The Chocolate Challenge

Do you have will power when it comes to chocolate?

Just when you thought you had your weight loss resolution for the new year and your eating plans under control, Valentines Day sneaks up on you and a box of chocolate bears your name. You may be thinking it’s all over now. You may be thinking that you’d never have the control to eat just one small piece and be satisfied.  You may be thinking that only the whole box will do…

But it doesn’t have to be that way just because it used to be that way.  That was then and this is now. You can change your thoughts about chocolate and its affect of you. You can change your thoughts about your ability to control yourself.

Just imagine how good you would feel if you could take one small half ounce square of dark chocolate and make a lasting impression by making it last, a long time?

Your old way of eating the whole box in a week, a day or an hour is in the past. This new year can be time for a new you and a new way of being around chocolate. The new you, can do anything she sets her mind to simply because she decides to create a different experience. She can change her thoughts with new awareness and a little practice.

I offer you an simple chocolate challenge, that will be an exercise in pleasure and patience. There is a way to eat with all your senses to experience the joy of eating chocolate. But you’ll have to practice the art.

To start you’ll need some chocolate.

First, if you’ve been given a box, you can work with that but if not you now have a great opportunity to purchase some Dark Chocolate of the finest quality you can find and afford.
Have fun with this. Shop around, research the chocolatier, the company, the company mission. The finest dark chocolates will give you the most satisfaction and the most health benefits.

Remember to read the ingredients.  A good dark chocolate will have a very high percentage of cacao. Look for any dark chocolate made with over 70% cacao. Try brands like Green and Black organic, Dagoba, or even Lindt, which are readily available in most supermarkets and malls. Picking the best dark chocolate is purely subjective but the basic premise would be to select one with minimal and “naked” ingredients.  Simply remember; the darker the better, the less ingredients the better.

There is the potential added benefit in picking the best possible chocolate: the expense (sometimes up to $15 a bar), may in itself limit the amount of chocolate you can afford, so you’ll want to make it last. Relishing darker dark chocolate is a process of initiating your taste buds to experience its complexities, especially if you are used to drug-store quality milk chocolates.

Most importantly remember that the purest dark chocolate provides amazing body benefits, when eaten in “reasonable” portions.  The pure cocao contains flavonols giving you antioxidant and inflammatory properties.  It’s good for your heart, your brain, providing copper, potassium, magnesium and iron and much more.

You can research lots more reasons to eat the stuff….. but not reasons to eat it all at once. As my grandmother used to say about glue, a little dab’ll do ya. So for chocolate, take is slow, savor and delite in the experience. Your body will thank you as it gets healthy and maintains it’s natural weight while you have the pleasure of partaking in this amazing super food.

Allow your preferences time to change and practice your patience as your taste buds to grow into your new way of eating and caring for your body.

Here is your Chocolate Challenge; an experiment in patience and pleasure that you can try for yourself:

1. Unwrap the chocolate and look at it. How does it look?

2. Hold it between 2 fingers, as your body temp warms the chocolate feel it soften and melt slightly. How does it feel?

3. Smell it. How does it smell?

4. Hold it to your ear. ~ Do you hear anything? Most likely not, but it may be speaking to you and calling your name to take a bite. Just that very thought of it so close to your mouth may produce a salivating sensation.

5. Finally place it in your mouth, on your tongue, but don’t let your teeth touch it. Just let it melt on your tongue. Relax and don’t rush.

At what point did you notice that your mouth started to salivate? Were you satisfied with that one little square?

 What was your experience while eating dark chocolate like a lady in a dainty way? Did the chocolate seem different when experienced with all 5 senses of looking, smelling, touching, listening, really tasting?

What do you think about eating chocolate slowly and with love for the chocolate but mostly for yourself? Comment below and I will send you my decadent recipe for making your own “naked” chocolate at home (with grace and ease of course). (don’t forget to email me at [email protected] so I can send you your delightful recipe)