I’ve always been the first to admit I’m a chocolate fiend. I love desserts of almost any variety, and a little sweet bite after dinner has been a favorite way to round out the meal. But over the past few months, I’d been noticing my sweet tooth has been getting more and more demanding. Instead of wanting a piece of chocolate, I’ve been needing ice cream. Cheesecake. Brownies. Pie. Anything sweet. And sometimes the cravings wouldn’t stop even after indulging.
I hated it. I felt out of control. I hated that it was insatiable, and even after I was full, my body was still demanding more sweets. And on top of that, add guilt for my over-indulgence and fear because diabetes runs in my family and the last thing I need in my life is to develop insulin resistance. It got to the point where I had two slices of cheesecake in one sitting – which I’ve never done before and could never fathom before – where I finally realized something had to be wrong.
So I did a little research and discovered that one possible reason for intense sugar cravings is a lack of seratonin. When seratonin levels are low, it causes your mood to depress and the body registers sugar cravings. But sugar only boosts seratonin for a short while. Then you crash and need more sugar. But it turns out that protein also boosts seratonin, but it does so at lower and much longer-lasting levels. So it could be that the real culprit behind my sugar cravings was not a sudden lack of self-discipline but a lack of protein in my diet!
When I thought about it more, it made total sense that this problem would have become apparent over the last few months because in that time span, I had started shopping more at the local farmer’s market and food co-op, and eating more vegetable-rich meals. The vegetables were a good move, but I had also been eating less and less meat. I’ve heard before, too, that women often don’t get enough protein in their diets, so it really did begin to make sense.
Once I realized all this, I started re-introducing protein into my diet. Figuring that protein takes a bit longer to digest than sugar does, I started having a protein snack a couple of hours before dinner: some chicken or cheese, for example. And immediately, and I mean immediately that very first day, the sugar cravings stopped cold. I no longer needed or even wanted dessert. Every day since I made sure to eat protein, and every day since, I’ve had no problem with sugar cravings. Some days I didn’t get a protein snack before dinner, but had it during dinner. After eating, I felt a vague desire for dessert, but I just waited it out. Less than 20 minutes later, all sugar cravings were gone. Even when I went out to dinner and imbibed drinks (which are a sure way for me to cascade into gorging in desserts), and everyone at the table ordered a dessert (chocolate lava cake with raspberries and whipped cream, no less), I had absolutely no desire to even taste it. I sniffed it and gloried in the scents of chocolate and raspberries…and was satisfied.
What a change that is! I couldn’t believe it. Obviously I need to be sure not to overdo the protein because that’ll lead to it’s own problems. But making sure to get a small serving of lean meats, legumes, or low fat cheese or yogurt into each meal seems to be going a long way towards keeping my body happier and more in balance. I came up with a Lentil Mint Salad I’ll try for lunches on days I can’t eat at home (recipe in post below). I think I might even try doing a food diary to track what I eat and how it affects my energy and satisfaction levels 20 minutes, an hour, and multiple hours after eating.
I can’t tell you how amazing it is for me to not need sweets. The past few months have been the worst, but I could always find desire for dessert. Of course I’ll still enjoy sweets now and then…but to be in total control of the desire? If I really can manage it through protein…it will literally change my life.
Usually when I have guests over for dinner, I cook Thai food, which requires about 10-20 minutes of preparation, 10 minutes of a flurry of arm-flailing effort, and then voila! it’s served, and you have to eat it right away. But I’m starting to discover the glory of baking food, which requires you start a little earlier perhaps, but then for the hour or so the food is baking, you can do other things. Like hide the socks, jackets, books, and other bits of evidence that your home is not quite a Martha Stewart home. And light candles. And freshen up your makeup. And have a glass of wine. So you don’t look like a sweaty, disgruntled host who can’t even greet the guests as they walk in the door because you’re busy producing four different dishes at once.
Ahem. Actually, the cookbook says the first step is to preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then take a vegetable peeler and remove a 2-inch strip of zest from the orange, cut the orange in half, squeeze juice out of one half and cute the remaining half into 4 wedges. Place two tablespoons of juice and the strip of zest in a medium saucepan for Step 4. Tuck an orange wedge into the cavity of each game hen. Sprinkle the remaining orange juice over the hens and place each breast side up in a large roasting pan, leaving space between them. (Although I cut the recipe in half for there were only 4 of us at dinner, I did use the whole orange and just put two wedges in each bird. Figured it couldn’t hurt. And actually I think it helped keep them extra moist.)
Reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the cranberries are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Just before serving, remove orange zest. (I had a little left over orange juice, which I reserved until it was time to serve the chutney. By the time the hens had roasted the chutney had gotten a little dry, so I stirred in a little bit of orange juice just to liven it up a bit upon serving.)
I put mine on a bed of lettuce and served the chutney with a sprig of mint to decorate.
The crazy work madness is over (allowing me to settle into routine work load) so I’m celebrating with a drink! Actually, this post originated as a Facebook discussion, but this eggnog is just so good, I had to share it with the masses. You know you’re in good hands when it’s a grandpappy’s recipe. Unfortunately, it’s not my grandpappy’s recipe (Something makes me suspect neither of my grandfathers – one Thai and the other, a Christian missionary – were too much into eggnog. But you never know.), it’s someone else’s grandpappy’s recipe that I just happened to Google when my parents asked for eggnog after Thanksgiving dinner. (And by asked, I mean they suggested in wistful tones that it would be lovely to have eggnog and wasn’t it a shame we hadn’t picked some up at the store, and I volunteered to make it with what we had to save us from such despair.) This recipe, which you can find 
