I frequently tell myself that an addiction to peanut butter is a pretty healthy addiction to have. At least it isn't drugs or cake or something, right? Despite this belief, I felt like I was kind of overloading on peanut butter from eating it every day (or even twice a day), so I decided to see if I could give it up, you know, just to keep myself in check. 

Before Giving It Up

chocolate, sweet, bread, meat
Christin Urso

I absolutely LOVE peanut butter more than any other edible food, drink or condiment. If I could eat peanut butter at every meal, I probably would. Even if it was just a straight spoonful out of the jar. For me, peanut butter basically solves all problems, including hunger and stress. Honestly, most vehicles of holding peanut butter are just getting in the way of me eating it straight.

OK, so I was kind of getting grossed out at myself for eating so much of it, I thought I should probably relax a little bit. And that's when I remembered Lent was coming up. What a perfect time to surrender a food that comprises probably around half of my daily calories (major groan of despair)!

Beginning of Lent

sweet, dairy product, vegetable
Jill Langin

I thought that I was definitely going to lose 15 pounds from not eating peanut butter all day long (not the goal, just a thought). But seriously, I wondered what I was going to eat. What was I going to put on my toast? What was I going to stir into my oatmeal? What was I going to eat a spoonful of when I was bored and freaking out about the lab report I should be writing? I even thought that maybe I should just kick the PB habit altogether (jk jk). 

Middle of Lent

avocado, vegetable, guacamole, sweet
Sarah Silbiger

Wow. I realized that there were so many other delicious foods to eat besides peanut butter. Yeah, I missed peanut butter, but I discovered that I actually do like avocados, and avocado toast kept me happy. Also, not eating 1,000 spoonfuls of peanut butter a day definitely opened up some more hunger. I was eating a lot more, but with a lot more variety throughout the day.

End of Lent

cream, coffee, milk, sweet, chocolate, ice, caramel, dairy product, espresso
Grace Lee

I just wanted it to it to end. "Is lent over, yet?" I constantly thought. I literally just wanted a peanut buttery breakfast so bad.

After Easter

candy, sweet, egg
Alexa Nakamura

On Easter, I went straight for the peanut butter. I even had a peanut butter-themed breakfast on Easter morning and it was everything I had hoped for. It was delicious! I loved every second of it, but when it was gone, I did not feel like I needed any more peanut butter that day. In fact, the next morning I had avocado toast with eggs instead of a peanut buttery meal. Yes, it's crazy, I know.

Peanut butter is still one of my favorites foods, and I still think nut butters should be a food group, but I have definitely made huge strides to kick my addiction. I am happy I gave it up and explored other foods, but I am definitely happy to have it back in my life.