Do you like yogurt?
I love yogurt. I love it so much that I recently realized that yogurt is what’s really holding me back from eating properly. It is messing up any healthy eating habits I may otherwise acquire.
No, scratch that. Yogurt is fine. It’ my yogurt parfaits that really get me.
I know it sounds ridiculous. Believe me, I know. But I’m pretty sure I’m addicted. And not the good kind of addicted.
I used to think it was a good kind of addicted. Or at least, that’s what I would tell myself. After all, Greek yogurt is freaking delicious and it’s healthy! Many bloggers would surely agree with me on this one, right Stellina?
But yogurt is fine, actually. The real culprit here are my yogurt concoctions. My amazingly delicious yogurt parfaits. I’m not being humble here clearly but I absolutely love those creations. There are so many different ways to prepare a yogurt parfait, the options are endless.
You may already know how much I love yogurt concoctions from reading my WIAW posts. I love adding a big variety of things to it depending on my mood.
Coconut flour (get a great deal on Coconut flour by clicking here) absorbs the moisture while adding flavor so I am able to add some almond milk or kefir to create more volume and smoothness.
PB2 adds a deliciously peanut buttery flavor and makes it even creamier.
Cocoa powder is one of my most frequent additions because I just adore chocolate.
Then I would top it with a variety of things ranging from cereal to mixed frozen fruit to nut butters. I used to also drizzle with honey until I realized the nut butter + honey combo was a trigger food for me so I use that addition less now but I still manage to find other toppings to include.
[2 minute autumn flavored peanut butter topped on a yogurt concoction]
Fact of the matter is, my yogurt concoctions were pretty intense. There was always a LOT going on in these babies. And I absolutely loved it. I loved it so much I think I developed an actual habit out of eating them.
After much pondering about what it is that holds me back from sticking to regular eating habits; eating the right amounts of food and the right kinds of food; why I don’t eat more veggies; why I love sweet foods so much..
I realized every time I would “mess up” it would be because of a yogurt parfait.
Even though I would make them pretty big… after eating one, I usually felt like I wanted more. They are just so good. And sometimes, even when I knew I was full, I wanted another. And sometimes, I would allow myself another. It’s hard not to, after all, it’s all healthy right?
Not when it’s all you eat though!
You see, in the midst of my yogurt parfait addiction I would think of these concoctions often. I would get intense cravings. I would feel the cravings in my body, like in my very core I felt this longing, this desire, that would be fixated on a yogurt concoction. It would be all I could think about when the craving came about until I could finally satisfy that craving.
And no, it’s not just a craving for yogurt. I’ve tried eating yogurt by itself and that doesn’t do the trick – it has to be the monstrous creation of mine that are yogurt concoctions with all of its additions and topping glory.
There was a day several days where I ate a yogurt concoction for almost every meal. Like a few days ago… I ate it for every single meal. Every. Single. Meal. What the hell? That’s not right. That’s not healthy! But I couldn’t help myself. With the thought in my mind that it’s healthy and full of protein (yay) I tended to omit the fact that it is also full of sugar. Granted, I use plain nonfat yogurt (lowest sugar) and low sugar cereals as additions but still. Plus I highly doubt eating dairy this much is any good.
So I figured out at first it was just the yogurt’s fault. But then whenever I would vow myself to not eat yogurt I would come up with alternate ways to create my concoctions. I would use kefir. I would use frozen banana protein soft serve instead of the yogurt. It would come close but it wouldn’t exactly hit the spot. But it was close.
If I eat yogurt by itself, I feel… disappointed. It’s like it’s not living up to its fullest potential. It could be so much more!
Additionally I also don’t feel this way when I eat frozen yogurt – it ranks in a totally different category for me. It is delicious and amazing and everything but I categorize it as a dessert while I (for some odd reason) categorize my own yogurt parfaits as actual meals or snacks (ha, that’s laughable).
The cravings are very specific… they point straight to my creations. It’s so weird. And ridiculous.
So I came to a conclusion it’s the yogurt parfaits of mine that need to go.
How do I know this? The intense specific cravings. The potential. The additions. The satisfaction I feel that gets quickly replaced by wanting more. The intense desire to eat it at any time of the day – and it’s really the ONLY thing I ever want to eat.
So I’m saying goodbye yogurt parfaits. We will have to part ways for a while. It’s been amazing knowing you but I just can’t do this anymore. It’s really hard. Trust me, I’m in emotional pain. But getting rid of this habit is the best thing for me right now, I think.
Farewell my yogurt parfait addiction. Farewell.
Le Sigh.
Have you ever had any strange food addictions/habits/cravings?