On Chocolate

I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t like chocolate. I’m sure she exists. I just haven’t met her.

Chocolate is delicious and decadent, blissful and bad, necessary and naughty. Chocolate may feel like one of those foods you “can’t” have or you “shouldn’t” have.

Maybe chocolate is on that list. You know the list. It’s the list of foods that will lead you down the wrong path--that list of foods that you’re craving and longing for, but you know should never enter your mouth. Chocolate may be on the list of foods that are “bad” for you.

In releasing weight in a pleasurable way, and in loving your body, it is important to take pleasure in what you put in your mouth. Chocolate helps us do that.

Geneen Roth writes, “Carry a chunk of chocolate everywhere.” I believe passionately in that principle.

If we deny ourselves what we truly desire (chocolate), we will eventually find a way to have that desire met (see my blog on bingeing).

If you feel that your relationship with chocolate is coming between you and your weight-release desires, I would suggest that you begin extensive research into chocolate, and really discover what kinds you like, and what kinds you don’t like.

“But Kristin, you don’t understand,” you say. “I like it all.”

That may be true. But I bet if you were to experiment with tasting different types of chocolates, you would find that some you enjoy more than others. In my universe, not all chocolate is created equal. Some has a waxy, parafin-ish texture that I don’t care for. Some is too sweet and irritates my throat. But on the other hand, there are certain kinds of chocolate that bring me rapture--the richness, the creaminess, the smoothness, the magnificent balance between bitter and sweet. . .

Engage in chocolate research. What kind of chocolate do you love? Dark, bittersweet chocolate? Creamy milk chocolate? Chocolate chips? Chocolate kisses? Chocolate cake? Chocolate brownies? Some people like chocolate and fruit. Some people like chocolate and mint. Some people like hot chocolate. Some people like chocolate and coffee. Some people like chocolate and vanilla. Some people like chocolate covered espresso beans, or chocolate covered cherries, or . . .

Try eating just one piece of chocolate. Look at it. If it comes in a foil wrapper, look at the way it’s packaged. Listen to the crinkly sounds it makes as you unwrap it. As you peel back the foil, enjoy the color of it--is it a light milky brown? Is it dark and deep and intense? And then smell it. And taste it. Savor it. Suck on it. Let it melt away in your mouth. Enjoy it. Don’t just mindlessly put in in your mouth, and while you’re chewing, reach for another. Eat that one piece of chocolate with all of your physical senses.

Be open to all that chocolate offers you.

Enjoy every pleasurable sensation chocolate gives you.

Learn to love your body through chocolate.

It’s so worth it.

Up next: “Portion Control, or How Do I Know When I’ve Had Enough? Mastering the Art of Listening to Your Body.”