I am addicted to chocolate and can't stop.
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I love chocolate too. However, the only way I would allow myself to have chocolate was if it was dark chocolate. Start with the lower percentage -(or highest) and go up or down from there. I am comfortable with 88% and can eat a couple squares and then my craving is gone.0
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I am so sorry you are struggling with chocolate right now. I can relate all too well. For me it was the empty carbs as in white breads, pasta etc.
Like one poster said before you might get your blood sugar checked and get tested for diabetes if you could be at risk for that. I have learned that I just need to keep some things out of the house for now. I will introduce them back into my life at a later point but for now they have to go. It is hard at first but it gets easier. It is to some extent about choice: Is it more important to calm the craving right now, or is it worth to go through the pain (and it is very painful I will not deny that) and lose some weight in the long run? Do you prefer to skip the struggle with food right now and struggle with your weight and the related health issues for the rest of your life?
Another thing I wanted to mention is, you might want to take a look at your food diary and see if you eat enough foods that keep you full, proteins, high fiber foods, also some healthy fats and complex carbs, veggies. If your body is sensitve to quick spikes in blood sugar, then this may be helpful to calm these cravings down a little.
You could also set mini goals and mini rewards for yourself. For example if you go x amount of days without chocolate then you will reward yourself with a non food reward. Make it special. There are many things to be learned and many milestones to be achieved. You can do it and you have already come a long ways, don't give up. Weight loss is hard, but it is well worth it.0 -
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I'm currently knee deep in chocolate addiction too!
I was doing really well for a while and buying dark chocolate covered ginger biscuits that were so strong in the ginger department it was impossible to have more than one!
Although this week I have returned to work (student nurse) after four months off very ill, and have been using chocolate as a coping mechanism. I feel your pain. Not looking forward to next weigh in.0 -
okay then have some good chocotlate choices around to have that our guilt free like sugar free hot cocoa, or sugar free chocolate pudding or the chocolate Yoplait whips yogurt or a weigh watcher fudge pop or some chocolate special k cereal or some silk chocolate milk (soy or almond is best so try silk its good) or try the soda pop cake recipe: its a chocolate cake mix with only a can of diet cola or diet dr pepper (no oil or eggs needed) .. its chocalatey and low cal too. They even make a chocolate flavored cool whip you can keep in your freezer then use it as a ice cream substitute. Don't fight it, just work with new ideas.0
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From one former chocoholic to a present day one, I completely understand what you are going through. I too couldn't stop after one bite - and this went on for many years.
What I found is that when there are certain nutrients missing from the diet, you become out of control with a particular food (and in our case, chocolate).
While every person is different and the body's needs change over time, the following is what has been super successful for me in terms of eliminating the cravings, allowing me to enjoy "one square" of chocolate as I choose.
The first change I did that resulted in a complete loss of cravings (and out-of-controlness, if that's even a word) is I started drinking green smoothies in the morning. Packed full of micro-nutrients, I found I craved this daily (for a good 6-8 months), dropped about 10 pounds and got control of food. You need a really good blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec). Here was my absolute FAVORITE, and super yummy, smoothie: 10 oz. water, 1/2 c. pineapple, 1/2 orange, 1/2 frozen (peeled) banana, 1 1/2 handfuls of spinach, 1/8-1/4 bunch of fresh parsley (minus the stems) and 2-3 fresh basil leaves. Everyone who has tried this drink loves it!
One day I found myself not wanting the smoothie anymore - I think my body was saturated with whatever nutrients it derived from the smoothie, and I found myself wanting... FAT. Good fats. So right now I'm on a kick where I am drinking my morning coffee with 1 tbsp. coconut oil, 2 tbsp. heavy cream (shaken, not stirred - yes, in a mason jar shake the coffee, cream and oil together or put through a blender). This has kept me full, allowed me to drop even more weight because I'm eating less and craving NOTHING, and my skin looks awesome! (Ref. www.westonaprice.org)0 -
OP here...I'm sorry I couldn't get back on the thread until now. I went to bed last night with no replies only to come back to a big response!
Thanks for all your support, I wish that I could respond to each of you individually. Here is what I'm going to do:
1. Go today and tomorrow without chocolate. That's two days, I can handle it.
2. On Wednesday, I will buy some 70% dark chocolate and have what I want of it.
3. Go another two days, rinse, repeat, then try three days without.
One of my struggles is living so close to a grocery store. I literally live less than one block from the store, which I purposely chose because I don't have a car. Now, I hate going to the grocery store, but my urge for chocolate has won over my hatred of the grocery store many, many times.0 -
Well, first of all, you are not "addicted" to chocolate
I too am a chocoholic. I've read a statistic that 90% of Americans eat chocolate in some form every day. I will readily confess that I am that 90%.
I try to get my chocolate "fix" in small ways instead of eating a whole candy bar. For example, chocolate-flavored protein shakes, or chocolate chips in my granola bar, or a mocha-flavored coffee.
However, the point is to log, log, log. As long as you're staying within your calorie limits, you'll lose weight over time, even if you eat chocolate every day.
This summer, due to a cross-country move and us not getting our new apartment as quickly as I'd thought we would, I lived in a hotel for 5 weeks. I ate a Snicker's bar from the vending machine every day, but carefully logged my calories. I lost 7 lbs that month. It's not the chocolate that's doing you in - it's the calories it contains, so just count it all and work it into your calorie bank for the day.0 -
I absolutely cannot control myself if I've purchased it. I will eat ALL of whatever it is I've bought. Even dark chocolate. I can't seem to limit myself to "one square a day" or "one 100-cal fudgescicle" a day.
Hi mirrinias;
First, CONGRATULATIONS on your loss so far! Great to see long-term results.
Would it help to only keep unsweetened chocolate in the house? I'm talking about the 99% cocoa, seriously bitter/inedible stuff. That way you need to dilute it before it can be eaten -- 10 grams melted into a cupful of fat-free milk makes a decadent hot chocolate. Or you can microwave the same amount with 30mL milk and a sprinkle of salt, then dip an entire 250g punnet of strawberries into it. Both under 150 calories and much bigger/more satisfying than a tiny square of chocolate.
I'm not an addiction expert so will leave that part of the question to more capable responders. Good luck!
The strawberry solution sounds absolutely amazing.0 -
Fortunately I don't have a sweet tooth possibly due to the way I was raised an being male. I'm also glad I don't have coffee/soda/alcohol addiction as I only drink water. But I did have a chips and pizza diet throughout highschool which is how I gained 40 pounds. I have since lost the weight after half a year and now I eat only eat a small bag or two of chips every few weeks satisfy any lingering cravings.0
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Just stop eating it if you cant control yourself with it in the house. Try to eat a piece of fruit or have a cup of tea with honey whenever you crave the chocolate. You WILL train your mind to enjoy the fruit/tea or whatever instead of the chocolate. Eventually you will not crave it anymore. Ask yourself, do I want to get in shape and be healthy, or do I want that candy bar more?0
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Buy smaller serving size portions of chocolate each time you want them? Living close to a grocery store can be challenging, but if you have to leave your house, walk to the grocery, go inside, buy 1 piece of chocolate, walk home, and eat it every time you want chocolate it might make you take the time to think about it. I don't think I'd want the grocery store clerks to wonder why I was coming in four times a day to buy 1 piece of chocolate.0
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I wonder if the problem is actually vanilla. It is one of the things which is slipped into food and is considered to be "good" as a flavouring. It is high in salicylate and it can be addictive, from experience. I am salicylat sensitive and it is a real pain.
all the best0 -
A lot of good ideas have been shared here; I hope you find at least one that works for you. I would not recommend eliminating all chocolate because it sounds like it may lead to a binge for you. I would recommend not having any chocolate in your house in order in minimize the possibility of a binge. I would suggest allowing you to go once a day to a store to purchase one piece of candy, which you allow, calorie-wise, into your daily amount. I would also recommend eating it when you are home; if you are out driving, you may just stop at another store and get more candy! You may wish to not have any food with just a little chocolate (like drizzled on a granola bar) because that may trigger a chocolate binge, as well. Just some thoughts...0
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The only chocolate I allow myself to have is homemade chocolate milk (skim milk w/ a little bit of Hershey's syrup) or low cal hot chocolate (from a puch). Any other chocolate I eat sends me into a big tailspin, and I will eat and eat until I'm sick. I cna't have the milk or cocoa too often or it will do the same, so I limit it to 2-3 times a week max.
Sure I could have chocolate in the house and try to limit it (BTDT), but why make myself suffer needlessly? I know it's not exactly the same, but you don't tell a smoker trying to quit to leave a pack of smokes lying around. Best to just not be around it. I'm expending enough energy trying to lsose weight, so I don't have any extra to spare. Someday I will be able to work on being around chocolate and not eating it.0 -
P.S. Chocolate truly is a wonderful thing.0
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Lots of good advice here, so I won't add to any confusion but I thought I would tell you a little story to make you smile and maybe understand how I, as a former chocaholic, now can't stand the stuff, except in VERY small amounts and then only really good quality, high percentage types (never less than 70%).
How did it happen?
I was sent on a 6-week training placement in a CHOCOLATE factory!
Now, you say, that would be heaven and indeed it was for the first week or so. The smell of chocolate and the sight of it going through all the machinery in various forms, melted, as chocolate box chocolates, as solid bars, even as Easter eggs.
However, by the 2nd week, the sense of heaven was beginning to wear off and whilst I still liked chocolate, I wasn't so bothered by it. Why? Because you can't get away from the all pervading smell of the stuff and it clings to your clothes and your hair. Now that is fine for a short time but it was beginning to get rather sickening.
By the end of the 3rd week, I was really starting to dread going into the placement. I could smell the chocolate factory from 3 or 4 miles away because the prevailing wind was coming towards me as I travelled there. When I got there, the warmth and clinging smells literally wrapped around me and there was no escape. Lunchtimes became hellish because I might want a really nice meal but everything smelled and tasted of chocolate (ever tried a nice crisp salad with chicken and the whole thing tastes like it has been sprayed with a fine mist of chocolate all over? It's not nice, believe me!).
The last straw came in my 5th week, when I was monitoring one of the workforce - their duties that day took them to the place where those small cream eggs were made (quite a few explode, believe me, when they are injected with the sweet creme) and then later they were on a production line where a certain bar that is full of bubbles was being made. Well, the sight of gas being pumped through liquid chocolate and then being piped onto the conveyor belt was just too much. My eyes looked at this and compared it with someone with diarrhoea and yet my nose was smelling chocolate. I HAD to leave what I was doing and go and throw up in the toilets!
I DID make it through the whole 6 weeks but the last week was one helluva a struggle. And it took me ages to get the smell of chocolate out of my hair and clothes. But the one good thing was that I no longer craved chocolate! I suppose that it was Aversion Therapy in a fairly extreme form.
Actually, just writing about it has brought back the memories and made me feel kinda sick....0 -
You can consume chocolate by inhaling which avoids the calories.0
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If buying just a small amount to have at home isn't an option, try having NONE of it at home but then going out to enjoy a treat like a single scoop of ice cream at an ice cream shop when you have room in your calories. The bother of having to go to the shop plus the higher cost might help you learn to pace yourself. You just have to muster the self-discipline not to order a triple-scoop when you go.0
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Hi everyone,
I've been doing all right. 36 lbs down since Nov 2012. Not as fast as I'd like, but hey...a loss is a loss!
But my problem is this: Everyone pretty much agrees that we shouldn't cut what we love the most out of our diet completely, or we'll fail. I agree. But it seems with chocolate, I absolutely cannot control myself if I've purchased it. I will eat ALL of whatever it is I've bought. Even dark chocolate. I can't seem to limit myself to "one square a day" or "one 100-cal fudgescicle" a day.
But if I deny myself chocolate, it will inevitably start to invade my thoughts and I will obsess about it until I have my sweet fix...and that fix isn't just one piece of chocolate...it's one of the large candy bars (for example, an organic chocolate bar the size of a king sized Symphony) or nearly an entire box of the aforementioned fudgesicles.
I don't know how to stop. Because I know people will ask here is my info: 5'2", currently 210.4 lb, I originally had my cals set to 1380 but just upped them to 1580 because I couldn't stick with 1380. That is a 1 lb a week weight loss. For the past week I've struggled and eaten around my maintenance calories. I do not feel like opening my diary to the public and having you scrutinize my food choices at this time; I only want the question answered about beating a specific food addiction.
There's two sides to this so bear with me.
side 1: physical addiction
side 2: psychological addiction.
Let's go for side 2 first because it's quicker. I'm telling you how I've done it, so maybe it's not a good fit for you, take it or leave it.
Psychological addiction. Explore it. Do you feel like you are 'missing out?' I used to. One day I realised, however, that I'm not missing out. I can have it at the end of the diet/ tomorrow. Whatever. I'm not missing anything that I can't handle missing.
I also will eat all chocolate until it is gone, except for cooking chocolate. I was going through a phase of breaking it into 2 squares and refrigerating it broken - allowing myself one. this quickly deteriorated.
So now I have evolved to this point: if I'm gagging for some chocolate, I'll go down to the shop and buy a freddo frog. I don't wait till I'm nuts about it. I make sure I'm not hungry ever, enough to trigger my brain's survival 'get chocolate' reflex. But if needs must, I'll have a smackerel of something. A small smidge of something. And I really enjoy it. Sante bars are good, freddo frogs if you get them where you live, a small handful of chocolate caramels from the pick and mix at the supermarket. Whatever floats my boat on the day.
Physical addiction: yes. i get this. I therefore try to last as many days without chocolate as i can. If i have not had chocolate for over a week, I find I can look at it without eating it. its power over me wanes... but give me one taste? it's all on! and it can take me 2 weeks and 2 kilos to escape its evil clutches.
You'll see clearly a complete hypocrisy in what I'm saying. On the one hand I say little and when you want it: on the other I say 'get away from it and don't touch till the addiction's gone.' I sort of amalgamate them into
"when you're gasping for a choccy fix, first eat something. Something with peanut butter or cheese in it. if you're still gagging for some choc go buy some small thing. But don't let yourself go into the shop hungry or you will make baaaaaad choices."
You can savour that sante bar for an hour and get the same delight out of it as a whole family bar gutsed in one frantic sitting. But you won't wake up the next morning wishing you hadn't done it.
I love it. Mostly, because you said "smackerel". But the rest too. :flowerforyou:0 -
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I am also a die hard chocoholic. My strategy for the past few months has been to have those small after dinner chocolate covered mint patties. They are a limited amount of calories and somehow the mint combined with the chocolate seems to be more satisfying.0
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I have the same problem as you I have lost about the same as well at 33lbs total. When I first started watching what I ate I completely cut out all chocolate and the weight came off quicker and I didn't crave it nearly as much. Now that I am eating it again I fluctuate down 4 lbs up 5 down 2 up 1. It sucks!!! Honestly my problem is people know I love chocolate so they get me it for me like for instance my birthday I was put on a sugar high!!! Or my mom will make me brownies if I come for dinner. Then I feel obligated to eat it. This process sucks then causes me to crave sugar throughout the day. The only thing I can suggest is to go cold turkey. Maybe not let it in the house at all. If you can do it I guarantee you wont crave it as much. But you have to be consistent cause well I have not been and now I am stuck at the same weight.0
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I think if it's really hindering your weight loss, then you should look at it as a true addiction. Alcoholics do not drink alcohol, at all. Perhaps you need to cut chocolate, 100%. Have you tried Quest proteins bars? You get them at GNC, they are the lowest in carbs and sugar and I love them. They make a chocolate fudge brownie one that is amazing.0
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Try buying a smaller bar. You'll still get your chocolate fix but won't be in danger of eating too much of it.
Definitely don't keep a chocolate supply in the house!
^This
That way when you get home you can eat all of what you have, but you won't have that much.
However, if it's a true addiction . . .
When I quit smoking, I told myself "I can have a cigarette if I want to," but I stopped buying cigarettes. The first two weeks of quitting, I had dreams of smoking, and I would wake up startled by how real it seemed. My last cigarette was over 10 years ago. I bummed one off a friend while at a bar in New York. I did not enjoy it because I was no longer addicted to the nicotine. However, if I really wanted one, I guess I could have one. I just don't want one.
If you are addicted to chocolate SO badly that you can't have just one, you have to (metaphorically) 'smoke the whole pack', stop buying it.
I'm not saying NEVER have chocolate again. But if you're THAT helpless and you think it's undermining your progress, stop buying it. If you're at a restaurant, and you're having a meal, and you get a chocolate dessert there, at the restaurant, fine. But don't let yourself take chocolate home if you literally can't stop at one serving.
And if you think you're truly addicted, it's not just a trigger food that makes you overeat in general, maybe get some counseling to see what's really going on with you mentally/emotionally. Addiction is a disease.0 -
OOooo what a topic....This is also my addiction. I buy single pieces ONLY and don't have any in the house for SAFETY reasons...lol I also try to eat healthier chocolate like dark chocolate covered almonds ect...Good Luck : )0
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Here's a crazy idea -- eat as much chocolate as you want.
Chocolate has power over you because you restrict it. What if you just ate it whenever you wanted, as much as you wanted? Sure, you might gain a little bit at first if it puts you over your maintenance calories (and that's a big if), but after a little while, I guarantee you won't have uncontrollable cravings anymore. You can lose any incidental weight gain again (again, this isn't necessarily even going to happen), but you will have gained something really important and will be able to move past this.
Eat it mindfully. Don't eat it in front of the TV. Concentrate on the taste, look at it, smell it.
Eat until you are satisfied. Remember, you can always have more when you want it later. No need to stuff yourself until you feel sick or can't eat another bite.
Don't feel guilty! There is nothing wrong with giving your body what it wants. In time, when you really realize you can have whatever you want and nothing is "bad", your body will want what makes it feel good, and that will be what's good for you. Trust yourself.0 -
How did it happen?
I was sent on a 6-week training placement in a CHOCOLATE factory!
This actually is what happened to my grandma! Not that she was trying to quit chocolate or anything, but when she started working at a chocolate factory she and the other employees were told they could eat AS MUCH AS THEY WANTED. Heaven for a lifelong chocoholic, right?
So for the first day or two she ate EVERYTHING. Then got really sick from having done so.
And after that, didn't want any of it :laugh:0 -
I'm personally like that too, i can't control my chocolate consumption, if there's a huge box, i'll eat it all in one or too sittings. So now my trick is to pick a day in the week where i can have chocolate, but a normal size portion. What i mean by that is that i'm going to buy like a small size cream and cookie hershey's bar ( the 220 cal one) and eat it all, it will satisfy my craving, and i will not be frustrated because i got the chance to eat all the tablet in one go and i'll be done, until next week where i might pick another candy but in a smaller size. etc0
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I share your addiction. A friend of mine suggested that, for a week or so, I consume a majority of my daily calories in chocolate. Sounds crazy right? Bear with me. We've all had that certain food that we used to eat as kids where we ate SO MUCH of it that we became sick of it. This happened with me with cottage cheese. I ate it so much that for years just the thought of it made me sick. Theoretically, this could also work with chocolate.
Sounds crazy, but it may be worth a try?0
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