Is it best to go cold turkey or have cheats

As has been said giving up something you truly love is both difficult and unnecessary. However I would council against eating one of those massive "for sharing" bars at once. Honestly if you eat a single chocolate bar after exercise your body will burn most of those calories right away. However if you binge on it almost all of those calories will end up on your waistline. I know I know binging is just so satisfying. But trust me binging on just about anything is just terrible for you and really will slow your weight loss. For me my poison wasn't chocolate however but coca cola. I did eventually manage to give it up completely. i had to i was drinking 6 liters of the wretched stuff some days. And i can tell you this. The first week is by far the hardest.

My advice go gold turkey for about a fortnight. And not just chocolate. You have to keep your sugar intake tightly under control. NO refined sugars whatsoever. Fruit only in moderation. You will need some willpower but if this was easy you wouldn't be an addict. After that re introduce chocolate to your diet in moderation. I am sure you will be surprised that your body has adapted and is now satisfied with much less. Your trouble and mine is that we enjoy something unhealthy too much. And as we bombard our body with sugar and hormonal happy chemicals it requires more and more to get the same effect. I am sorry to say that speaking as a fellow sugar addict you will NOT succeed unless you spend some time going cold turkey.

If after two weeks of cold turkey you eat once piece of chocolate and binge then you gotta go cold turkey again ... for longer. You simply must break your bodies dependance on sugar for energy. And trust me I know how hard that can be to break. The thing you need to realize is that you are ADDICTED to sugar. You are sick and you need to cure yourself. Everything in moderation approach only works for people who aren't addicts. I am sorry to be the bearer of ill news as i went through this myself. But that's the only approach that worked for me.

And honestly I don't think I can ever have full sugar soft drinks again. i am honestly afraid I would fall right back off the wagon. I know I know I'm talking about sugar not alcohol or drugs. But I believe very firmly that excessive sugar can be extremely addictive. I had waaaaay more trouble giving up the sugar than i ever did giving up smoking. I'm not saying you have to forswear chocolate forever. Your mileage may vary. But understand that breaking your bodies dependance on sugar comes first and foremost.

I know a lot of people say, "moderation is key." But for me, I at first couldn't do moderation. Starting off, I couldn't have trigger foods in the house, I didn't have control, I couldn't stop, I just couldn't do 'moderation.' I wouldn't be able to just break off a square of chocolate.. nope, I needed the whole thing! And then I'd be like... oh no, I need something salty to balance off this sweetness.

So, if you can do moderation, then do it! if not.. maybe you are like me, and need to have a break cold turkey. Then I began to learn how to have things in moderation. Or I would try to have healthy substitutes. If I am craving chocolate (everyday), then I will make a smoothie with chocolate protein powder with banana and peanut butter or with dark cherries!

You have to find out what works for you! If I really want a chocolate bar, then I'll buy a Cadbury one (I have found Mars bars, snickers, etc. taste like chemical chocolate - Cadbury is the way to go!) I will split it in half (one serving) and then give the rest to my boyfriend, and say "Eat this!" haha I look at it now as, what food will give me the best nutrients to fuel my body/fuel my workouts, give me energy, help me concentrate, etc. And if I do that 80% of the time, then yes, I'm going to have some chocolate if I want to and am craving it!

OP, like you I have a really bad sweet tooth. I'm also a binge eater. Before when I would go on a "diet" I would demonize certain foods (no more chocolate, no more soda, no more cookies, etc.) so, of course, that would trigger a three day binge on just those foods. Especially when vendors would bring them for us, etc.

So using the philosophy "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got[ten]." - Tony Dinozzo, NCIS - I stopped demonizing the food, fit it into my macros, logged everything (even when if I went over my calorie allowance) and have been doing that since, I think February. Lately I've noticed that my cravings have changed a bit. The past 2 days I've craved hard boiled eggs. The few days before that it was freshly ground, unsweetened peanut butter. Before that it was Greek yogurt with vanilla and a tablespoon of carob powder. That's as close to chocolate cravings as I've gotten recently, even when the vendors went BSC giving us candy. Oh, I did have 2 fun-sized pkgs of M&Ms and 2 bite-sized Three Muskateers bars (70 cals/pkg and 24 cals/bar respectively, if anyone cares)

Keep on the program, your tastes and cravings will change as your body adjusts. Demonize nothing, just stay within your macros, your calorie allowance (if you can) and log everything.

OP: what it comes to sweets or other junky foods I think the question: really want it OR mindless gobbling. For years I've mainlined junk and much of the time I didn't even really want it. It was all about feeding my needy inner child. Instead I am now trying to make a reasoned effort to decide WHY I want a treat. I've cut out the Coke which I was swilling with abandon. But recently I bought some excellent cookies at a pizza shop that only sells them on Friday. I split one with the husband (also trying to lose weight) and those few bites were satisfying. Also, the smallest size soft ice cream cone. Just no more of the big candy bars. There are lots of nutrition bars with fewer calories and more good stuff.

wishing you luck!