Death by Chocolate

In the last week I've consumed more sweets than in the past several months combined. I have attended two separate Thanksgiving dinners, one UCF football game, one birthday/anniversary party, one baptism brunch and one book club meeting, where I've eaten pumpkin pie, pecan pie, trifle, pumpkin cake, red velvet cake, vanilla cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, egg nog ice cream, a vanilla ice cream bar, berry tart, chocolate drop cookies and shortbread. Usually I've taken much more than a moderate serving, and had leftovers on other days besides.

I expected that the holidays would introduce more than the usual calories and sugar to my diet; what I didn't anticipate was just how many desserts would be available, and how low my threshold of self-control would be. Being pregnant, I'm hungry constantly, and dessert beckons at every turn. My pregnancy weight gain so far has been on a healthy track, but the week-long binge does not bode well for my next appointment on Monday. I'm not particularly looking forward to stepping on the scale.

Last night I laid awake, guilt-ridden and vowing to throw out the remaining ice cream, pie and cookies and replace them with fresh fruit and vegetables. During this time of year, and with the abundance we have at our disposal, it seems there's always a reason to celebrate something with a sugary confection. Most of the year, I don't allow myself to purchase ice cream or cookies, and I rarely bake desserts. It should be clear why these measures are necessary for me, given this past week's track record.

No, I haven't yet thrown out the remaining desserts in the house.