Any tips on how to give up chocolate?

[Angela Leeds]

Another nummy thing you can do with raw chocolate nibs is to add them to the pulp left over from making almond milk. Add in some raw honey, bit of raw coconut oil, dash of organic almond & vanilla extracts, bit of Himalayan crystal salt, and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar for crunch, and it all tastes like chocolate chip cookie dough. For real. But makes you feel gooood.

My 18 yr-old son loves it. You can put these into little pots in the fridge and makes for a healthy, yummy snack.

There are so many good ways for a chocolate lover to enjoy it. I'm not even a chocolate-lover and I eat this stuff...I'm a vanilla-lover.

[Curtis2011]

A craving for chocolate and the true reason behind it

Try EFT.

[dice]

try making smoothies with cacao or carob powder. its pretty lightweight, but it gives you the same kick.

Its awesome with strawberries/oranges and people also say it curbs their appetite for a few hours too. C'est bon!

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by dice

try making smoothies with cacao or carob powder. its pretty lightweight, but it gives you the same kick.

Its awesome with strawberries/oranges and people also say it curbs their appetite for a few hours too. C'est bon!

If you add hemp seeds, it makes it nice & creamy.

Also, cacao & carob together are another great magnesium/calcium pairing.

[Eric Roosevelt]

A question you could ask yourself if whether you're using chocolate to cover your emotions.

All food pushes similar emotional triggers, but chocolate is a bit special because of how many endorphins are released by it. When people develop "addictions" to food, it's not because they're hungry. It's more because they've become addicted to their own feelings.

So maybe a good starting point is to ask yourself what your emotional life is like in general, and see if you can identify some obvious problem areas. Do you eat chocolate at any time, or only when you're in a specific mood? What are the circumstances that cause you to have that mood?

[Timothy Smith]

When I was a boy, I have a huge crave on chocolate too. Once, when my dad served me chocolate with vegetables (yuck!), I decided to try out the vegetables first. Then, I decided to eat the chocolate, but the vegetables made it bitter.

Here's my suggestion: serve sweet chocolate with pickles, then you'll want to never eat chocolate again because after you eat pickles chocolate will taste sour.

[Susanna77]

Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt

A question you could ask yourself if whether you're using chocolate to cover your emotions.

All food pushes similar emotional triggers, but chocolate is a bit special because of how many endorphins are released by it. When people develop "addictions" to food, it's not because they're hungry. It's more because they've become addicted to their own feelings.

So maybe a good starting point is to ask yourself what your emotional life is like in general, and see if you can identify some obvious problem areas. Do you eat chocolate at any time, or only when you're in a specific mood? What are the circumstances that cause you to have that mood?

Thanks everyone for all the input. I can say I've had no chocolate yet today but I am feeling like it. I have a fridge full of Cadbury bars but fortunately I don't like that kind: I'm on a dark chocolate phase so I can easily pass on that one.

Could you develop a little more on the "become addicted to their own feelings"? When I used to eat WHOLE BIG bars of chocolate during my teens my cousin said it was due to my lack of self-esteem, lack of love, etc. I don't eat big bars anymore; I just crave one chocolate a day and not a big bar. So...is that due still having "a little" low self-esteem?

[Martyn13]

Hi
I thought I'd give my opinion, for what it's worth -

There is a reason for all cravings - They satisfy a need - either a physical or an emotional need - Chocolate is merely food for the emotions.
It helps you to become whole. The original imbalance could be an emotional; feeling of emptiness due to stress, for example. Chocolate simply fills in this emotional hole, and makes you feel whole again.
I would not deny the cravings, as they represent a need - This is all part of living in the present. To remove the cravings, I would work on other aspects of life, so that the chocolate wouldn't then be necessary, but until then, I would satisfy the cravings, as it is a bodily need, similar to all food, only in this case, an emotional need.

Originally Posted by Angela

A couple of weeks ago I re-filed Ben and Jerry's ice cream as something I don't enjoy (previously it was something I loved -- I was something of a junkie) using an NLP technique called Like to Dislike or "Mapping Across." I have had no cravings since then -- very new way of being for me.

This technique might help you get past Hell Week. If you want to, you can put chocolate back where it was (as a "like") later.

This is just my opinion - Techniques like this, are no better than taking pills to stop cravings - It may remove the craving, but a conceptual manipulation such as this one, will not heal you in a holistic way - The expression 'leaky boat' comes to mind - If you prevent the body expressing its imbalance in one form, it will find another way to manifest - For example, removing the cravings may cause acne, or it may make you over-eat in other ways, or it may cause anxiety

I don't want to be confusing, but for balance, I must give another view -
Although, using willpower is very harmful, as it will merely supress the cravings, which could cause all sorts of problems-
Using 'Will', however, is very different from using 'willpower'.
In theory, it is possible to use will to transcend the desire, which is very different from supressing it - However, this is a whole different ball game -
Transcending this sort of desire is extremely difficult.
The problem is that you may think you've transcended the desire, but in reality, you may have merely supressed it, so unless you know what you're doing, or have spent many years in spiritual practices, I wouldn't try this approach

[Parthon]

Why would you need years of spiritual practice to overcome a chocolate addiction? That doesn't make much sense.

Addictions of the mind are not those of the body. If there really is a serious lack, it will develop as a hunger, not a craving, and there's a difference. Breaking the mental link between a particular food and how it makes you feel is a great idea, because then you stop craving it.

Like Angela said, you can still like it, but you won't be giving into the overwhelming mental desire for it.

[Defiance]

Originally Posted by Angela Leeds

Or switch to healthy chocolate and view it as food!

I frequently use raw cacao powder in my live green smoothies...it's delicious, high in magnesium and antioxidants, has proven itself to me as an appetite suppresant -- both energizes and satiates me. great stuff.

I use about 3 Tablespoons for a nice dark-chocolate flavor, and I usually pair with fresh spinach or parsley. For sweetener I use either banan or raw honey. And I include hemp seeds and/or raw coconut oil for creaminess (and their both super-healthy in their own right). I also like to add a 1-2 inch piece of vanilla bean. Sometimes I add some maca powder, and a dash of Himalayan crystal salt.

Very good stuff...

Amen, Angela! The only thing I would add is raw carob is also a great substitute for chocolate, very healthy and delicious!

Also, try a dash of cayenne with your chocolate. Yummy! It really brings out the flavor. I saw that in Naked Chocolate and was hesitant to try it, but boy I am glad I did!

[Angela Leeds]

I love adding chile to my chocolate.

Never cared for carob, but I do keep carob powder in my kitchen & add it to chocolate smoothies...the calcium in it gives a milky kind of undertone. I find it stinky by itself, tho.

My father is from Greece, and we always had a carob plant around the house growing up. "Poor man's chocolate". He still loves chewing raw carob pods.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Martyn13

There is a reason for all cravings - They satisfy a need - either a physical or an emotional need - Chocolate is merely food for the emotions.
It helps you to become whole. ..... If you prevent the body expressing its imbalance in one form, it will find another way to manifest ....

You and I just have different ways of looking at it. You may be right that it's worth looking at your cravings to see what your body really needs. And I would find this approach of seeing a craving as a "need" to be overfiguring, as I fully trust that my conscious and subconscious mind are both in accord that Ben & Jerry's is not a physical or emotional "need," but rather, a preference. Chocolate doesn't happen to be my problem, and the OP will have to check in with her own internal alignment on that one.

Like most preferences, there is usually more than one way of satisfying it, some more appropriate than others. For instance, when I crave ice cream, it's usually really thirst, and a glass of water satisfies my body's "imbalance." The craving for ice cream (and, I suspect in some cases, chocolate) is not so much a nutritional or spiritual imbalance as it is a HABIT - and techniques that involve deliberate thought are excellent in disappearing habits. I'm with you on the pills, though.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Angela

Chocolate doesn't happen to be my problem...

Although.... Angela Leeds' recent post has gotten me all worked up like one of Pavlov's dogs!

[therisingsun09]

Read this: Controlling intake of food

Sorry it's so long

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by Angela

Although.... Angela Leeds' recent post has gotten me all worked up like one of Pavlov's dogs!

<<arf!>>

[Eric Roosevelt]

Originally Posted by Susanna77

Thanks everyone for all the input. I can say I've had no chocolate yet today but I am feeling like it. I have a fridge full of Cadbury bars but fortunately I don't like that kind: I'm on a dark chocolate phase so I can easily pass on that one.

Could you develop a little more on the "become addicted to their own feelings"? When I used to eat WHOLE BIG bars of chocolate during my teens my cousin said it was due to my lack of self-esteem, lack of love, etc. I don't eat big bars anymore; I just crave one chocolate a day and not a big bar. So...is that due still having "a little" low self-esteem?

I mean addiction in the most simple sense, i.e. depending on a certain emotional experience in order to feel good about yourself and function. You've already seen improvement though, which is great.

Maybe you just like the taste of chocolate. It's not a crime to like chocolate, by the way. Millions of people around the world would agree with you. Chocolate has actually been proven to contain small amounts of addictive substances. Then again, I'm sure you know at some deeper level that you really don't need to be eating chocolate. You could live without it.

I would also recommend something like what Angela was saying (i.e. looking for substitutes for the chocolate, or whatever habit you want to break). Just keep trying things, and if one thing doesn't work, try something else.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Angela Leeds

<<arf!>>

You really ring my bell, woman!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt

...if one thing doesn't work, try something else.

One of my all-time favorite pieces of advice!

[Eric Roosevelt]

Originally Posted by Angela

One of my all-time favorite pieces of advice!

Haha. Yeah, it's a big one. It's especially good to hear it when you're considering giving up on something. It's harder to come up with excuses when you've realized how many choices are available to you.

[smartattractor]

Susanna, why would you want to completely give up something you love so much?
The secret to successful weight management is finding a healthy regime that fits with your lifestyle. Prohibiting certain foods can never be part of a long term health regime. Nor can it ever make you feel really good when you're constantly in 'sacrifice mode'.
Losing weight happens more easily when you stop categorizing foods into 'allowed' and 'off-limits' because that's about the most self-sabotaging move you can make.


AM Caffrey
Attract Weight Loss