Sweet smooth silky chocolate along with the other sweets that we love to devour. After all ‘tis the season which we all surrender to all of the excess decadence, this especially as chocolate and all its varieties appear to be the flavor favorite of the holidays.
What chocolate does is it dominates the charts for favorites above cakes, cookies, and all other sweet delights. With the ease of just sneaking in another small piece of melt in your mouth goodness, chocolate just offers that perfect blend of aroma, texture, and taste.
So if you’re like most, you’ll surrender to this overwhelming desire of excessive eating. It’s found that it’s one of the most craved foods of choice among everyone.
It’s just our desire to eat more, this along with other related sugar laced treats which are high on the list especially during the holiday season, this as we overindulge in this addiction.
Don’t Restrict Yourself
You tell yourself that you’ll restrain yourself this year, and keep away from the chocolate. It’s found however that if you crave something but restrict yourself, what doing so does is it compounds the anxiety. Then over time, you end up eating more.
It’s found that your panic begins to elevate if you attempt to deny yourself, this by squashing your chocolate or any other sweets or food craving that you enjoy.
It’s found that these hankerings will actually increase, which eventually causes the danger of you giving in, and then over indulging on the sweet, not being able to hold yourself back.
Also, what research shows is that eating chocolate isn’t the main culprit which contributes to our fat ratio, the amount of body fat and calories that we accumulate over the holidays.
After doing some form of physical activity, when combining all of the other types of foods consumed, such as cakes and cookies, alcohol, saturated fats, it’s found that chocolate actually contributes to lower overall levels of body fat and calories than other foods.
So once you deprave yourself of eating chocolate, this especially if you crave it, and especially if you enjoy the lower calorie darker chocolate variety, eating it may not be as unhealthy as you think.
Make Sure That You Plan Ahead
If you’re like most, you’ve most likely been on a diet or two at one time or another in your life. The problem when it comes to chronic dieting is sticking to it, this especially during the holidays.
This occurs once in a moment of weakness you decide to raid the fridge and have that big slice of cake late at night. You think oh what the heck, I’ve been good all week, that one slice won’t hurt.
According to diet restraint theory, those who habitually stick to a specific diet over time, are at a higher risk of temporarily losing control of it, and will begin to overindulge.
In addition to overeating, what this loss of control does is it can lead towards even stronger food cravings, along with unhealthy binge type of eating episodes over time.
Then the classic thought for those who breaks their diet is, since they’ve already blown their “diet” for that day, especially during the holidays, they might as well just keep on eating, and then they’ll just restart the diet tomorrow.
This is obviously completely flawed, but for most, it’s completely rational for they thinking that, then ultimately, they think that it’s the diet plan that doesn’t work.
Sticking To The Plan
Since chocolate is usually on the “unhealthy and forbidden” food list for many, this because of it’s high fat and sugar content, it’s recommended that you plan ahead when you eat chocolate.
So before you show up for that holiday party or Christmas dinner, this before you’re introduced to all the varieties of chocolates and other specialties, make sure that you make a mental decision about how many portions of it you’ll eat.
Make a ration in your mind on how much that you’re comfortable consuming, decide this beforehand, and then make sure that you stick to it.
Generally, avoiding chocolate altogether will lead you to feel deprived and you’ll begin to crave it, where eating too much of it will leave you feeling bloated and guilty, becoming emotionally taxed.
So knowing this, make sure that you have a plan of restraint, this to eat just a strict amount that’s just satisfying for you while not becoming overindulgent.
Enjoy It When You Can
Chocolate along with other decadent foods should be enjoyed, this as life is short. If you eat something only to feel completely guilty about it afterwards, then it’s not worth eating at all.
Whenever you begin to crave for food such as chocolate, have a plan on what your quota is, then decide when you’ll eat it and have the discipline to stick to it.
Then once you begin eating that delicious piece of chocolate, make sure that you savor each and every bite, never feeling any remorse when doing so, and tell yourself you deserve it. Know that you’re allowed to enjoy it.
The truth is that the holidays can become extremely hectic, a busy time of year which can become frantic and filled with stress, more for some than others.
Although the holidays should be a time for friends and family, perhaps the best time of the year, it can also become a challenging time for many, this especially for those who needs to manage their eating.
This can particularly mean overindulging out of control when it comes to chocolate and other sweets. To properly manage all your holiday eating habits, don’t restrict yourself but have a plan instead, and then make sure that you enjoy those holiday treats once you eat them.