Don't Deny Your Chocolate Cravings

by Lisa P | More from this Blogger

02 Nov 2007 05:04 AM

First, I want to say that chocolate can be a deadly sin for many dieters. If you're the kind of person who can eat three chocolate kisses and then stop, that is great. But if a small piece of chocolate will start you rolling down Hershey Bar Hill and you won't be able to stop until you've hit the bottom and eaten every piece of chocolate in the house then forget it. What you have is not a craving but an addiction. If you have a simple occasional craving for chocolate while dieting, don't deny it. British researchers found that denying a chocolate craving can lead to a disastrous rebound effect where we just binge on it when we finally give in. Believe it or not, it can be safer for you to keep those Hershey's kisses around the house for the random craving than to empty the house completely of all chocolate. Something I like to do is keep a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in my kitchen. I find that having 10-20 chocolate chips can curb my cravings and still keep my diet on track. By going with semi-sweet instead of milk chocolate, I'm also getting the benefit of more antioxidants and less sugar and fat.

Now back to that research.

A University of Hertfordshire research team studied 130 volunteers. They found that women who were asked to suppress their thoughts about chocolate consumed 50% more when they finally ate some. One needn't be a scientist to know that isn't good!

Denial as a method of weight control has never really worked for me. I had a roommate in college that used to "tsk-tsk" every time she saw me eat or I mentioned how much I'd like to have a certain food. Her behavior just made me angry and made me want to eat those forbidden foods that much more. Years later, I found success by keeping potato and chocolate chips in the cupboard and a half-gallon of ice cream in the refrigerator. When it was there, I didn't feel denied. Somehow, knowing that I could have them whenever I wanted them kept me from actually digging into them.

What works for you? Do you deny or allow? If you are the kind of dieter that denies yourself, how does it work for you? Do you rebound and binge?

Related Blog:

Lose Weight By Eating More

Learn more about Lisa P

Lisa used to be a freelance writer and Community Manager for Families.com, but she has finally made the jump to novelist.

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Valorie Delp (49340) 05 Nov 2007 03:30 AM

Why would I want to visit your blog when you've just been so rude? Did you actually read anything in this blog besides the title? It's a blog about some current research that was done. Next time before you leave a comment. . .consider actually reading the blog your commenting on. And if you want people to visit your blog. . .try being a little nicer.

Lisa P (24013) 05 Nov 2007 06:56 AM

Thanks, Valorie. That person was totally out of line. It is people who think like that that make life much more difficult for overweight people.

Step4now - By assuming that all overweight people are porking out on fast food and lying around eating chocolate all day you're just perpetuating a a really narrow-minded and bigoted myth. Take it somewhere else. That attitude isn't welcome here.