I travel with Chocolate
Eat June 24th, 2010I travel with chocolate
I’m on a diet, watching what I eat, trying to lose weight, and I always travel with chocolate.
I have a job where I travel a lot (at least 50% of the time on the road). I have a lot of travel tips which I’m happy to share, and “travel with chocolate” is one of them
5 Reasons Why I Travel With Chocolate
- My chocolate is better than most of the temptations I face : I buy high-quality stuff, not junky mass market stuff. I know my chocolate will be tastier than grabbing a stale cookie at a meeting, or some goopy hotel dessert at a dinner.
- I know I have emergency rations (I usually also have something else too, but in an emergency I can get by a few hours with what’s in my bag instead of hitting a fast food joint)
- Chocolate is good for you (healthy antioxidants and all that jazz) I’ll be honest, this is just justification for me, it’s not a real reason why!
- Chocolate is a real pleasure - I savor it, I focus on it, I enjoy it. I believe in Enjoying the Process of losing weight, and regularly indulging in pleasures
- I can manage it without going overboard - I use very dense chocolate so I get satisfied easily and I know it’s something I can eat a small amount of. If I was someone who ate large quantities of chocolate I’d probably have a different strategy than traveling with chocolate, but I’m not.
What kind of chocolate?
- Very high quality, boutique brands (although in a pinch I’ll buy Lindt)
- Small quantities
- Very dark (usually 85% cocoa, sometimes even 99%, in a pinch I grab 70% if I must. I dont eat milk chocolate - it doesn’t have the same pleasure for me)
It’s summer, so the chocolate travel has to adapt - even smaller quantities, in my purse (which is more likely to be kept cool with me) and double-ziplock bags so that any melty leaks are less likely to cause a big mess…
Current chocolate (including wrappers from Tuesday night) :
June 24th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I travel with dark cocoa powder so I can make chocolate milk!
June 24th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I wonder if you get much more yummy chocolate over there. I don’t like the stuff that is dark enough to be healthy and I can’t moderate the stuff that isn’t. Sigh.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
I drink chocolate coffee- and sometimes I add sugar if the hankering is that bad. But yeah, I think you can probably find better choclate in your neck of the woods. I was in France and Switzerland in 1999… i brought back stashes of chocolate, and I couldn’t eat chocolate from the US for months afterwards becuase it wasn’t the same.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
have you ever tried those chocolate covered cocoa bean nibs? Sweet Riot makes some( http://shop.sweetriot.com/) They are delish and only 1-2 cals per nub and best of all, they don’t melt in your purse.
Ya, I need a chocolate fix from time to time myself.
June 24th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
I love chocolate too much to be able to use it constructively like you do. I don’t like milk chocolate, but rather the dark stuff. Lindt is what I usually choose. Because chocolate won’t work, my go-to, always have in my purse snack is gum. I love cinnamon gum, sugarless. I use it to keep my mouth “busy” when I’m amidst a sea of tempting food (grocery shopping, traveling by air when they pass out the snacks). It doesn’t have the stay-power of chocolate, but it does get me over some of the rough spots. My other choice is roasted almonds. The protein there lasts me a while, but they’re pretty calorie dense, so I don’t do this too much. Planning ahead is a super idea.
June 24th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
I only want chocolate 2 days of the month. Day 28 and day 1 of my cycle. The rest of the month I could care less. I will only eat milk chocolate with peanut butter. I like semi sweet myself.
Hmmm, variety is the only way I stay on plan. I can eat the same thing for a few days in a row but then I get bored. I do find I stay better on calories if I make sure I keep my “sandwiche’s bread” to 100 cal or less. I make a bazillion varations. I adore making stirfries with some veggies a few oz of protein and a T or 2 of “sauce”.
I RARELY travel so I don’t have your kind of struggles although cooking for children without becoming a short order cook brings it’s own trials and tribulations.
June 24th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I can understand the idea of having the healthier chocolate available to ward off the temptation of the high calorie options around you. This wouldn’t work for me because I don’t care for dark chocolate! Which, all in all has been ok because it mean one less goodie for me to swoon over!
June 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Sugarless gum is a good option too - I usually have gum with me too but I chew it less and less because I’ve gone pretty much all organic & don’t care for the artificial sweetener taste anymore.
I also used hard candies for a long long time as a way to have a sweet taste that I wouldn’t go crazy with. I liked those creamy lifesaver ones. I would buy the individually wrapped one & kept a few in my purse, briefcase, suitcase, desk drawer & it was useful as a distraction from worse choices. When I moved to France I never really found a good substitute for those, then I found a make-do sugarfree hard caramel, but then pretty much stopped with the fake sugars and so nowadays I don’t have those around - but that was a successful strategy for a long while too.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:23 am
The dark chocolate covered Altoids do help when I need chocolate/candy. A tin lasts me a long time. I haven’t seen them lately though, will need to search the drug stores. Gum used to help but causes havoc on dental work these days. Lol
June 25th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Hey!. thanks for commenting on my blog! - Just wanted to say that 10.000 steps is not as much as it may seem. For me, half an hour, 30min, equals about 2800 steps. So an hour walk, two times a day, and you have your goal.
When i work, I walk a bit at work, and usually have from 2800 - 4500 steps done, just at work. So that is calculated in as well. Every time you use your feet for walking, the steps count. On my way home from work, I jump off the train a few stops early, and walk home, that’s usually about 1 hour 15min walk at about 5-6km/h speed. That’s usually around 7200 steps alone. So it all adds up.
- A wise word, your body don’t start burning from the RESERVES until you have walked for at least 30 minutes. Up to that point, it will use energy in your blood, and in your belly.
I see a lot of people talk about chocolate. There is a substance in chocolate that make you addicted. I have found out, that if I manage to force my self to NOT eat chocolate for 14 days, the urge goes away. Every time I walk past a counter with chocolates after that I can think “Do i know how that taste like?”…and I remember the taste. Then I ask my self. How many calories is in that. Buy THAT or buy a baguette which makes me full?. Sure the baguette have the same amount or less in calories, but the choice is BETTER. Me at least, it’s having the feeling of being FULL that is important. A chocolate bar satisfy no hunger, only feeds the bad self esteem for not being able to resist. Hence why I crave the feeling of accomplishment when i resist things like chocolate, and it makes me feel VERY good about myself.
The cravings for sweets is very normal. But the only reason people have these cravings, is because they are not regulating their blood sugar to be steady throughout the day.
We have had people in our weight loss classes who have LIVED on candy before they started. After 2-3 weeks, they, extremely surprised, admit that their desire for sweets is completely gone.
This is simply because they eat normal food, 5-6 times a day, with max 3-4 hours in between each meal.
Our habits is what the body use when we get hungry, and it thinks very simple “hungry, need energy FAST”, and the signal “FAST+HUNGRY” goes to our brain. First word that pops to mind is……Chocolate. Sugar soda. Candy. Hot Dogs. …….simply because it’s fast energy.
Fast energy is fast in two ways.
Skyrocket your blood sugar!
SkyDUMP your blood sugar!
BTW: Sugar less things like candy and gum usually says sugar free, but instead contain about 120 kilocalories per 100 gram. These calories comes from “Sugar alcohols”, which is actually, you guessed it, Alcohol. - But in such small amounts, a little don’t count.
Anyway..enough ranting from my side.
Boof
June 25th, 2010 at 3:59 am
Thanks for the great reminder that essentially maintaining over 6 months is a success when you compare it to what I have gained in 6 months. What I need to remind myself is that I have maintained a 50+ pound weight loss over the last few years and not a lot of people can say that.
What would I do without you?
June 25th, 2010 at 4:44 am
Lately I’ve been using gum in between eating. But I must say I looove chocolate. Especially German chocolate
(Ritter Sport) I used to only eat milk chocolate and thought I hated dark chocolate, but then I had a roommate (actually from Marseille) and she kept tons of dark chocolate around. She would melt it to put on crepes. And I fell in love with it. I always eat some chocolate everyday.
June 25th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Oh yes I love good quality dark chocolate as well. I use to be a milk chocolate fan but have switched to dark and never looked back!
I am like you, if I know I have a little dark chocolate in my purse or my suitcase I can pass up most other non healthy treats!
June 26th, 2010 at 5:56 am
I used to be a German milk chocolate fan like emmacat but now I absolutely love Lindt dark chili chocolate. I am so glad I read your blog before going shopping today because I only bought my favorite chocolate and no “junk”!