Cupcakes, Salvadorean bakeries and a cleanse

I have a mild, but persistent sweet tooth. For example, I rarely go on the hunt for a cupcake, but I will never refuse one. I don't like sweets for breakfast, but I always eat chocolate after dinner. Last week, I couldn't pass up a stop at an amazing Salvadorean bakery while driving to a dinner party nearby. I pulled over and picked up some dulce de leche cookies, a custard fruit tart and an eclair with a crunchy, caramel glaze.  Delicious is an understatement.

This picture makes me hungry. Cookies courtesy of hostess Pam.

The sugar cravings peak at work. I am helpless in the face of the homemade cookies one coworker sells to us from her "Cookie Corner" for $1 each. Caramel cashew chew and chocolate malt sandwich cookies, you are so delightful. The night shift lulled me into a stupor that required trips to the vending machine for peanut M&Ms. I know where all the candy jars are hidden and have befriended their owners.

But with the fruit cleanse upon me in two weeks, I decided it was a good idea to try to wean myself off refined sugar. My new rule? I'm only allowed to eat chocolate. Theoretically, this was a good plan. (Stop laughing.) Good chocolate is delicious and good for you! This story says I can save the world by eating chocolate! I bought a couple of bars of locally made Theo hazelnut crunch bars, and thought that would be enough. But then during the day, I found myself at the payroll administrator's candy jar, pulling out mini-Three Musketeers and Twix. My definition of chocolate is clearly very broad. There also was the homemade chocolate cupcake. With vanilla icing and sprinkles. You have no idea how much I love sprinkles.

Like caffeine, I know I can kick the worst of the sugar cravings and take it down to just chocolate after dinner. I'm not a total masochist. I hope the cleanse and the "clean eating" that comes before and after the fruit cleanse, with just fish, chicken, whole grains and greens, will help my body kick that rollercoaster sugar habit. But it also would be helpful if those candy jars stayed empty, the Cookie Corner shut down and people stopped baking cupcakes. For good.