Alternatives to chocolate? Suggestions please!

greenbee

tandraig wrote: »

ADDICTION isnt nice is it?
cold turkey for a few days - then see if you gobble a bar of real chocolate above 70% cocoa. if you cant - then its the dairy and sugar, and you may consider cutting them out - which will cut out your craving for choccy bars too!

so does my one or two squares of 85% mean I'm not addicted

I agree with you - it's the sugar that causes the addiction AND the health problems. I'm allergic to it, and have recently been very, very good... although I did discover half a packed of fruit pastilles in the car the other day and am finding the knowledge that they are there very distracting, even though before I knew about them it wasn't an issue!

For anyone having trouble weaning themselves off, let yourself have a little bit of something sweet after a meal (a little bit means a spoonful of something or a square of chocolate) once you've eaten lots of healthy stuff, and if you get cravings, go and do something instead (go for a walk, do some housework, read a book, do some work) so that you're too busy to be thinking about it.

morganlefay

Of course chocolate isn't good for us; I grew up at the end of WW2 and we had hardly any sweets of any sort then and were slim and fit. And all that veg fat and sugar can't really be described as chocolate if compared with the more up-market, high % brands. But I can think of worse things to be addicted to - which makes me glad it's only chocolate (or fat and sugar if I'm eating cheap stuff) to be honest.

Nicoll

Not really very helpful but I like to eat smarties, I eat them one at a time and suck them til the outside melts and then have the yummy soft chocolate in the middle on my tongue. A tube can last quite a long time this way. Not gonna help with addiction though...oh well

OrkneyStar

A small amount of very good quality chocolate seems to do it for me!

debtdesperado

Wean yourself off the sugar and the chocolate craving disappears I have found... :-)

I eat the atkins bars (you get them from Boots) if I want chocolate - there is a chocolate one that is a dead ringer for chocolate brownie... and low in sugar and carbs. They are expensive though (about £1.80 each) but then you don't gobble them down as they make you so full!

Oooh Nicoll - though now you have got me onto my old favourite which was frozen smarties eaten slowly...yum yum yum ;-)

kimmee

I'm on a weight loss diet and theres only two things that give me my chocolate fix: Cadburys Light chocolate mousse (much more low cal than the average choc bar and very yummy IMHO) and Options Belgian Choc flavour.

Nicoll

debtdesperado wrote: »

Oooh Nicoll - though now you have got me onto my old favourite which was frozen smarties eaten slowly...yum yum yum ;-)

Hadn't thought of freezing them but like that idea as the middle should melt slower then...oh well there goes another chocolate free day.

motherhen2234

There isnt any solution to the chocolate problem but its often a sugar craving as much as a chocolate one. I'm not diabetic but have had to switch to a low GI diet which limits my chocolate eating.

I've found going cold turkey is beneficial as then if you do eat any you find you cant eat as much as before (sugar rush headache etc).

Sweet Popcorn has been a solution as well as nice fruit. I've also been told the type of chocolate and what you eat with it can effect the GI index rating so I was in asda he other day checking the nutritional values on choccy peanuts (their own brand won). Its not perfect but i guess every little helps lol!

My mum used to pears with chocolate sauce as a substitute as well. You can either do posh poached ones or just those out of a tin. Then it was just a swirl of chocolate sauce (mum used bought ones but HM is probably healthier) and for a real treat a bit of ice cream. She got the idea from weight watchers. I guess you get the choccy taste but filled up by the pears.

Seakay

A dark chocolate spread such as Essential http://www.essential-trading.co.uk/
is good because, especially if you spread it on wholemeal bread, one slice is very filling and will give you slow release as well as instant energy.
There is also this recipe for a diabetic chocolate spread:Chocolate Spread Recipe Ingredients :
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
3 tbsp Cocoa powder
1/4 cup Lowfat cream cheese
4 tbsp 6 tb artificial sweetener, *

Chocolate Spread Recipe Instructions :
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the cocoa and cook,
stirring, for 3 minutes over low heat. Remove from the heat and
leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Stir cheese into the cocoa, then mix in the artificial sweetener to
taste. Chill the chocolate spread in a covered container and it will
keep for about 3-5 days in the refrigerator, depending on the shelf
life of the cheese.

*This works very well but it important to avoid sweeteners containing
saccharine as they make the spread very bitter.

Food Exchanges were not listed!

Source: The Diabetic Cookbook by Bridget Jones

hex2

My vote is for chocolate pudding Jelly Belly beans. I don't usually eat cadburys, galaxy or thorntons type,ideally hotel chocolat if the budget will stretch, any high cocoa one otherwise. Not originally a diet related decision but I was brought up to eat very little sugar.