Former Chocoholic
A chocoholic is defined as a person who craves or compulsively consumes chocolate. I admit that I spent my life as a chocoholic. I tried not to buy chocolate to keep in the house because I knew I would eat it all within a day. So instead, I ate chocolate on road trips, bought them at airport gift shops, stole them out of my kids’ Halloween pumpkins, and snagged them from the glass jar on my coworker’s desk. My friends and family bought me chocolate for my birthdays or any other special occasion. The best days for me were the days after Halloween and Valentine’s Day when chocolate was on clearance. I always convinced myself that if the chocolate was 70% off at Target, then it must be 70% less calories…right?! Well, as much as I wanted to believe that, it was clear by my scale and the fit of my clothes that this was not true. Aside from the calories, chocolate, specifically milk chocolate, is also high in saturated fat and sugar. Before going plant-based, I was addicted to chocolate. No amount of negative propaganda would have steered me away from it completely, and I could not have imagined my life without it. Put me on a desert island and ask me what one food item I’d want to eat, and I’d say chocolate. Okay, okay…maybe I’d be more logical about it and pick something that had some nutrition so I could actually survive. But, you get my point!
So, here we are today and I will tell you that I have not had a piece, bite, or taste of chocolate since the day I committed to going fully on a whole food plant-based diet 9 months ago. Has it been difficult? No. Have I felt deprived? Not one bit. Does my coworker still keep a jar of chocolates on her desk? Every single day. Luckily, my friends and family know not to buy me chocolates anymore for any occasion. But, even if they did, I would not be tempted to eat them. How is it possible that my cravings for chocolate have disappeared? It is possible because I changed the way I eat. To put it simply, cravings are the result of eating too many foods full of refined sugars, salt, and oil and not eating enough of the nutrient-rich foods. The processed and refined foods that one eats on a daily basis stimulates the body to want more and more. When you combine this with the lack of nutrient-rich foods, the cravings are impossible to prevent. And when you then see those foods you are craving, it is almost humanly impossible to resist them every single time. In a nutshell, eating enough of the right foods and avoiding the wrong foods will eventually take care of the cravings for the wrong foods.
Although I don’t crave chocolate anymore, I still like the taste of it. So, I have found a healthy way to enjoy it. I make several desserts using either cocoa or cacao powder, which is the purest form of chocolate minus the fat and sugar. Cacao powder is thought to have the highest source of antioxidants of all foods. It is an excellent source of nutrition and when used in recipes, will give you a delicious and nutritious dessert. A very simple dessert that I eat almost every night is my Cherry Delight:
CHERRY DELIGHT
- 1 cup frozen cherries
- 1 Tbs cacao powder
- 1 Tbs unsweetened shredded coconut
Mix all together. Microwave for 10 seconds or leave out for a few minutes for the cherries to soften just a bit. Enjoy!
*All recipes are gluten free and vegan!