Meal/Snack Replacements of the Past...

When I was on this journey five years ago (I seem to use this starter a lot, apologies), one day, I decided that Atomic Fireballs (the cinnamon jawbreaker candy) was just what I needed to curb the sweets cravings. In true Trisha style, I decided to go on the hunt for them immediately. This was when I actually had vacation time to spare and could use it for doing fun things like shopping for Atomic Fireballs.

I went to a few stores, Target, Wal-Mart and even K-Mart and then hit up the grocery stores. The only things that anyone had were the chewy ones. I didn't want the chewy ones, I wanted the jawbreakers because I wanted something that I wasn't going to eat a ton of in one sitting. One of those things lasts quite a while, so I figured they were just about perfect for me to satisfy my hunger.

Since I couldn't find them, I searched online and found that Sam's Club had them in the candy shop dispensers. Awwwwww, yeah!! Well, my parents have the membership, so I called my mom and told her that I NEEDED to go to Sam's Club STAT! She obliged. I got my Atomic Fireballs at a club price. Wicked awesomeness.

The next few days are anything but a blur except I didn't know what was happening until it was way too late. Way. Too. Late. The first couple of days, I was successful in using the Atomic Fireballs for satisfying my sweet tooth and only had a few a day. By the third day, I seemed to be slightly addicted to them. In one day, I ate NINE. Yes, nine of them. They just tasted so good that day, that I just couldn't stop at just a couple. Yeah, already defeated the purpose of using them to stop me from eating a lot. Doesn't help you out much when you eat about 700 calories in Atomic Fireballs in a day. Okay, I have no idea how many calories exactly are in an Atomic Fireball, nor does it matter at this point, I'm over exaggerating on the caloric intake and have strayed from the topic once again. Sigh.

Anyhoo, the day of the 9 Atomic Fireballs, Brett and I decided to go out to dinner. I had noticed that by the end of the work day, my face felt really tight. Tight from the inside out, it was odd, but I shrugged it off. We were eating our dinner, I had ordered a veggie grilled cheese and fries. When I was eating the fries, I couldn't help but notice that chewed up fries were getting stuck between my teeth and under my lips. I kept having to use my finger to get the fries out. It was so weird. Brett looks at me and asks what is wrong? I tell him, he shrugs it off, too. I kept biting my cheek while eating, too. The food tasted funny as well. I couldn't figure it out. Then, I smiled when Brett said something funny, he looks at me and asks, "why and WHAT are you doing with your face?!" I ask him to clarify, but he was unable to put into words. I went to the bathroom and took one look at my face to see that it appears that from my cheeks to my chin look puffy and swollen. I tried to open my mouth and couldn't really get it open that far, my face was incredibly swollen. Yep, still had fries stuck all the way around my mouth.

I get back to the table and ask Brett if he noticed how swollen my face was. He said, "yeah, but I thought you were doing something with your mouth on purpose." I won't even touch that statement. Apparently, I had a reaction to cinnamon. I took Benadryl for the next five days straight to contain the tightness and itchiness. Once it went down, a couple weeks later, I decided to give it a whirl again. This time, I only at two Atomic Fireballs to test it out. Sure enough, my face swelled up like a balloon and I had chipmunk cheeks.

Brett ate the rest of the Atomic Fireballs and my father in law thinks it is hilarious to offer me an Atomic Fireball every now and again. My idea was brilliant and would have worked had I not developed this allergy. This also includes anything cinnamon flavored and sometimes snickerdoodles.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that are now wanting an Atomic Fireball, until next time...