My name is Marie Carlson, and I’m an ice cream addict.

I’m not a terribly unhealthy person…since my experiment with vegetarianism, I’ve been paying extra attention to the nutrients I put into my body. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, I take my vitamins, and I try not to over-eat. So, why have I gained weight this summer?

Ice cream.

I thought the problem was just because I work at a Dairy Queen but due to an unfortunate illness, I haven’t worked in over a month. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped eating ice cream, I just have to buy it at the store. Tragic, I know.

I’ve tried cutting down on ice cream…everything is good in moderation, right? Sure. Except that I can’t just eat a bite or a scoop of ice cream. It’s my ultimate weakness, so I lose control. It’s kind of pathetic, really: I finish my dinner and even if I’m content with my meal, I have to eat a bowl of chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of articles on weight loss tips (with a focus on how to curb cravings) and instead of just absorbing the information I’ve started applying it.

First, I binge-ate the rest of the ice cream that was in my freezer and vowed not to buy more for a long, long time. Probably not a good start but I knew if it was in there it would tempt me. I realized that not having ice cream just meant that I would start looking for other forms of chocolate/sweets to eat after dinner…so I started taking Magnesium supplements, because I read that usually when you crave chocolate, it’s due to a Magnesium deficiency. That helped a little, but it could just all be in my head.

Now, I’ve re-vamped my whole eating routine. I used to eat a decent-sized breakfast, a light lunch, and a big dinner. But for the last few days, I’ve been eating larger meals in the morning and afternoon, and a smaller meal in the evening. That way, my body can burn off the larger meals before bed. And again, I’m still focusing on eating healthy meals, fewer carbs, and very few preservatives.

For some reason, focusing on my meals has led me to focus less on my ice cream cravings. I haven’t eaten ice cream in five days and I may have been off to a rocky start, but the last three days (since re-vamping my meals), I’ve actually been able to control my cravings. I don’t feel quite as upset (yes, upset) about not eating ice cream.

So, we’ll see where this goes. I’m finally hopeful for my recovery. Any encouraging notes would be appreciated. 🙂