Don’t even try this: 365 days without chocolate

On New Year’s Eve, 2010 I joked about giving up chocolate for a year. I had tried it before and failed. Yet, I wanted to try it again. “Haha, you’ll be eating chocolate by 10am,” a friend teased. And that is when I decided to stick to it. The first week was tough as I naturally reached out to eat Chocos for breakfast or as I almost ordered a Mocha. But slowly I got used to avoiding chocolate even though it sat in a pretty box in my fridge or was held in front of me at work (try dealing with a stressful day at work after that!)
I stuck to it even though an uncle fit to be in the geriatric ward smeared my face in chocolate sauce (and ruined my pretty dress in the process) on my birthday and I stayed away as my friends forced me to cut a chocolate cake. Yeah, I was proud as hell! Finally, on 31st December 2011, a friend was entrusted with the task of bringing a chocolate cake for me. At the stroke of

midnight, my boyfriend came out holding a chocolate cake that I had wanted in the early days of 2011. He made me a Kitkat and M&M Swimming Pool cake. I ate heartily. After spending the entire 2011 without cocoa, I let the theobromine take me to cloud nine.
The next morning, I woke up to eat cake for breakfast. I came home to open the box of Ghiradelli squares I had stashed away for this exact day. The next morning I indulged in some Cadbury’s Roses and that evening I had me some hot chocolate. Yes, I have come back from abstinence with a vengeance. What did I learn from this chocolate-less year?
1.    Don’t make a big deal: I had failed earlier because I always felt daunted by the thought of spending a year without chocolate. I succeeded this time because I took each day as it comes and every time I said no to chocolate, I dreamt of 1st January 2012. Happy New Year indeed!
2.    Abstinence is stupid: So self control and all that is very well, but after I came back to chocolate, I’ve been gluttonous about it. Knowing that life without it was slightly tougher makes me never want to give it up again. Bad Shakti.
Moral of the story: It is better to control than give up. Patchi Almond Flake squares are being demolished as I write this post.