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Old 07-12-2006, 12:06 PM   #16  
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I made a deal with myself. If I follow my plan all day I get chocolate as my evening "treat". I like 1 lindor ball (about 70 calories). I take one ball to bed. I keep the bag in the laundry room. That keeps me from mindlessly eating. I also like the 25 calorie hot cocoa with a dollop of chocolate whipped topping. Make a deal with yourself, keep temptation far away. Think of it as a part of your daily plan and not something off limits. It works for me anyway.
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Old 07-12-2006, 12:46 PM   #17  
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Hhhmmmm... I don't believe in "food addictions" but I do know the strong pull of a craving! - What you're experiencing sounds like a habit to me. Experts maintain that a habit - any habit - takes approximately 21 days to break. That's only 3 weeks. I decided to cut sugar, flour & processed foods out of my diet, allowing for an "occasional" yummy treat, like say, 1x per week. After not eating chocolate & donuts & stuff for 3 weeks, and instead eating NATURAL SUGARS, like fruit, I came to find out that my cravings for chocolate WENT AWAY. I'd rather have fruit than chocolate.

Granted, during TOM, I may go stark raving mad if I can't have something chocolate when I want it! - but fortunately, my TOM usually makes me crave SALTY foods, not sweet. I said USUALLY
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Old 07-12-2006, 12:58 PM   #18  
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When I started this I had a rule. No banned foods. I refuse to label food as "good or bad". To me I term them "helpful and unhelpful"

Chocolate, to me, falls in both camps. I like it. I really enjoy a chocolate and a cup of coffee after a long day, or at that time of the month. It's high calorie, so it's not helpful to my weight loss, however there are studies that show that good quality dark chocolate is a useful source of antioxidants - and it makes me happy

I plan for it, I count it, I eat it mindfully. No scoffing it down quickly, no apologies, no recriminations.

A lot of the chocolate subsitutions mentioned aren't available to me in the UK, and for a while I did try things like the low fat, low calorie chocolate drinks, but found that they didn't qwell my cravings, and left me feeling cheated.

So for me, it's the real thing, in moderation, providing I have the calorie room. I tend to have the 70% cocoa solids chocolate, as its pretty hard to binge on that! I love the Lindor balls too, I got a package of them for my birthday.
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Old 07-12-2006, 01:07 PM   #19  
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Have you ever tried the Caramel Nut Brownie Luna bars? They are very chocolaty (brownie like), 190 calories and have a good amount of protein in them.

I know that just doing without works for some people, but I find the minute I say something is off limits, it is all I want. The other thing is to get to know your cravings and know when just something chocolate will do and when you need a specific item. When I crave something specifically (and I usually give myself a day or two to be sure) I go ahead and have it. In the past I would try and substitute and then end up eating both.
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Old 07-12-2006, 01:18 PM   #20  
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Whether or not food addictions exist, the fact remains that you have to deal with the irrational urge to eat chocolate. I think it comes down to this - if you feel you are addicted to chocolate, you HAVE to give it up. Lite chocolate, chocolate substitutes, chocolate rewards and the like may NOT work (in my opinion, kind of like drinking only low-alcohol beer or limiting yourself to two beers on the weekend if you are an alcoholic...in the long term, this never works). Box this food out of your life. It sucks, but it sounds like this might be the most effective strategy for you. Some people can and do manage with cutting back, having chocolate only as a reward, etc. I am unfortunately not one of them. One substitute, one reward treat, one big bag in the house that I'll plan to keep for two weeks just leads to the next big binge. I have a terrible time controlling my reaction to chocolate. My best solution is to STAY AWAY from it, and I do THAT best if it is NOT in the house. Any other strategy (i.e. "I'll just have ONE piece because I have been good" or "I'll JUST have a small chocolate-dipped cone" or "I'll JUST have a sliver of that chocolate cake" or "I'll have FAKE chocolate") doesn't work for me. I am only fooling myself when I try these approaches. So, try cold turkey for just 14 days, and see what happens! It sure as heck won't be easy, but it might be the best way. It will take an awareness of what happens to you when you eat it, and a conscious decision to take control away from the chocolate and put it back where it belongs - inside of YOU. I know you can do it! You will have set-backs, but just remember how crappy you feel after you eat all that chocolate when temptation hits you, and remember how just one bite will trigger a binge.
The next step will be to identify a food that is sweet and that you can control - i.e. NOT feel the urge to eat to excess. For me, this is, of all things, vanilla sugar-free, fat-free pudding. I can have a serving, eat it, be satisfied, and not be out of control. I don't have the same reaction to it like I do to chocolate. So, when a sweet craving hits, I have some pudding. If I have guests over, well, pudding it is (spiced up with fruit and angel-food cake!). But NOT THE CHOCOLATE!!!
Good luck!

Last edited by freiamaya; 07-12-2006 at 01:29 PM.
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Old 07-12-2006, 01:31 PM   #21  
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I am not much of a sweet/chocolate/ice cream eater. Mine's more like chips and dip. Anyways, was driving down the road the other day and all of the sudden I just HAD to have an Oreo Cookie Blast from the Sonic. So, stupid me pulled in and ordered a small.

Ate about 1/4 of it and started feeling guilty for eating it so I threw it away. Wellllllll, within about 45 minutes of eating what little I did, I was RUNNING for the bathroom! It messed up my tummy and gave me a a major headache. I had not had anything like that since January. It was horrible! I had the darn headache all the next day too.

Lesson learned the hard way and I will NEVER eat another one!! Once your body gets used to not having all that, it will let you know when you screw up! Now my kids tease me whenever we drive by the Sonic ... Oh Mommmm, you wanna get a Blast from the Sonic??!!
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Old 07-12-2006, 01:49 PM   #22  
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It has been my experience that the times I am out-of-control eating (chocolate, fast food, whatever), I have layers of other issues that need to be dealt with first.

Last fall, I decided to stand up to some oppressive relatives, get rid of some bad-for-me friends, draw clear boundaries with an alcoholic ex-boyfriend, and seek out a new job. Ever hear that phrase, "It's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you"? That was me. When I addressed the real problems in my life, I found it much easier to see a clear weight-loss goal and to focus my energies on it.
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Old 07-13-2006, 10:38 AM   #23  
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I am definitely a chocolate lover. I find that instead of chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream, I am far more controlled if I eat squares of high quality dark chocolate. I agree with what others have said, if you can't make yourself eat only part of the bar, then buy Lindt balls or something else that is "single serving". Eating sugar free or reduced calorie treats doesn't seem to satisfy me. I can eat a couple of small squares of dark chocolate and feel like I've had a great treat. Milk chocolate is a problem, I'm not satisfied with a small portion - so I don't buy it.

I have heard that you should not eat chocolate when you are hungry or you will crave it more later. So eat a very small portion right after a meal as dessert and maybe head off the cravings later.

I am finding that my cravings have been reduced. I think it probably has to do with eating less sugar in general.
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