~Sweet but Dangerous~

I discovered Nutella this week. I've been buying the stuff for a couple years for the kids, but I've never actually tasted the stuff because I have strong feelings against defiling chocolate with nuts (especially peanuts-yuk!). I've been on a chocolate kick lately though (I have my reasons) and I was fresh out of chocolate this last Tuesday. On an impulse I dipped my finger in the Nutella jar and gave it a try. HELLO! Heaven! You don't even taste the nuts (maybe because they are hazelnuts?)- it just tastes like chocolate on a spoon!!!
I was unprepared to handle this eye-opening experience, especially in my current chocolate craving state. With real chocolate, I've developed some pretty hard and fast rules- I allow it sometimes (in emergencies), but then I GET RID of any leftovers. I'll send it to work with Derrick, or pour stuff on it and throw it in the bottom of the garbage. But Nutella... well, with Nutella, that sly voice in the back of my mind is whispering,"Have another spoonful Rachel- it's made out of HAZELNUTS- it's HEALTHY." I have had a LOT of spoonfuls since Tuesday (Derrick bought the giant size jar of it when he went shopping last weekend.)
This morning I could hear the kids in the kitchen making some toast, and complaining that the Nutella was almost gone, and who they had seen eating most of it. I was giggling at the conversation, but also feeling guilty. No more Nutella for me. I need to start thinking about it in a different way. The fact is that the serving size for Nutella is 200 calories (100 of those fat) for just two tablespoons. It takes one mile of running to burn 100 calories (that sly voice in my mind has also been telling me I can just run to make up for it later). There are about 8000 calories in one jar of the stuff. I would have to run 80 miles to make up for that (and I did do some damage to that jar). It takes around 3000 calories to either gain or lose a pound. Bleh. I'm going to do some running in a minute, but even at the four three miles I have time for this morning, it only covers four three spoonfuls of the stuff.
Okay. No more Nutella OR Chocolate for awhile. Must employ more non-food coping mechanisms. The cocoa bean is officially banned from my mouth (although that still leaves chocolate baths as an option.  Just sayin').