Night Owl, Shmight Mowl

You know what I am? I'm a girl. A wife, a mother. A hard worker. I'm a person in love with being alive. I'm a poet. I'm an artist. I'm not a musician. I'm a knitter. I'm a cook. I'm a driver. I'm a reader. I'm a chocoholic. I'm a crafter.

I'm a ton of things, including...a late night snacker.

Booya. Enter this week's subtraction. (And did I say "booya?" Yes, yes I did. I guess I just dated myself to the 90s.)

I can eat healthily all the live long day, but once I'm home, and Mr. Beautiful is in bed, and my love interest and I have cleaned and cooked and are super tuckered out - plop me on the couch, with a Friends DVD and a bowl of ice cream, and all my hard work is flushed down the tube.

I've tried the don't-keep-junk-food-in-your-house trick - a late night trip to Walgreens is not beneath me. I've tried the munch-on-carrots-instead-of-tortilla-chips-so-you-get-the-crunch-effect-you're-craving thing - I'll grab a cookie after to "balance." (A term coined to me by one of my best friends!) I don't know how other people do it, but I really can't seem to trick myself into thinking I've snacked on a snack when really I've snacked on a vegetable.

The honest truth is that I have changed my eating/food habits big time. I mentioned tortilla chips above - these are the only chips kept in our cupboard. Salsa for these tortilla chips? Unless it's homemade (which is a summer-only treat around these parts), nada. If I am munching on these chips, they're either plain or with homemade hummus. Zing! Chocolate chip cookies are also hiding in my cupboard as we speak. But instead of buying a big ol' pack from the grocery store, I let myself buy one pack of five cookies from Zelma's - one of my favorite vendors at the Kzoo Farmer's Market - once every two weeks. Somehow, I make this last until my next trip. Most of the time, instead of ice cream, I'm getting my sweet-frozen fix from a sorbetto I found at the health food store, especially their Blood Orange flavor - surprisingly not bloody, and just a tad orangey.

One truth remains, though. If it's ten o'clock at night, and I'm nibbling on any of these treats, I'm not doing myself any favors. So, the late night snacking is on its way out. I am going to be gentle on myself with this transition, however. I know the suggested time to stop your munching is 8pm, but I'm going to give myself an extra half an hour to adjust - so 8:30pm for moi. My husband and I are night owls, so it will still be an exercise in self-control, but I won't be setting myself up for failure. Because, let's face it, Thursday night TV is much more enjoyable when you have a bowl of popcorn to share with your main squeeze and a little glass of chocolate Silk to sip on (and not share with your main squeeze!).

Peace out, super-late night snacks!

With love and less snacking,
The Girl in This Red Hat