Chocoholic or Chocophobic?

GenuineYou News
February 2008 - Chocoholic or Chocophobic?

Valentine's day is approaching and I already hear the moans of pleasure AND guilt over chocolate. There is no other food that can tie us into knots quite like chocolate can! I remember reading a letter to Dear Abby in which a woman was absolutely furious with her husband for giving her chocolates for Valentines Day! She just knew that he had done it maliciously in order to make her stray from her diet. "He knows I can't resist chocolate!" she said.

Even if you don't have a significant other proffering a red satin box, chocolate is everywhere, especially at this time of year. When your office mate brings in the huge box her new boyfriend gave her (partly to share and partly to gloat ;-)) the guilt talk begins:

Oh, I really shouldn't, but . . .

Well, just one. It is Valentine's after all.

I'll make up for it by spending an extra hour on my treadmill tonight!

For some people, the "taboo" food may be ice cream (the double whammy - CHOCOLATE ice cream!!) or hot Krispy Kreme donuts (with CHOCOLATE icing!), but most people in this culture have some food about which they feel supremely conflicted. You love it SO much that you absolutely cannot control yourself around it. Most people react by trying to keep chocolate out of their sight as much as possible.

Even with recent studies telling us that chocolate contains antioxidants and other healthful ingredients, we can't seem to forget that it also contains loads of fat and calories! Even if it is good for our heart, we can't bear to think what its going to do to our hips.

How would your life change if you could relax and enjoy chocolate, or any of your other taboo foods, anytime you wanted it? Here are some things to remember:

When you judge chocolate, or any other food, to be taboo, it just becomes that much more alluring. Tell yourself that you can have chocolate any time you really want it - and really mean it! At first, you'll be insatiable, but you'll eventually figure out that you don't have to eat the whole box tonight. If I can truly have it anytime I want it, I can save the rest for another time.

Hold out for the good stuff. When you want chocolate, buy really fine chocolate. If someone is passing around a Whitman's sampler, the chocolate snob will sniff and say "no thanks."

When you eat chocolate, make an event out of it. Turn off the tv and the cell phone, brew yourself a cup of tea and choose the most beautiful piece in the box. Sit somewhere peaceful and savor every morsel. See how long you can make it last.

Keep really fine chocolate around you at all times. This sounds crazy, but its true. The scarcer it is, the more you will yearn for it. The more abundant it is, the more you can relax and know that its there anytime you want it and you don't have to obsess about it any more. Of course this state of peaceful chocolate nirvana doesn't happen overnight, but it can be achieved.

Chocolate is truly and utterly delicious, but it is not all-powerful. You do not have to give over your power to this little chunk of candy. You are the queen of your destiny and powerful beyond imagining! Pass the Godiva!

JoLaine Jones is a Wellness Life Coach whose passion is helping women love their bodies and love their lives! Find out more at GenuineYou