Sweet tooth fighting a moral dilemma

I'm fighting a moral dilemma.  I love sweets.  All kinds of sweets ~ cookies, cake, cheesecake, ice cream, chocolate, candy, pastries, donuts, cupcakes...  which is why I gave them up for Lent.  I'm not Catholic, but I typically do this every year to sacrifice something that I really enjoy.  Lent is 42 days long and starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.  Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because of the candy and chocolate and that cute little bunny.  I'm not religious, but I think Jesus was a pretty cool dude as well.

My mom used to hide Hershey's kisses and jelly beans for me and my brother all over the house and we would have to look around and find them
if we wanted to eat them.  It was a lot of fun.  Then we would put our stash in our Easter baskets, along with a book and a new stuffed animal and maybe even a full-sized chocolate bunny.

So now we are facing the end of Lent, and potentially the end of giving up sweets for 42 days.  The end of my sacrifice.  I've been substituting my nightly sweet-treat with a bowl or two of cereal (yes, unfortunately it does still have sugar in it) or a couple of pieces of toast.  I've even stayed away from Spekuloos cookie spread and Nutella for the past 6 weeks.  The first 3 days was really tough.  My cravings were insane.  But now...  I'm faced with the fact that (horror of all horrors) I don't really miss sweets that much.

I did not eat one M&M or oreo cookie at the 50-mile race this past weekend.  (Maybe if I had eaten some, I would have finished the 100-miles I signed up for?  Not likely... my knee wouldn't have played along nicely for that amount of time and distance.)

Is my stomach less pudgy?  Maybe.  Has my weight changed?  Might have dropped a couple of pounds.  Do I feel better?  Undoubtedly, yes.  Maybe it's because my blood sugar is more stable?  Less processed sugar and more fruits and vegetables?  When I want something sweet to snack on, I eat a couple of cuties, some baby carrots, or a handful of nuts.  More vitamin and mineral content?  You betcha.

My moral dilemma is this ~ since I feel better without sweets, I'd like to keep NOT eating them.  I think I will be healthier for it.  I feel like if I fall off the wagon and eat just one chocolate chip cookie, it will be all over and I will want to eat a dozen.  I'm going to Germany in two weeks.  Can I resist the chocolate and the cheesecake?  I doubt it.  But what is eaten in Europe, is eaten in Europe ~ and no one has to know about it!

I want to eat a whole container of Trader Joe's mini peanut butter cups come Easter Sunday.  Do I have the willpower to fight them off?


photo credits:  1) 29gifts.org, 2) Wikimedia commons, 3) Michelle E. Swierczek photography, 4) Wikimedia commons, 5) blog.cookingwithtraderjoes.com, all found by Google images search.