3:16pm. A random minute in the whole of a day, but seemingly important to my body, apparently!

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve found myself looking at my desk computer at the same time and wanting a skim hot chocolate. It looks like I’ve trained my body clock into expecting a sugar hit! What’s scary is that the barista at the coffee shop I go to has even noticed my afternoon habit… it might be time to admit I have a problem!

Lately I’ve been looking into addictions for an article I’ve been writing, and I had the opportunity to speak to a dietician about sugar addiction. I was really looking forward to our chat – sugar is my biggest vice and I was really curious to discover what actually constitutes a sugar addict. She explained to me that sugar addiction is gaining a whole lot more interest as a legitimate condition and outlined two predominant categories that sugar addicts fall into.

The first is the “emotional eater”, using sugar as a way of elevating their mood. The other is the “pleasure seeker” who identifies feelings of pleasure through tucking into their favourite sugary treat, and develops a habit as their brain gets used to releasing hormones associated with making the body feel good.

I’m not quite sure if you’d call my new habit a straight out sugar addiction, but I think it falls in to both of these categories – its right in the middle of the afternoon slump and I love chocolate so the hit perks me up for the remainder of the afternoon!

I know what Suzie would ask me – what else can I do when I look up and notice the time and reach for my wallet? I could have a piece of fruit, go for a quick walk or talk to a friend. Even though I know what I should be doing, I always seem to fall into old habits and feel guilty!

On the plus side, I head off on my 46 day European adventure at the end of June! No more hot chocolates for me – they do say it only takes 21 days to break a bad habit…..