28 day no-chocolate challenge and back to journaling

I have a problem with chocolate. I always have. Its the only food that I can easily scoff down a massive amount of and still want more. It's like I have a black hole inside me for chocolate alone. When I began transitioning to primal eating, chocolate was a late food for the chop. For a while it went well, until I discovered that as my sweet tooth reduced, my liking of dark chocolate increased. The pseudo-addiction began again. As much as I tried to tell myself that it was an acceptable vice; in truth, it became excessive and at best could be described as a lesser of two evils compared to milk chocolate - but only just. Excessive consumption of indulgent foods is what will lead me down a bad road that I want to avoid. I had a good A1c result last week, and I want to keep it good. Plus, injecting less insulin has always been awesome. So I came to a decision after reading Mark's no-alcohol experiment and thought I'd do the same with chocolate of all kinds and see what happens.

It just tastes soooo good

I'm not after some massive fat reduction from the elimination of dark chocolate from my diet and I understand the benefits dark chocolate has to offer. I have found however, that testing myself to challenges like this useful in the past. My last challenge was to go without alcohol, and I haven't looked back. I don't want to consume a substance that impedes my training, and more importantly my training recovery. So there we are, 28 days without chocolate of any kind. Just to see what happens, or doesn't happen. At best, I have eliminated a calorie excess in the order of 500-1500 from my diet (yes, it definitely became a problem), at worst, I miss chocolate quite a bit and eat more fruit to compensate. Not a bad situation all in.

What if I fail? That dreaded will-power sapping doubt. Well, first I understand that it has been an unnecessary indulgence. Second, I need to save for a few pieces of gym equipment (med ball, paralettes and the like) and can manage to put aside a few pennies here and there if I abscond from dark chocolate. Third, I was getting a bit sick of the stuff anyway. Most importantly, I have begun journaling again.

I wanted to start journaling again for a while, however the stupidest thing stopped me. I didn't want to be honest. I knew I had indulged that day and didn't want to admit it on paper so I didn't write anything. Well, now I'm holding myself to the advise I would give to others (or maybe just think, silently, judgingly) "Get over yourself, be honest and make yourself better. You can only be better by really looking at yourself now. You don't get the changes you want by doing nothing." Though I might, no I would, swear at myself more. I need to be harsh on myself, because I want great things for myself and my family. I'm trying to not beat myself up as much, but push myself forward more - and we'll see it work together.

Here's the first few pages, I still have a few notes to add though - my aim is to fill every page. Making good notes towards my training goals and technique will enable good progression and avoidance of injury. Oh, and apologies for my terrible, terrible handwriting.

What's your challenge? what are you hoping to achieve in the next few months? If you don't have one, then I humbly suggest that you find one and push yourself to be better than ever.

Respectfully,
Sam