I am addicted to chocolate and can't stop.

I have two methods that help me from going overboard. 1.) I allow myself one meal a week that is whatever I want. You could save that one night for that high calorie chocolate treat you love. or 2.) If you want chocolate but binge eat huge sizes THEN DON"T BUY the big ones. Just get the single serving sizes and savor them. Good luck.

I have a rule to avoid chocolate by itself. For example, I can eat a granola bar with chocolate, a trail mix with chocolate chips, or chocolate-dipped strawberries. I also like adding a half teaspoon cocoa powder to steamed unsweetened vanilla almond milk, which is a low-calorie treat. This helps me avoid overindulging.

It is a choice as others have said. I've been a chocoholic my entire life. The one thing that helped me when I first started was to not bring things into the house that would tempt me. I also started buying dark chocolate in individually wrapped pieces. Believe it or not, over the months my craving for chocolate has really lessened. One or two pieces of dark chocolate does the trick for me now and I rarely want more than my 2 pieces.

Now, is this because I have learned to control my cravings or is it because the dark chocolate has magical powers to stop my carvings? :laugh: I'm pretty sure it is the former. Keep working on it. Learning to control our food cravings is an ongoing practice. Keep at it. If you truly want to lose the weight - you'll find the power within yourself to do it!

Good luck.

I struggle with chocolate too. Now - quite shockingly - I'm starting to train myself into this moderation thing. Kinda.

Just to give you some context here, back in the day I would easily wolf down an enormous bag (500g!) of Smarties in one sitting. They're basically like a yummier version of M&Ms, haha. A block of chocolate? Entire packet of biscuits? Easy. I was that kid who could eat their whole Easter basket/Halloween haul in one sitting. AS A SNACK.

So, here's what happened:

When I started keeping track of what I was eating, there were more than a few occasions where I would use up my entire day's worth of calories in chocolate by noon (or at the very least a significant portion of it). Usually this was on weekends, because those were the two days university didn't cater for our accomodation package. Now, since I was ridiculously stubborn (and still am) about not seeing those little red numbers...let's just say I went to bed more than a little hungry. Stupid, in retrospect, because ultimately I was depriving myself of proper nutrients and so on, but MY GOD did I learn. I was one of those people who just had to figure things out the hard way. Habit broke pretty quick after that. I still wasn't eating spectacularly on the two days I had to fend for myself (think microwave macaroni and cheese), but it sure as heck was better than a 1000+ calorie Cadbury binge first thing in the morning.

Fast forward to having moved off campus and now preparing all my own meals. I realized that although I could say no to chocolate and leave it sitting in the cupboard for months at a time, once it was opened there was no stopping me. One moment of weakness, one promise to myself that I would just have a little bit, and...oh look, it's all gone. Oops. So at that point I stopped buying it altogether.

Thing is, I love chocolate. Even if I don't have it in the house, I won't be able to avoid it for the rest of my life. And if I ban it, I'll feel deprived and crave it a thousand times worse. Which would make my encounters with the stuff a disaster waiting to happen. So, my general philosophy with grocery shopping has basically become, "If you can't be responsible with it, it's not going in the trolley". If I buy a pack of biscuits and eat the entire thing in one sitting, well, guess I won't be buying those again. Or at least not until I feel like I can do a better job in the self-control department. It's kind of like incentive, really. If I stick to my two choclate biscuit/squares of chocolate/whatever quota with my morning cuppa then in the long run, I get more of them! And I find that I actually enjoy them more, since I focus on what I'm doing instead of mindlessly munching through everything. Oh, and it means I can buy the good quality stuff (I love Lindt). Because it's worth spending the money on since it's my special treat.

Not sure if my talking through my entire relationship with chocolate will help any, but I'll move on with a few tips I picked up that have helped me.

- Dark chocolate. You tend to need less of it to get the same sense of satisfaction. Yes, it's better for you and all that, but also unlike milk chocolate it's a bit more of an effort to consume in epic portions.

- Don't let your PMS go shopping. Just...don't. Stick to your shopping list. If the chocolate's already in the house and you live with someone, tell them to hang onto/hide it until your willpower comes back if you feel it slipping. I try to eat foods higher in magnesium to combat cravings, but it doesn't make them disappear altogether.

- Since chocolate's pretty calorie-dense, you can find other ways to still get the flavour while feeling full. I mix chocolate in oatmeal or have hot chocolate. I have chocolate Up&Go for when I have to be somewhere absurdly early, and my protein powder is...you guessed it, chocolate flavoured. Some brands of chocolate mousse (like OMG or Soleil) are pretty low calorie as well, and there should be some single-serve chocolate puddings or yogurts that aren't too bad either.

- Only buy one small pack of biscuits or a small block of chocolate to start off with. It may cost more to start off with, but I found it easier to start with a pack of 5 biscuits and learn how to control having that in the house before I was able to handle buying 2 packs of 12 when they were on sale at the supermarket. I have a bit of an ingrained 'finish-the-plate-and-do-it-quick' mentality, so that was what helped combat it.

- After you've portioned out how much you're going to have, put the rest of the pack away. And in an annoying cupboard that you have to bend down/climb on a chair and rummage around in to get it (my snack cupboard is the one right behind the bin, to make the process extra difficult). Make sure they aren't staring you in the face when you go to said cupboard - out of sight, out of mind. So keep them at the back, behind something, and/or in an opaque container.

- Eat away from the kitchen. If you have two snacks a day and during one of them you will be at work or otherwise out of the house, have it then. That way you physically cannot go back for seconds.

- Focus on what you're doing. Savour every bite. And have something else after it like an apple or a cup of tea to make you feel full and to get the flavour out of your mouth (if I can still taste it, I tend to want more).

- Don't carry loose change. That way you won't be inclined to hit the vending machine or anything like that. I know I've probably saved myself hundreds of dollars by simply not keeping coins in my purse. Granted, it's a hassle sometimes when you genuinely need change, but worth it in the long run.

And wow. I think I rambled quite a bit here. But that's all I can think of for now, so I'll wrap this up. Best of luck to you and congrats on your weight loss progress thus far

I'm much the same way. I don't buy candy. I can't remember the last time I did. But I do have a 100 calorie deep chocolate vitatop after lunch and dinner every single day. I budget it in to my daily allotment, and I never feel deprived. If I could cut those out, I would theoretically lose 0.4 pounds more a week, but I would never be able to sustain that as a lifestyle change, so I accept my results as they are and go on with my life.

Maybe try buying one square of Ghirardelli chocolate or one Lindt truffle for your chocolate fix?

I know buying "economy size" is more economical, but some things I have to buy the single-serving packets. No sense in saving a few cents now if down the road I'll be bogged down with even more medical bills than I already have!

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.