate. The New Gateway Drugs.

So we're about through with the first month of 2012 - 2012 being the year I really focus on cleaning up my act nutrition-wise. It's not that I've always eaten badly (compared to a vast swath of America, my diet is probably A-OK), but there's always room for improvement. Let's start with the bad - the really, really bad. My insatiable sweet tooth. If it is covered in chocolate, I will eat it - not only will I eat it, I will crave it - and I won't eat it in small quantities either. Let's not count the number bags of chocolate chips I've gone through this year... Soooo, cat is out of the bag - I'm still enjoying sweets in 2012, for now at least. I'm worried that if I start denying myself certain foods now, I'll be so tired of a rigid diet come April that I will just crack and go wild. Closer to race season/the A-races, the level of consumption will have to go down, otherwise I will be in trouble. This is going to take a lot of self-control on my part and Mr. Sweetie (my husband's new moniker on this blog) will probably have to go all TSA on me and search my purse for bags of chocolate before I enter the house. I'm actually searching for recipes that will be a suitable replacement for all things chocolate so I will have something to fall back on when my sweet tooth calls - I would love to hear any recommendations. I actually found a yummy apple/cranberry pudding dessert that has no added sugar and is super easy to make.

Then there is cheese. And bread. I usually go straight for these things in the evenings when I get home from work (the hour between getting home from work and sitting down to dinner is definitely my weakest time of day). I've done a decent job at limiting my consumption of cheese and crackers/baguettes to the weekend and, even then, not going overboard. Moderation. I've also been trying to replace these sorts of things with bananas with almond butter or apples with cinnamon when the urge to snack strikes.

I've been baking alot, but most of what I bake gets given away, so I don't think the baking is much of a problem.

The real challenge this year will be when race season arrives. I'm throwing this out there in an attempt to garner some peer pressure - the diet will be cleaned up FOR REAL come April. What does this mean? It means fruits, vegetables, whole grains. No processed foods. I want to say "no recreational sugar" from April until after Ironman July 22nd but that is a tall order. However, it seems like a waste to be putting all this effort into swimbikerun and strength training and getting enough sleep and to only commit to 90% healthy eating. Maybe just no recreational sugar in July. I know it is all about balance and it's probably doubtful that a little bit of recreational sugar will wreck my race. But I also know that if I give myself an inch, I'll take a mile. It's all or nothing. Once I start down that slippery slope of one Lindt chocolate, suddenly my desk at work will be covered in colorful wrappers in the span of 10 minutes (you think I kid - just ask my co-worker two doors down whose candy jar I raided yesterday).

If anyone out there has any hints at all about conquering sweets cravings, I am all ears.