Thursday, July 27, 2006

Eat chocolate, or...

Question for anyone with an opinion: Every afternoon, after I eat lunch, I crave chocolate. The administrative assistant for my group has chocolate (those little ones, 40 calories each). Should I eat one? It doesn't usually lead to more...or should I eat something else sweet to get rid of the craving?

If I don't take care of this monster, it stays with me - it doesn't appear to be easily scared off. It's been more than two hours since I had a healthy lunch and I still REALLY WANT CHOCOLATE.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

EAT IT! Definitely! Especially if it's dark chocolate (because apparently dark chocolate has some good stuff in it: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/73/81921.htm)

But even if it's milk chocolate, or whatever, you should still have a bit.

In my opinion, this is what a healthy lifestyle (vs. yo-yo dieting) is about. Allowing yourself small indulgences so you don't go crazy, yet still eating healthy overall.

Not to imply that I actually have the healthy lifestyle thing nailed down myself - but that's what I aspire to.

Irene said...

Eat some chocolate! Your body knows what it needs!

Jessica said...

Well, I didn't today, but I will. :-) You're so right Jessi - I think the issue is more that when I'm starting back meal-tracking and trying to eat better, I think it's easier to not allow the little indulgences, at least initially.

Irene: Your comment made me laugh out loud. Thank you!

Wes said...

I agree with Jessi. If the chocolate has nuts in it, you get a good serving of all four food groups! And you can burn off the forty calories by fidgeting at your desk :-)

Andy said...

My mom had that issue a few years ago, and her doctor told her that she was suffering from a Magnesium deficiency, and that for some reason, the closest thing the body will attune to magnesium is chocolate. Don't ask me why. Jessi had the dark chocolate thing down pat, as well as noting,

"In my opinion, this is what a healthy lifestyle (vs. yo-yo dieting) is about. Allowing yourself small indulgences so you don't go crazy, yet still eating healthy overall."

If you are hitting a half pint (or more) of chocolate ice cream a night, not good. But if you have one of those 40-calorie things a day, you are burning way more than that training. You could also look into a magnesium supplement to counteract that effect if it is bad enough.

My recommendation would be to hit "one" of those 40 calorie things day. On some of my training days, my afternoon snack before training is a snickers bar. Sure it is not as healthy as some bars that we usually eat, but they taste so dang good, and I figure I will burn through those 280 calories before my workout is even near being complete.

Murtha...

Jessica said...

Ooh, I'll look into the magnesium thing, Andy! Also, I'm jealous. For me to work off 280 calories, I have to work out about 40 minutes hard. So yes, I will burn those calories, but when I do eat something like that, I immediately get into the sugar high/sugar crash pattern and require more to keep going. :-)