How to eat chocolate and keep your New Year’s Resolution!
by Bill Reichart
The new year has arrived. Not only does the new year 2009 bring an endless supply of frustration every time you write the date on a check and continue to write 2008. But a new year also brings an endless stream of resolutions, many of which are frustrating to fulfill.
One of the most common resolution is to diet or lose weight. Unfortunately, chocolate and losing weight go together as well as rats and restaurants. But can you still incorporate chocolate in your diet and still “diet”? I think you can. Here are a few suggestions:
Everything in moderation. The more you deny yourself something, the more you’ll crave it. And the more you crave it, the more you will be tempted to overindulge. Eat chocolate, but do so occasionally. Give yourself permission to have a modest portion of chocolate during your diet.
Eat dark chocolate. Eating good dark chocolate at least provides a measure of healthy benefits. Dark chocolate is filled with health giving antioxidants and can help lower blood pressure. Therefore at least when you take a bite of that dark chocolate, you can feel at least a small measure that you are doing something good for your body.
Remember, losing weight is ultimately an issue of mathematics and accounting. You must burn more calories than you take in, in order for your body to burn your stored fat. Therefore fundamentally there are really no bad foods, just bad diets. So therefore when you eat chocolate, remember, it must be done in the context of watching your caloric intake and exercise.