Why Do I Crave Chocolate?

The answer may surprise you... but the reason you crave chocolate is because it tastes good!  Besides something sweet on your tongue, something creamy in your mouth, and some calories and fat to ward off any hunger that may occur over the next few hours, it temporarily boosts your blood sugar, and even alters some chemicals in your brain that make you feel better.  The caffeine may help you become more alert, and at the same time the serotonin (a neurotransmitter) more calm.  Why wouldn't we crave chocolate constantly?  It does so much for us!

A better question may be "why do you give into the craving?"  or "Why are you constantly focusing on it?"

Let's look at the second scenario first:

If you are trying to lose weight or eat healthier, you may continue to remind yourself that chocolate is "not allowed" on your diet or it's "forbidden" or it's "bad".  When you tell yourself that something isn't good for you, even though you like it, you are making yourself want it more.  Think about things you were told you could not have as a child.  As soon as something was "forbidden" you wanted it more.  When you were allowed to have it, it lost some of its appeal.

Let chocolate lose some of it's forbidden appeal and let yourself have some.  Not a pound bar.  You might not even want to keep it around the house or your office.  What if you let yourself buy a tootsie roll every day or a peppermint patty?  Is there a reasonable amount of chocolate that you could savor, enjoy, not feel guilty about, and have your craving satisfied? 

Perhaps your answer is "no" because some people simply cannot have one piece.  "I'll eat the entire bag" they say, or "If I can't have a whole candy bar I don't want just one bite".

If you find a happy medium that works for you, like a few chocolate kisses in the afternoon, you may find your cravings aren't monopolozing your thoughts throughout the day.

Okay, then let's address the other question:  "Why are you allowing yourself to give in to the craving?"

Think of some of the impulses we deal with each and every day.  What are you craving that you just do not act upon because it's not socially acceptable?  What if you would just love to plant a big smooch on that new handsome guy at work?  Certainly, you aren't going to do it!

What if you would just love to smack that gum out of the mouth of your coworker who annoyingly insists on chewing as loud as a cow all day long?  Nope, you aren't going to give into that either.

If your friend got a brand new designer purse and you were just aching to take it home and make it your own, would you do it?  No.  Why not... You want it.

Think about other desires you have in your life that you don't act on even though it would feel good in the moment.  What stops you?  Consequences? 

The next time you crave chocolate think about what you really want, how you would feel if you had some, and what the consequences would be.  Not sure?  Let me give you a little tip:  If you eat a 300 calorie candy bar every day for a month, you'll gain three pounds.  Ouch.  Keep it up and you're looking at 36 pounds a year.  Not gaining weight?  This means you are eating the same number of calories your body burns, and on the flip side that would mean that giving up the daily chocolate bar would result in a weight loss of 36 pounds a year.  Some consequences, eh?

Why DO you crave chocolate.  More importantly, what are you going to do about it?

What is Your Payoff For Staying Overweight?

Are you someone who is overweight, wishing you could lose the extra pounds, but never being able to stick faithfully to a weight-loss plan that works?  Have you been overweight for a long time, or did the pounds come on at a certain point in your life, maybe after a major life change?  Consider the fact that perhaps having the extra weight is serving a purpose in your life.

People who carry extra pounds may benefit from sitting down and doing some serious thinking.  What is the reason the weight is not coming off?  What is the reason it came on in the first place?  It could just be as simple as "I lost control of my eating" or "food just tastes too good to resist".  Maybe you just hate to exercise or you have physical restrictions which keep you from being very active.

But maybe being overweight is serving a purpose in your life.  Consider the story of Ernie, a successful loser who tells his story in the book "Thin For Life" by Anne M. Fletcher, MS, RD.  One of his payoffs was that he could avoid certain tasks he didn't want to complete: "I didn't have to mow the lawn on a hot day," he recalls, "because I might have a heart attack".  Do you use your weight to get out of doing something you can't just say you don't want to do?

Some overweight people use their weight as an excuse not to be sociable at times.  They don't want to go out in the evening because they enjoy relaxing at home.  They use their weight as an excuse, "I just don't want to go out as long as I'm overweight--I'm not comfortable dressing up".  Is it possible you could be a healthy weight and tell your friends, "I prefer to relax at home in the evening"?

Women in positions of authority have been reported to carry extra weight in order to appear more imposing and directorial.  They presume that if they were small and feminine, they wouldn't be regarded with as much power.  Perhaps it is the person, not the way the person looks, that commands respect.

Attractive, flirtatious women have been known to put on weight after they marry: In their mind this reduces the chance they will attract another man and have to deal with putting off unwanted advances, or deal with the possibility of entertaining an affair.

And sometimes being overweight just allows us to continue to be inattentive to our diet, exercise, and health in general.  "I can eat whatever I want if I'm fat anyway".  Being too heavy to exercise certainly carries the benefit of having an excuse not to exercise!

How is your extra weight serving you?  Does it allow you to easily avoid social situations; prevent  intimate relationships with the opposite sex; keep your sister from being jealous of your gorgeous figure; or give you another reason to eat whatever you like?

Ernie suggests finding a "less neurotic way to get what you want.  If you don't want to mow the lawn. . . hire a kid to do it".

My Diet Isn't Working: What Can I Try Now??

I am a 55 year old woman who has struggled with my weight most of my life.   Most recently I spent 2 1/2 years on Nutrisystem and I successfully lost a total of 40 pounds.  Now I have gained back 8 since I went off of it in January. I went back to Weight Watchers but have lost nothing -- not even the 8 pounds I gained back. It's been an "up 2, down 1; down 2 up one" kind of thing for months now. I also got a Wii Fit and exercise 30-40 minutes a day - have been doing that now for over 3 months, but no effect on weight. My MD tested my thyroid and she also ran some other blood tests and says that my metabolism is normal.  Any suggestions would be appreciated!  Barbara B.

Dear Barbara,
I can certainly appreciate your frustration with sticking to an exercise and diet regimen and not seeing the weight coming off.  It sounds like Weight Watchers has worked for you in the past, but it's just not working now.  Since Nutrisystem was what worked best for you more recently, what do you think about going back to that program again?  Sometimes the simplest answer is the one that works!

Just one other suggestion I have....I usually find that people are not sticking very strictly to their program when they are not seeing the scale move.  I always recommend keeping a diet and exercise diary.  Since we notice how restricted we feel most of the day and most days per week, we tend to let the diet slide a bit to reward ourselves.  Same with exercise: "since I do it almost every day, I'm going to take a few days off because I'm a little under the weather, I'm busy, the weather is bad" you name it!
If you are totally honest with yourself, have you been exercising literally every single day for three months?  Have you never gone over your points with weight watchers?

Every once in  a while we follow the plan to the letter without good results.  But much of the time it's when we follow it "most of the time" that the weight just isn't coming off.

Good luck!

Great ways to get exercise at home!

Do you think you need to join a gym to get enough exercise?  Wonder how you'll go for your long walks once the cold sets in?  Feel like you don't want to go out in public and get all sweaty?
My friend Gail has some great tips for working out inside the comfort of your own home.  Some of these are fun!  I especially love the idea of checking out a variety of work-out tapes from your library to keep mixing things up.  If you haven't tried Zumba, check it out--fun Latin dance moves with energetic music keep you from getting bored! 

Read Gail's full article here:  http://www.easy-weightloss-tips.com/exercise-indoors-without-special-equipment.html

Do You Save Room . . . Or Make Room?

When it comes to dessert, do you save room or make room?  Last night my husband and I were out to dinner with another couple.  We shared a couple of appetizers, a basket of bread, and then each dug into our own delicious meal.  I purposefully searched the menu for a lighter entree after all the "pre meal" calories I had eaten.  I ordered fish with a side of pasta.  The serving was large.  I was able to eat half of the food on the plate and have the waiter put the rest in a take-home container. 

By this time I noticed I was the only one at the table who hadn't cleaned my plate.  Well, sometimes it's difficult not to!  I mean there are dishes that just taste too good to stop eating.  Plus, the conversation was flowing, we were enjoying each other's company and the background live piano music in the restaurant.  There are times your plate is just cleaned before you know it, despite your best intentions.

But I was consciously saving room for dessert, because I knew the platter of sumptuous selections was going to be paraded by our table and I knew my husband and I were going to share one of them.  So when the other couple said, "none for us, thank you" and I explained that I had saved room for dessert by finishing only half my meal, my husband gave me a curious look.  "Saved room?" he asked. "I didn't 'save' room, but I can make room".

What about you?  If you are going to have dessert do you eat less at your meal?  Perhaps pass on an extra roll or go without a calorie-containing beverage? 
If you know you're going out to dinner, for that matter, do you eat lighter earlier in the day, knowing you are likely to be taking in a few hundred excess calories at a restaurant meal?

Splurging on a great meal--or a great dessert--can be a real treat.  And you don't have to tip the calorie balance that keeps you from your weight loss goal.  Eat lighter earlier in the day, or during the meal before dessert.  Save room and save calories.  If you're 'making' room for dessert your body may not need the extra calories!

Hear Coach Laurie Interviewed for Weight Loss Tips!

Here is a link to hear Raw Andrew interview me for some helpful weight loss tips: http://www.shedyourweight.com/interview_with_laurie_beebe_dietitian_and_weight_loss_coach.html
You can listen now and hear us talk about the major obstacles to weight loss and how to get past them; the truth about fad diets and if you should follow them; the importance of having a good mindset to stop sabotaging your own weight loss plans.

The best way to lose weight is by eating healthy nutritious food and exercising. And it seems that the best way to keep the weight off is by maintaining the healthy eating habits and continuing to exercise.

Laurie also explains why you should seek professional weight loss help, especially if you are having a hard time losing weight. A good weight loss coach will hold you accountable and will guide you, making sure that you will take the less resistance path for weight loss.

Feel free to comment on Andrew's page or leave your thoughts here!

Can I Eat In Any Restaurants On My Diet?

Now there's a website that can answer that question for you!
HealthyDiningFinder.com is a great find.  When you go to the website, you enter your zip code and any other criteria (like price ranges for meals) you want to specify.  They'll come back with restaurants in the area that participate in their program, and entrees or appetizers that you can choose that are healthy.

The calorie criteria is not very strict--a meal can have up to 700 calories to be considered 'healthy'--but that's not too bad for a dinner, depending on your daily calorie allowance.  (To give most of you a better idea, that equals nearly 14 weight watcher points).

Each restaurant will advise you how to order special requests to keep your meal within the healthy allowance.  For instance, they may specify you need to ask for the sauce on the side, ask for "no mayonnaise", ask for the meat to be broiled, or some other side to be left off, such as guacamole.
And many of the items are far less than 700 calories.  The calorie content is specified for each dish.

This can come in handy the next time you want to go out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, join your co-workers for a lunch out, or even if you're out of town and aren't familiar with the local fare.

Give it a shot and let me know what you find!