Oh, chocolate, you undo me.
I have a thing for chocolate. I love to eat it. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, right? Most people love chocolate. In the UK, people eat nearly 25 pounds of it every year. Here in North America, the average Canadian or US citizen eats lots less – about 11 pounds or so, but that’s still a lot.I figure if I quit, that average would go down by a pound or so.
With the gourmetization of everything, you’d think that this would be a good thing – consuming dark chocolate, with all those anti-oxidants and flavonoids is supposed to be good for you. But I have a taste – a craving – for the milky stuff. No nuts, no nougat, just good old milk chocolate. Perhaps it comes all the way from my childhood, when I used to have a big glass of Nestlé Quik for breakfast.
So when I think about how much chocolate I consume – bars, ice cream, gelato, etc. – I know that I’m consuming more of it than is likely healthy for me. Surely there are people out there that share this problem.
The key to me is that if I recognize this as a problem, then it is, at least for me.
So I decided to look for some tips to break this down a little bit, because I don’t necessarily want to go cold-turkey-total-abstinence-never-shall-chocolate-touch-my-lips-again. I want to be able to enjoy it in more moderation.
A Harvard medical blog suggests that if you note these three characteristics, then you’re behaving in an addictive way:
- intense craving
- loss of control over the object of that craving
- continued use or engagement despite bad consequences.
Chocolate, the post tells us, stimulates brain responses similar to those produced by “real” drugs. Now, I haven’t sold my body yet for a Hershey bar, but I don’t like the craving. And I don’t plan on entering a rehab program. So what do the big heads at Harvard suggest?
They focus on a mindfulness-related technique: “The next time you feel the pull of chocolate, pay attention to it. But instead of automatically reaching for your preferred candy bar or fudgy ice cream, take a few moments to actively decide whether or not to indulge the desire. If you decide to have chocolate, focus on each bite, slowly, to extend the pleasure in it. If you decide to wait, enjoy the notion that you’re taking good care of yourself. (You can take the same approach to alcohol, cigarettes, and food in general if you are trying to lose weight.)”
I’m gonna give this a try. What techniques do you use to control food consumption?
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I live in a different country than the best producers of marzipan. That is really the only technique that works for me, although I recognize it’s a tad bit extreme and not in any way transferable to chocolate. I’m helpful like that.
Nice! I fall back on the concept of “decision fatigue”. It SO much easier to deny self that chocolate bar before a day full of making hard decisions and denying myself at little points throughout the day. And- like you, I enjoy the artisanal chocolate, but my true poison is straight up Dairy Milk. In the BIG bar.