How To Stop Eating Chocolate In 3 Easy Steps.....
If you’ve ever wanted to stop eating chocolate you’re reading the right article. That’s because you’re about to discover my easy 3-Step Method for stopping chocolate cravings.
And the good news is that this method works even if you are a binge eater, over-eater, snacker or a secret night eater etc. Read on…
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Step 1: Start a Food Journal
Many people who are new to keeping track of what they eat, don’t even realize that they need to do this step before they can understand when and why, they feel the need to eat chocolate. And that’s why a lot of people who try to give up chocolate end up failing – they’re simply missing this crucial step.
So, the first thing you need to do is write down using a food journal, when you are eating chocolate and how you are feeling at the time e.g. stressed, bored, upset, angry etc.
You’ll find that this part of the process goes much more smoothly if you apply these tips and tricks:
Writing down everything you eat can help you to see why you eat in certain ways and it’s great for spotting signs of emotional eating, for example.
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Keeping a food journal helps you to see how often you are reaching for the Chocolate. You might think you’re not eating too much at all, but a food journal will tell you whether this is definitely true. And if there is some room for improvement , you’ll soon work it out.
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Read through the week - is it Chocolate you are reaching for or is it anything sweet that you crave instead? If so, what is it?
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Read through your journal and find out how you were feeling, is there a pattern emerging?
When I first started keeping a food journal, I made a lot of mistakes. And now that I’ve helped others do it, I see a lot of people have a tendency to make the same mistakes.
So let me share with you the top 5 mistakes and how to avoid them:
1. Thinking to yourself you have to journal with a pen and paper -
If you know you won't use a notebook but always have your smartphone with you, then use an App to keep track of what you eat. But also, if you know you'll be more likely to complete the journal with pen and paper, then go with that.
2. Failing to List Portion Sizes
So You've written down everything but not the quantities. When you record the quantities you consume, you're more likely to know exactly how much you are eating.
3. Only Writing Down Your Food
People eat when they are emotional - but most people don't think to include that argument they had with their partner just before dinner.
Did you eat an entire box of chocolate last week because you were anxious about something?
Recording how you feel when you eat certain things can help you spot your emotional eating triggers.
4. Leaving Out ‘How You Felt After You Ate’
Holding back from picking up that last piece of chocolate might be easier if you had written down how you felt the last time you ate too much of it.
It's important to keep track of your body's response to certain foods so you know which to avoid—or eat less of—to feel your best.
5. Not logging it straight the way
If you are trying to remember what you had to eat and drink yesterday it will probably be difficult and therefore not accurate.
So log after each meal or snack - or at the end of the day.
Once you’ve filled your food journal out for a week then you can move on to the next step…
Step 2: Discover How your food cravings are giving you crucial information
If you are having incredibly strong cravings for a certain type of food? Say Chocolate? Well, according to scientific research, it could be your body’s way of telling you that you’re lacking in a specific nutrient.
Genuine hunger is triggered by the stomach and if you’re hungry enough, it’s likely you’d eat pretty much anything.
Cravings though, tend to be a lot more specific and focused on a certain type of food, which gives a lot away in terms of what your body truly needs or might be lacking.
You may not realize it, but certain cravings can tell you exactly what your body is crying out for and Chocolate is a very common food craving.
Excessive Chocolate eating may mean you have a Magnesium deficiency
According to the National Institutes of Health magnesium deficiency in healthy people is uncommon because the kidneys limit urinary excretion of this mineral.
However, if you are not having enough magnesium for a sustained period. Or you are losing magnesium due to a health condition, chronic alcoholism, and/or the use of certain medications this can lead to magnesium deficiency.
Early signs of magnesium deficiency include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and weakness.
As magnesium deficiency worsens here are the signs to look for. Numbness, tingling, muscle contractions and cramps, seizures, personality changes, abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary spasms can occur.
Step 3: What Foods to Eat Instead of Chocolate
The next thing you need to do is find foods that will give you the magnesium instead of you reaching for chocolate.
What to eat instead: Boost your magnesium intake with:
- Leafy greens
- Avocado
- Pumpkin seeds
If you really can’t stay away from chocolate, make sure you go for dark chocolate that is rich in cacao (at a minimum 70%) and just stick to one or two squares.
As a general rule of thumb: the darker the chocolate, the more magnesium it’s likely to have.
To end this craving while making sure your body gets the nutrients it needs, switch to healthy magnesium-rich alternatives; including:
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Dates
And who says nuts and seeds can’t be just as tasty as chocolate?
Another option is to consume spinach extract. An interesting study showed a dramatic drop of 87% in chocolate cravings when a mere 5 grams of spinach extract was taken alongside a meal.
Spinach delays digestion and naturally fends off hormones that would otherwise cause cravings or hunger.
Planning Your Meals
At this step you’re likely to notice that you are forgetting about how you will include the alternative choices. So, what you need to do is PLAN your meals in advance, so that you are getting the new choices daily into your diet.
I still remember the first time I was doing this step and trying to eat less chocolate. I swapped to dark chocolate and I was surprised that immediately I ate less chocolate. But then started to find ways of getting those alternative foods into my diet on a daily basis. This was done by planning the meals (and snacks) I was having.
Now I hardly ever crave chocolate at all. It takes a bit of effort but well worth it in the end and weight loss will be an added bonus!
Dark Chocolate
To sum up chocolate can be eaten in moderation - an ounce several times a week, as long as it’s at least 70% cacao and dairy-free.
Dark chocolate have a number of health benefits, such as supporting nitric oxide production, an antioxidant necessary for healthy blood flow. It helps stimulate production of endorphins and feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine.
It provides a mineral that most of us are lacking - magnesium, says Dr Jeffrey Morrison MD an award-winning medical doctor, leader in the field of Integrative Medicine, at the Morrison Center in New York City.
And there you have it – a simple 3 -Step Method for Eating Less Chocolate. Now that you know how to Stop Eating Chocolate, there’s just one thing left for you to do: take action.
So get to it, and soon you too will be eating less chocolate and feeling healthier!
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