Eating Chocolate as Part of Weight Loss

Yes, chocolate can have a place in your weight loss plan.

First, as you have heard me say repeatedly, I do not believe any foods should be off-limits completely. That is just no fun! Not only that, it can lead to feeling deprived which then tends to prompt us to binge.

We don't want to be in that cycle. We want to be in a healthy cycle where we feel good about ourselves and the progress we are making towards achieving our ideal health goals.

So incorporating some of your favorite foods, in small portions can actually help you lose weight in the long run!

Now--don't let that lead you to believe you can just eat bon-bons all day long! Nor does it mean that we should eat large quantities of the "healthy chocolate" that you see advertised.

It is important that we change our thinking--not just what we eat. I have done that before and it has always backfired! If you swap eating a dozen chocolate chip cookies for a bag of low-cal cookies you are not really changing the thought process or the behavior! I contend that even if what you swap for is carrot sticks you are still not changing the thinking. Because if you still stuff yourself, at some point you will decide the carrot sticks just aren't cutting it and look out baby--then a super-binge is on the way!

When we change our thinking about food and our bodies and begin to really love ourselves we want to truly take care of these wonderful bodies we have. One of the ways we take care of them is to fuel them properly rather than stuffing them with food because something is "eating us" emotionally! Instead we learn other ways to deal with issues and no longer feel the need to self-medicate with food.

But fueling properly doesn't mean you never get to have a treat...and chocolate is a great treat AND can actually have some health benefits.

Be sure to eat dark chocolate for maximum heart benefits. And take small pieces--you only need 1/4 oz to achieve the benefits--that means a standard size chocolate bar will pretty much last you a week.