Monday, March 31, 2008

Ice Cream Cones are Healthy.

(Firstly, you may hold all remarks about my title. Brady makes plenty fun of me for saying it:) )

I love ice cream. A LOT. You could even put it forth that I am an Ice Cream Connoisseur.

If you know me, you know that if I have not decided beforehand, I will take at least 30 minutes in the ice cream aisle choosing what two flavors I want. If you know me, then you'll also know that I am a bit of a ice cream flavor buff. I can tell you the difference between all 5 types of Vanillas, (and Dave can vouch that I have indeed done this.) If you have ever lived with me, you know that on average I go through 2 half gallons of the creamy, dreamy dessert every other week. Sometimes it only takes a week. I feel incomplete if I do not consume ice cream at least once every 24 hours. Usually I try to wait until the end of the day so I don't go for it twice, which has happened on more than one occasion.

In any case, I figured that having a heaping bowl of ice cream everyday was probably not the most healthy thing to do. So I've tried various methods to get my ice cream intake down to a more reasonable proportion. I've tried buying the little Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dasz containers and have told myself that when it's gone I can't have anymore until the next time I go grocery shopping. Unfortunately, this proved to make my ice cream habits worse. Because the container was small, I wouldn't bother with scooping the ice cream out into a bowl and therefore would eat almost the entire pint. Then when I ran out in a couple days, I would crave ice cream so badly that I would run out to the store and get more.

I've also tried using a paper cup to ensure a smaller portion. But then I would pack the cup as full as I could and therefore wouldn't be limiting myself very much at all. And then one day it hit me. I was walking down the ice cream aisle, (naturally), when I saw the ice cream cones. I got so excited about having an ice cream cone that I grabbed a box and went home to have one. (I know some of you are wondering, and YES, I did get the sugar cones....let's all be honest, its the ONLY way to go). It was when I was scooping ice cream into my cone and only being able to fit a few small spoonfuls in that I realized that THIS was the perfect way to limit my serving size! I would stay with it because, well, who DOESN'T want an ice cream cone instead of a plain old bowl?!

So now, with the exception of a few bad days in which I will grab a bowl instead of a cone, I have mastered the art of ice cream serving size consumption. It has been a terrible feat, but one that I am proud to have overcome. Goodbye, huge bowls. Hello, delicious cones.

1 comment:

Larry Kelly said...

Oops! Looks like ice cream addiction can be inherited.