Chocolate cravings

[Nicholet]

Do you have any snack ideas to help with a Chocolate cravings? I don't want to eat the frankenfoods/atkins bars because my experience clearly shows they stall weight loss. So what else can I do? My appetite has basically shrunk but I do still crave chocolate sometimes. Any snack ideas????

Your input is appreciated!!

[MotherOfGizmo]

Have you checked out the snack and or dessert forums yet?


here is a link to dessert

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewforum.php?f=29

[Almost-30-Years_Old]

Fo my chocolate cravings I make my own sugar free chocolate because the stuff that you can by at the store has way to many sugar alcohols for me.

I chop up some unsweeted bakers chocolate and I bring some heavy cream to a boil and then pour the hot heavy cream over the chocolate. Mix together until the chocolate melts. Then I add in some sugar free vanilla extract and splenda. Mix well, cover and store in the fridge for several hours until it's the consistency of cake frosting. Then I take it by the spoonfuls and drop it on parchment paper and put into freezer until hardened. It tastes just like your eating hersey's kisses.

Once I move along through Atkins and I get to the nuts and seeds rung, I will then add chopped almonds to the mixture.

[2big4mysize]

chocolate blobs work well and are induction friendly but rememeber desserts and sweets aren't supposed to be everyday events on Atkins.

[Isabeau]

Or, you can try to defeat the chocolate monster and stay away from anything sweet/chocolatey for your two week induction period. Lots of things just lose their appeal if you can do that.

[Nicholet]

Thanks

Thank you for your input and ideas I'm trying to avoid the chocolate monster but it roars sometimes...

[not2late]

You know this is interesting...

Some folks believe that your body will crave things because it's low on a nutrient. For example, I had an aunt who avoided bananas because she hated the way they tasted. But once in a while she would get a craving to eat them and she would eat one or two. When she began eating higher potassium foods, she stopped her banana cravings.

We know from our Atkins experiences that during Induction (and sometimes beyond) we crave things like bread, potatoes, etc. because our bods are wanting a quick sugar fix.

So, are chocolate cravings because we need some type of nutrient found in chocolate? Chocolate is high in fat, has a number of minerals (magnesium, copper, potassium, manganese), and contains phytochemicals and flavinoids. Are the chocolate cravings due to a tiny deficiency in these things? If so, then if we eat broader range of foods that will give us these nutrients, then will our chocolate or carb cravings be diminished or controlled? ensive

[Moochiecat]

Yep...mine roared for a long time...but it knows that I won't feed it anymore, so it gave up..lol For a long time I chose to deny that monster instead of look for low carb substitutes. A month or two in, when I felt I could handle having a treat, I'd whip up some whipping cream, cream cheese and sf chocolate syrup. But only once in a while.

I still look at the chocolate bar rack with fond memories, mind you, and I get a little cranky that there are all of those new ones I never got to try, but I know what that chocolate did to me. It wasn't the friend I thought it was at all :no

I find I think of everything nutritionally now...and I see absolutely nothing when I look at things like chocolate and chips. They have absolutely no value to them foodwise. Theres no point. I'm SO over putting myself through the guilt and shame of secretly (or openly) eating foods that are not good for me.

Being in OWL, I get to have treats that I totally enjoy and I feel absolutely no guilt over...like last night I had fresh strawberries and cream! (I'm going through a fresh strawberry thing right now :eating )
Or I have yogurt with some sf chocolate syrup in it (don't knock it till you try it..lol)

It's a battle, but you can win it!

[kekes444]

Chocolate cravings are the worst. But I bought some of the atkins bars to help with that - is that wrong?
I'm still new here and new to atkins and making my way through the board, so haven't gone through the dessert board yet but that is next on my list.

I am going back and forth in my mind on the issue of quit alltogether and have no lo-carb alternative chocolate/sweets or to allow myself some every now and again (when I'm off induction and in OWL). I quit smoking cold-turkey and felt like that was the only way to do that, but I also know that in the past when I forbid myself something I just wanted it more. Interesting dilemna.

[not2late]

Chocolate cravings are the worst. But I bought some of the atkins bars to help with that - is that wrong?
I'm still new here and new to atkins and making my way through the board, so haven't gone through the dessert board yet but that is next on my list.

I am going back and forth in my mind on the issue of quit alltogether and have no lo-carb alternative chocolate/sweets or to allow myself some every now and again (when I'm off induction and in OWL). I quit smoking cold-turkey and felt like that was the only way to do that, but I also know that in the past when I forbid myself something I just wanted it more. Interesting dilemna.

We discourage the bars and shakes because they're notorious for causing weight loss slow downs or stalls in some folks. During the first 14 days, it's really important to maximize your weight loss potential because the results you get help you to figure out your degree of metabolic resistance to weight loss, which in turn will help you map out your Atkins weight loss journey among other things.

The other thing too is eating behaviors. Unless you change the eating behaviors that got you fat in the first place, keeping the weight off might prove to be difficult. Moreover, there's the lesson from the low fat craze. People stuffed themselves with low fat cookies, pies, brownies, etc. because they believed these foods were "okay" to eat (and sometimes over-eat) because they were low fat. And in many cases they were eating more of these low fat products because they rationalized "well, if one regular cookie has 40 grams of fat, and one low fat cookie has 10, I can eat 4 low fat cookies instead of just one regular". Or as a friend of mine put it "quantity counts". That's not really changing poor eating behaviors that's really enabling them. Sort of like an alcohol switching from vodka to wine coolers because has a lower alcohol content and you can drink more wine coolers than vodka.

[Moochiecat]

It's best to avoid the bars and shakes etc during Induction. Read the ingredients and when you get to the appropriate rung in OWL, you can consider adding them back in.

Induction is a time to learn how to eat all over again, to build new habits, and to learn to turn to foods that are nutritionally sound....foods that feed your body and not your emotions..and for a LOT of us, that's all chocolate and other treats were: a solace, a comfort, a celebration, a 'friend'.

I had 3 Advantage bars in my cupboard for about 5 months before I finally turfed them. I felt that substituting one thing for another wasn't for me, and I wanted to be free of it all.
Not having the substitutes was a great decision for me. :yes

[tickletussler]

Everyone's right - you should avoid chocolate during 14-day Induction.

However, in OWL, if it doesn't cause you cravings or weight stall, you could consider 85% cocoa chocolate? I purchase the Lindt 85% cocoa dark (bittersweet) chocolate and it is so rich that 10g (third of oz) is enough for me to stop eating more. Plus, it is just bitter enough for you not to have sugar cravings and the richness of the chocolate leaves you not wanting more chocolate.

But, as everyone says, (including ttdriver) - if you can starve the sugar demons, why not? You will never even crave chocolate again...