Pop! Goes the -Sicle

Have we ever discussed my ice cream obsession? Seriously. It is my Achilles' heel of treats. Cool, creamy, delicious -- and with such a dizzying array of varieties, it's not uncommon for me to have five different flavors in the freezer at a time. (Especially Tillamook ice cream. If you haven't tried it, RUN to your nearest WinCo and snatch up the chocolate-peanut butter or the marionberry pie flavors. Trust me. You'll thank me later.)

Well, my waistline is not thanking ME for this obsession!!! I've re-gained one-third of the weight I lost last year (and truthfully, it's probably more because I lost muscle mass in there as well -- thank you, holidays + first semester of grad school!). And seeing as I purged my closet of all my "fat" clothes, unless I want to go nekked (which is not so much socially acceptable, not to mention awk-ward...), I need to bounce back into shape and fast.

Enter no sugar/grains/soda time.

Not exactly an easy feat, right? I survived yesterday, so it can be done... but it'll take some serious discipline. The toughest part will be giving up desserts, but where there's a will, there's a way. Enter these bad boys:

Ah, yes. Homemade popsicles. I'm still messing around with ingredients, but it's a fun process! So far I've tried:

• Dark chocolate almond milk
• Coconut milk - crushed pineapple ("If you like pina coladas...")
• Coconut milk - fresh strawberries (which look GORGEOUS in the molds - I need to snap a picture!)
• Coconut milk - pomegranate juice (interested to see how this tastes - might need to add pomegranate seeds to the next batch)

The results so far have been delicious but too icy. I'm thinking mixing Greek yogurt in would be a healthy fix, but it'll take a little more planning (so far I'm putting the add-ins right into the molds and then pouring in the almond/coconut milk - not sure how much each mold holds!). Another trick I've seen online is to get full-fat coconut milk and let the can sit open in the fridge - it separates, so the creamy stuff rises to the top. The kind I have now isn't the right type, but I can probably just mix some of the coconut cream into what I did buy until it's gone. I might add raw shredded coconut next time, too, to boost the flavor (thank you, WinCo bulk section, for such random, awesome finds!).

I discovered a handy way to get a lot of varieties going, too -- when one batch is done, you can pull each popsicle from the handle, wrap it in plastic, and then pop it back in the freezer. Perfect for portion control! I'm wondering if there's a way to insert a stick to make it work, but I don't mind just eating it from a bowl like ice cream, really.

Other flavors I'm pondering are:

• Chocolate - banana
• Chocolate - dried cherry
• Chocolate - strawberry
• Coconut - lime
• Pomegranate - berry (blended like a smoothie, maybe sneak in some greens?)
• Lavender lemonade (sweetened with Stevia) (and it might sounds weird, but trust me on this. I had lavender-honey ice cream in Seattle a couple years ago, and it was A-MAZ-ING!)

With such delicious possibilities, I should be able to have my cake -- er, popsicle -- and eat it too!

Any other flavor suggestions? How do you curb your cravings with healthier solutions?