Completely OT: I caved...related to "Healthy Habits"

I've had a tough time in the past couple of weeks, because I love any and all things chocolate, and it's been difficult for me to try and ignore all the fabulous sweets in the stores lately. Thanksgiving wasn't such a huge deal because I don't really associate Thanskgiving with sweets, and although Halloween was mildy difficult, it was over in one night.

This time though - geeze...

Monday - groceries...chocolate things everywhere. I bought mandarin oranges instead. A few days later, same thing - so I bought two bananas (I try to avoid too much fruit - following a low-ish carb, Primal-ish, Paleo-ish kind of food plan for the most part).

The other night, I complained to my husband that I was having a tough time ...and he says, "Oh, I got this chocolate at work..."

I managed to ignore it for two days.

Caved in today - it was a dark chocolate Toblerone bar, and I split it in half with my husband, and according to the label, there were three servings in that bar - so 1.5 "servings" for me.

It was sooooo good. Crazy thing? I realized that I have not had any chocolate in more than a year. A whole *year* without chocolate and I am feeling guilty for a few bites of a dark Toblerone bar. Egads...

14 years ago

qfbrenda

Veteran

You can lose weight and eat chocolate too. I've learned that I can eat whatever I want, but I can't eat as MUCH as I want. It sounds like you had a reasonable amount. Tomorrow is another day.

velvetychocolate

Thank you! I *love* chocolate...but have tried very hard to keep it out of my life lately. I did have a little bit today, and here's hoping it's not such a huge deal.

(website)

I'm with Brenda. I still eat all kinds of 'bad' stuff, but not lots of it. I like the Hershey Nuggets for a small chocolate fix at 50 calories.

Just for fun, a pic of me having mini burgers with mini champagne one day. Everything in moderation

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Thank you so much Mo! Such a cute photo, and I really do appreciate it - it sure helps to know that a mini-treat here and there is part of the whole plan.

lyn*

I definitely save up my 'chocolate eating' for the best stuff - Ferro Rochers are my weakness!

I find that bananas and multi grain cheerios damper any other food cravings I have.

Aziraphale

What? A life without chocolate is too bleak for contemplation!

All joking aside, there's no problem with a bit of chocolate -- emphasis on 'bit'. I have a small square or two of nice dark chocolate nearly every day. That's right. Every day. That way, I never feel deprived -- and, interestingly, ever since I've been in the habit of ending dinner with a bite of chocolate, I don't overindulge at other times. And don't they say that a bit of chocolate is good for the body? Whether or not that's true, I think it's certainly good for my mind and spirit.

I'll join in the chorus with Mo and Brenda. I eat and drink anything I like, but in small quantities. It works for me. I like to overindulge a bit at Christmas, though -- after all, it's supposed to be a time of feasting! VC, (and all of you!) I wish you a very happy holiday season and I hope you feel no guilt at all as you enjoy your chocolate!

Sylvie

I don't think it's a good idea to cut any food you love out of your diet entirely. For me, that would be a recipe for failure. My rule is that if I'm going to spend the calories on something sweet/not directly nutritious, it had better taste *really good*.

I've trained my tastebuds to the point where it is hard to eat grocery store checkout line chocolate anymore. A small square of really excellent dark chocolate is still irresistable, but isn't as readily available. When I binge on really sweet food, I just feel sick afterwards, so I attempt to remember I'll enjoy each chocolate eating experience more if I stick to small doses.

Louise

I'm an everything in moderation girl. The more I deny myself something the more I want it and then I snap and end up binging! We get the fun size chocolate treats like mars, snickers etc in a large bag and I'll have 1 of those when I want chocolate x

goldenpig

Everything in moderation is right!
For totally guilt-free chocolate though, how about this...Adora calcium chocolates! They are chocolate discs (come in milk or dark chocolate) and each provides calcium. They taste exactly like (and are) real chocolate. So much better than those Viactiv chews. And you get your daily calcium and daily chocolate fix all in one! I have to keep myself from eating more than one at a time.

Diana

Chocolate is good for you! (As long as you have it in moderation...) A square or two of GOOD chocolate is a really satisfying dessert and I think it helps curb other cravings. Dark chocolate might even have health benefits...

Like Sylvie, I've pretty much become enough of a chocolate snob that I hardly ever eat cheap Hershey's type chocolate anymore, and mostly stick to the fancy stuff... this also helps with portion control because fancy chocolate is too $$$ to eat a whole bar every day!

Janet

What Brenda said!

I don't deny myself any type of food. I just watch my portions, and when I overindulge one day, I behave myself the next.

A holiday is a good excuse to practice a little healthy lack of moderation. Tomorrow, I totally intend to indulge.

Thanks so much everyone. And you're all 100% right about this 'little bit' once in awhile. I used to have small amount of very dark chocolate a few times a week, and that was while in serious weight loss mode. I didn't intentionally set out to eliminate chocolate, just that the past year has been tougher on the weight loss front, so I'd cut back on extras like that. I was surprised to realize that I hadn't had any chocolate since last winter (last year!).

The extra dark chocolate I used to buy in the past was so intense-tasting, that one little square or very small piece was more than enough to satisfy. I'm willing to bet that if I'd had some of that around (the good extra dark chocolate), I wouldn't have noticed the sweets in the stores as much, or been tempted by the Toblerone bar my husband had in his work bag.

Thanks again for all the great advice, much appreciated

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