Confessions of a Chocolate Addict

chocolateWhen it comes to chocolate…

…I feel like a drug addict.

Does anyone else feel this way? I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but it’s how I feel. Sometimes I truly feel a little uneasy, a bit cranky, a bit whatever if I don’t get some chocolate. I am usually okay, but on some days…

Are you like this? Do you have an addiction to chocolate? A passion for pasta?

I think the predominant addiction is chocolate, and I’m not the only one who things so. According to this study from Northwestern University, “Many food scientists have reported chocolate to be the single most craved food. Some researchers have even argued that chocolate is addictive.”

So what can you do about it? There are some things:

1. Ease yourself off it. If you eat a chocolate bar a day (which I hope none of you actually do), try cutting it down to half a bar for one week. Then a quarter of a bar for the next week and after that, try cutting daily down to every other day and so on.

2. Go cold turkey. That’s probably the hardest way and the one that will see you with some side effects, but it might be the only way that helps you.

3. Give yourself strict limits. This only works if you have enough will power, but while I was cutting down my sweets but not ready to go completely without it, I limited myself to two squares (about the size of the tip of my pinky) of dark (healthier) chocolate.

4. Find a healthier alternative. My big thing now is actually raw chocolate, free from sugar, flour, dairy, all that other crap and even free from artificial sweeteners.

Do you have any food addictions? What do you do to save yourself from overindulgence?

Comments (2)

HanlieNovember 26th, 2009 at 10.26 pm

Funny, I’m actually sipping on a delicious and decadent raw cacao smoothie as we speak!

I’m not a huge chocoholic – my weakness is bread and butter or pasta and a creamy sauce, in other words, refined carbs and fat. You might find that the more food you eat, the less you will crave chocolate and sweets. Similarly, I take care to get enough good fats (extra-virgin olive oil, nuts & seeds, coconut oil and flax) in so that my cravings are reduced.

JaimeNovember 29th, 2009 at 9.37 pm

Eating with more nutrition in mind than satisfaction has definitely helped me along the way. :)