I love sweets. Always have. Apparently a tad more than others. Ok, so it’s more like an obsession I guess. I’ve always loved sugary treats-donuts, brownies, candy, ice cream, cake, cupcakes, frosting right out of the can even. I’m not particularly discriminating when it comes to sugar. Anyone who spends time with me has quickly learned that bribes involved baked goods are about 100% effective with me. Geoff can get me to agree to pretty much anything with the promise of a trip to the land of “hot, fresh, now” (that’s when the Krispy Kreme glazed donuts are just out of the oven, a sign lights up announcing the donuts are hot & fresh, right now!).
Recently, my mom wanted to try some kind of fat belly diet, which seemed like a good idea since I was starting to feel a bit frumpy. We did the diet together for a week, and then just kind of kept going, eating healthy for the first time (ever, to be perfectly honest). My one concern was dealing with the chocolate & sweets cravings, which has always been my downfall. I’d been doing ok but knew that sooner or later, I’d have a breakdown (usually near the bakery section at the grocery store, where the donuts are usually stale but I eat them anyways). I’d read on Yelp about someone addressing their chocolate cravings with acupuncture, so I thought I’d give it a try. I was already off to a great start, having had only 4 desserts in the span of 4 weeks (typically I’d need at least 1 sugary treat per day, minimum). However, this was due to extreme will power on my part, I was still experiencing daily cravings.
This was my first experience with acupuncture. The accupuncturist talked with me about the cravings for at least 30 minutes. I admitted to her & later my family, that my cravings are usually more like fantasies that can last for an hour or several. These fantasies are actually quite disruptive to my ability to focus & concentrate, as I might image various types of pie, and how delicious each different flavor might be, or going to Mrs Fields to get a frosted cookie (the cookie itself isn’t enough sugar, I really prefer it to be covered in butter cream frosting) and then a dozen nibblers to go with it. Unfortunately, the nearest Mrs Fields is at a mall about 20 minutes away, and so I have to have a fairly good reason to go there.
There more I began talking about the issue, I began to realize that it’s really quite a problem that I’ve been covering up & hiding for years. For example, when I worked in non-profits, I used to stop at a donut store every morning on my way to work & get 2 donut bars. However, in order to “save calories” I’d only eat the tops with the frosting. This is actually how I justified having a second donut. Whenever I’d go to any sort of a receptionist office with a candy bowl out, my entire focus became creating some sort of a diversion so I could take more candy than was appropriate. Geoff & I belong to a local photography group, and we often have our meetings at Kevin Chin’s loft. When his wife Nancy gets home, she usually bakes some cookies for the group & leaves the plate in the kitchen after passing it around. Most people don’t even have 1 cookie, but I’d usually grab 2 during the initial round. The rest of the evening I would spend strategizing more trips to the kitchen area-needing to refill my water, trips to the restroom, etc. & grab another cookie each time, well past the point of feeling sick. When I told Kevin about this, he laughed and said that on one occasion he & Nancy had noticed that while we were talking in the kitchen, that I stared at the plate of cookies the entire time, unable to really hear what they were saying.
As I began thinking about the issue more and more, I’ve been able to see patterns of behavior such as these examples, that I actually didn’t really realize weren’t “normal.” I’ve just always assumed that sugary treats are so delicious, it was right to spend hours each day desiring them. Hmm.
THE RESULTS: I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the acupuncture. It didn’t hurt at all, and after putting assorted needles into me, she left me alone for 20 minutes with soft music, candles and low lighting. It was very relaxing actually. But the results have been amazing. It’s like a switch has been flipped off. The cravings and thought patterns were totally gone, and I went into a bakery & few days later & saw all the various baked goods with no concern or urgent need to get something, very different from my past. After about a week, it started to wear off and the cravings came back, but with another treatment, the cravings have not yet returned. It has been been like night & day, I had no idea accunpuncture could be so powerful! Anyways, I thought I’d share my story. Let me know if you would like to get a referral, I’d be happy to pass along.
