How to handle Chocolate cravings like a BOSS
At some point in your life you’ve had a chocolate craving, maybe you still get them, but they don’t bother you too much. Great job!
Well, this blog is actually for my certified chocolate addicts out there. I have some tips for you to help you deal with those cravings and these tips work. They’ve worked on my clients, and on me. So without further ado, see them below;
My first tip is to eat some chocolate but before you indulge in some creamy, chocolatey goodness, read the other ones first. I mean well with this point and I’ll come back to it.
1. Create Space - Right, this needs to happen immediately, the moment that follows the craving. Create space between the thought process of desiring chocolate, and the action of grabbing the chocolate and eating it. This is a technique that I encourage in yoga, when the discomfort arises, before giving in to an action that will distract you from that discomfort - try just observing it. Ask yourself, why do you need the chocolate? Are you bored? lonely? hungry? Thirsty? In love with your boss? Rather than using chocolate as a distraction from these uncomfortable emotions, take a moment to let them surface. When you allow them to arise, over time, you can change your neurological pattern of craving chocolate, to instead going for a walk, or a yoga class.
2. Hydrate - A craving for anything can often be the cause of dehydration, it’s just that over time you have read those signs as a chocolate craving rather than the need for H2O. Try drinking some quality water with a little sea salt or a raw, unpasteurised coconut water to help quickly rehydrate you. This will also create space between desiring the chocolate and consuming it.
3. Quality will determine the Quantity - Have you ever tried to down a whole pack of 70 - 80% raw cacao, sugarless, Peruvian dark chocolate? It’s so rich it almost makes my mouth dry and stomach churn at the thought. If you’re only buying quality, real, actually healthy chocolate, there is absolutely no chance you’re going to eat it all in one sitting, like one may do with the more milky, sugary, types. Be aware here that there are a lot of chocolate brands out there jumping on the ‘health’ train. Look out for the sugar content of chocolate, sweetening something with a date doesn’t suddenly mean that it isn’t sugar. It is.
4. Have a big portion of green vegetables (my favourite way to eat them is here). If you fill yourself with healthy snacks that you can never really have too much of, you are less inclined to reach for or have the space for unhealthy snacks. The end. It’s a simple one, but incredibly effective.
5. And finally, eat some chocolate - ok so let me explain myself here… There is a vicious cycle that comes from a dangerous cocktail of guilt, shame, restricting and bingeing. If all of my above tips have failed you, then just go ahead, have some chocolate, but this time, instead of being riddled with guilt and paralysed with shame on each mouthful, try enjoying it. Try acknowledging that you are beautiful, strong and sexy and that this chocolate will nourish you the way it needs to. Look at the chocolate as you eat it and think wow, this chocolate is full of nutrients and I am going to feel and look great after eating it. I know it sounds ridiculous and far fetched, but a positive perspective is a powerful tool that can break all bad habits. Haven’t you learned anything from Disney? Love is a much powerful force than hate - so why not try it on yourself.
Happy Eating.
x
Miss Vertue.