Viceless Day 54-60: Living in the Loophole

Oh, there are loopholes to being Viceless. They started occurring to me about a week into this experiment.  For instance, potato chips are sugar, gluten and dairy free. I've only had them twice in the two months I've been Viceless but still... obviously they are a vice! French fries are also technically allowed but I've only had sweet potato fries a few times. Overall, I'm trying not to just replace my old vices with new vices but it's so, so hard in NYC!

A loophole to heaven. 

The other night, my beautiful, genius, mischievous roomie in New York looked at me and said, "I've got another loophole for you." Loophole has become an inside joke with us because NYC is full of treats catering to the gluten, sugar and dairy free crowd and my roomie seems to know where to find all of them, 24/7. My typical life in Jackson Hole does not have easy access to Viceless treats. If I want ice-cream made from honey and cashew milk I have to make it myself. This is a laborious process that I rarely get around to. Unfortunately, I just learned that a 24-hour bodega (aka: upscale convenience store) about a block and a half from my apartment in NYC sells vanilla cashew ice-cream. I'm in so much trouble. 

The only redeeming quality is that like most treats based on nuts instead of white sugar, I can actually stop eating it at some point. About half a cup and my body says, thank you, that was delicious. I'm full. This is a miracle for my ice-cream consumption.  

Where it gets complicated is that these treats are everywhere. Brownies sweetened with sweet potatoes instead of sugar. Bars of nuts held together with honey. Chia seed pudding! Entire menus of deserts at my disposal. I have to start using self control again! Damn. 

I had the Warm Apple Crunch. So simple,
so delicious. 

Overall, I'm grateful for these sweet treats because I've found life is better when you can indulge. A week without dessert never seemed right. Plus, it feels great to be indulging in something that doesn't trigger never-ending cravings or food hangovers. 

So, there are loopholes and I'm still figuring out how I want to navigate them. As someone who has been known to have a snickers mid-day and Ben and Jerry's at night, I'm still thinking of this as a mass improvement. I feel better. I started this project to see if I could feel better. Hey! Great! Now onto the next dilemma.

How do I manage to not live in the loophole when there are  so many temptations literally around every corner? How am I going to continue to live after my 3 month commitment? How do I convince the grocery stores in Jackson Hole to carry this Cashewtopia ice-cream? To be continued...