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After only two weeks of dieting, Stella’s imagination was getting the better of her. She was beginning to have weird dreams of chocolate pigs with marshmallow hats taunting her. Stella wondered just how long she was going to be able to continue on the straight and narrow.
One evening, long after her family had gone to bed, Stella stood in her dimly-lit kitchen. The multi-colored marshmallows were conducting a parade across the kitchen countertops. The drum major had a following of Oreo cookies marching behind him while the huge chocolate chip cookies she made last week had turned into synchronized drill team. Stella shook her head to get the images out of her head. Was she going crazy?
Since it had only been two weeks since she had started the new diet; certainly this would pass. But each night, her imagination ran away with her and the charming entourage became more and more appealing. She found herself leaping at the Snickers candy bars as they tipped their top hats at her while passing in a chorus line. But one night, the ultimate happened and she wondered if she was going to have to turn herself in to the Sweet Police.
Chocolate was Stella’s favorite and it had now turned totally against her. One evening, she found herself envisioning chocolate-covered peanuts performing synchronized swimming in a vat of chocolate on the kitchen table.
During the day, she was able to control her fantasies; it was the darkness that brought the little creatures to life. But one day while bundled up on the sofa with a good book, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. The entire room was filled with round chocolate balls appearing to be controlled by an invisible air machine. The chocolate balls would whoosh up and around her head, all the while Stella attempting to grab at least one. She knew they would be sweet to the taste, but her diet and willpower said no.
As Stella fought the temptation to grab, eat and dash out of the kitchen on a nightly basis to savor the sweetness she so delighted in, one night she was stopped in her tracks when a light bulb suddenly came on.
For over a year, Stella had been suffering from a Lupus-related rash that covered her upper torso, including her arms, neck and face area. One evening as she watched the chocolate balls with numbers like those in a lotto drawing bin, she realized that it had been at least a week since her rash had kept her awake. This was a revelation not to be ignored. Was she on to something?
Her diet consisted of meats, vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts with little dairy and no soda. The circumstances surrounding her even trying the diet also seemed God sent. She and her husband had recently had lunch with an out-of-town couple who they hadn’t seen in over a year. The couple explained their obvious weight loss and contributed it to the diet.
Stella’s first appeal to the diet was the quick weight loss. As she visited her out-of-town daughter shortly after the lunch with the friends, they started the diet together. And now, she was seeing a result beyond the much-desired weight loss; one that was entirely more important to her. Stella was no longer scratching her skin until it would bleed every night. In fact, the fire in her skin had calmed down considerably as well.
Suddenly the chocolate balls settled down in the bin they were so wildly dancing in. She yelled for her husband who came rushing into the kitchen expecting to see a fire burning out of control.
Stella was practically dancing herself as she explained to Tom about her revelation. He had suffered along with her as he watched her lose sleep night after night.
“Oh, Tom, this diet is more than a weight loss program. I truly believe it is helping my rash. I just realized this evening that I’m not clawing at my skin night after night. This has to be God-sent,” she said with a smile forming from ear to ear.
Tom agreed and shared in her jubilation. Stella continued on the diet, slowly losing the weight that had plagued her over the years, but more importantly, she was free from the prison her skin had kept her in. No longer was anything so sweet to the taste that it would make her falter from her miracle diet.
Author's note: This story is based on my life. I have been suffering from a Lupus-related rash for almost a year and a half. When I discovered this new diet, my life changed dramatically. It continues to keep the rash at bay. Praise the Lord!
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