2.6
July 16, 2012

Dear Ben & Jerry. ~ Shaketa Copelin

Photo: theimpulsivebuy

Good Evening Gentlemen.

I want to start by telling you how wonderful your product is.

Not only is it sugary and sweet, but you have so many flavors that it’s sometimes a chore choosing just one. Today there were two pints of your ice cream in my freezer: butter pecan and chocolate cheesecake swirl. Thankfully, my hubby ate the butter pecan (well, he had help, but it wasn’t from me).

However,  the cheesecake ice cream is calling me right now.

I mean right now at 11:22 p.m.

It is too late to call my trainer and cry on his shoulder, so I figured I should write you a letter and let you know how much you’ve messed my life up.

Photo: theimpulsivebuy

No, seriously.

I have no control when I eat one spoonful of your ice cream. It’s sweet and decadent and addictive. It leads to me binge eating. Almost every time. In fact, I have no problem polishing off a pint in half an hour.

That’s how good your ice cream is.

I want you to know that I can’t do this anymore. I am taking back control.

Right now, at this point in my life, I don’t have idle time to sit around and stuff myself with your sugar poison. I am trying to finish this race that I’ve been running for the last year and a half. The getting back in shape race!

You don’t understand Ben and Jerry…I’m trying to get into my “skinny jeans.” Spring time has come and gone and now that summer is here, I can’t be the embarrassed-by-her-weight-miserable girl covered up in a baggy shirt and an old pair of Levis. For Pete’s sake, it was 105 degrees yesterday!

The truth is most of us tend to take our bodies for granted.

Maybe it’s because we do not recognize how amazing and wonderfully made they truly are. We spend our time picking on ourselves. Looking at blemishes that we think other people notice.

We live our lives being self-conscious and comparing our beauty to celebrities we see on magazine stands and on television. We try special diets, follow certain fads, mimicking what we’re told will make us the most “beautiful.” And much of the time, this stuff is to no avail.

You will always be you. The best thing we can do is love ourselves the way we tend to love these other images that are broadcasted to us through the media.

They want us to look a certain way or be a certain size. When really, at the end of the day, you have to answer to your own body. Why not treat it with kindness and respect?

Take it out for a long stroll. Admire the flowers as you work on your gardening. Ride your bike with a neighbor or get a hoola hoop and act like you’re eight years old again. Loving your temple (your body) is going to wake up that kid in you.

We have one life to live.

How many more days can one spend their life obsessing over food? Obsessing over your stomach or complaining that your thighs aren’t toned enough?

Photo: Amy the Nurse

When are we going to wake up and live life like there is no tomorrow coming?

I’m inclined to believe that we should put food in our bodies and use it as fuel to get us through the day. Fruit is delicious, and veggies are essential to our well-being. A decadent treat is fine but everything done in moderation is key. It’s cool to have a small cup of chocolate ice cream, but not the entire pint.

Slow steps.

Slow small steps are how you start.

So you see, going downstairs at 11:39 p.m. to get a taste of your ice cream is not worth it.

Ben and Jerry, I wrote you this letter to explain how much I enjoy it, but the truth is, I’m not strong enough to handle it right now. Perhaps I can have a taste of your ice cream on my birthday.

Right now though, I have to pass.

I hope you can accept this, as I’m still a loyal customer. But I’m learning this thing right now called: self-control.

Love,
Shaketa

 

Shaketa Copelin is a native of Washington, DC but now resides in Maryland. She has been in love with writing since the age of seven. She considers herself a very honest and passionate writer and poet. Shaketa juggles the roles of being a full time working mother and wife. Though she loves her nine to five job as a recruiter in human resources, it has always been her dream to share her writings with the world. Aside from the hundreds of poems and dozens of short stories she’s written, Shaketa is currently working on finishing her first novel.

~

Editor: Elysha Anderson

 

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