I’m a 20-something year old Melbournian who has a problem. A sweet problem.
In the sweet versus savoury debate, I am captain, manager, boss, president and head cheerleader of team sweet. If I had to narrow it down, I’d say the main culprit is chocolate. Call me crazy but I think this wonderful concoction of milk, sugar and cocoa, among other things, is one of life’s many joys.
This chocolate obsession extends to many sweet things. Custard, cream, ice cream – I can happily decline. But the plainer sweets such as hedgehogs… blueberry muffins… mars bar slices… any type of biscuit…the list continues… I find especially difficult to refuse. I find it completely acceptable to go to a party and sample a small taste of each dessert on offer. In fact, I find that expected, and all round good manners.
I blame a few things for this worsening problem: 3pm is one. There’s something about that ‘afternoon slump’ that sends a message to my brain, telling me I need chocolate. And fast. Something else I blame is this ridiculous idea that I formed in my head many years ago, that if I achieve something remotely impressive, I can sit down and reward myself with a nice sweet. Another is the amazing caterers in my family. Honestly, we could open and successfully manage a dessert café for the entire city of Melbourne using tried and true recipes from my relatives alone; the chefs who never disappoint in their catering of family celebrations.
I like to think of myself as a generally healthy person, if it weren’t for sweet things. However, I don’t feel like I depict the picture of good health.
I’m regularly tired, find it hard to get out of bed in the mornings, often feel sluggish, prefer to have the sweet I have with a coffee, rather than the coffee itself, look forward to ‘rewarding myself’ with a chocolate bar, and can find myself drifting off from a conversation that is happening right in front of me. Feeling energetic is a sporadic thing; yet I am in my 20s.
Which makes me wonder… is my sweet tooth as sweet as I think?
