10 Ways to Stop Craving Chocolate

Chocolate! Oh I how I love thee! But oh, how my rear end has grown!

If chocolate is your greatest single dietary weakness, it can be especially difficult to break the hold of those decadent milky morsels. Here are 10 ways to help stop those chocolate cravings!

1.   Drink water. Yep, it’s that simple. When a craving hits you, head for the tap. Many people have lost the ability to tell the difference between mild thirst and mild hunger. Since water has zero calories and is essential to your good health, try drinking a tall class of cold water and wait a few minutes to see if your desire to inhale a snicker’s bar disappears.

2.   Eliminate excess sugar from your diet. Sometimes, we actually create a sugar addiction with all the sweet treats we consume. These sugary snacks promote the growth of certain types of bacteria in the digestive system and these little boogers demand to be fed more…sugar! Wean yourself off the sugar and you may find that your chocolate cravings disappear like the wind.

3.   Fulfill the craving. Many times we get a food craving for a reason. Your body may actually be craving magnesium, an elemental nutrient found in chocolate. You can supplement your body’s magnesium levels by taking a multivitamin, or by eating more fish, artichokes, almonds, or pumpkin seeds (instead of more chocolate).

4.   Go dark. For some people, switching out milk chocolate for dark chocolate helps them break the addictive chocolate cravings. Dark chocolate contains less sugar and calories than most other chocolates, and a gradual process of substitution can help you meet your cravings while weaning off the excess sugar, fat and calories. Think of it as the nicotine gum of chocolate addicts.

5.   Eat regularly. The worst food cravings often strike when you have waited too long to eat or have skipped a meal all together. This produces a slightly hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) state in your body and your body responds with a craving for something full of sugar that can be utilized immediately to balance out blood sugar levels in the blood. Eat regularly to help avoid these crash cravings.

6.   Don’t worry, be happy. Eating chocolate provides the eater with a temporary sense of well being. This mood booster can contribute to one’s addiction to chocolate. The next time a chocolate craving strikes, engage in some other mood lifting activity, like watching a comedy, exercising, calling your sweetie, playing music, or sex.

7.   Address your junk. If eating a single piece of chocolate doesn’t satisfy your need, it is quite possible that your cravings go much deeper than a physical desire for something sweet. You may be using chocolate to satisfy your need for love and positive self-esteem. If this is the case, only working through these deeper issues will cure your cravings. Even a few brief therapy sessions or some serious self-reflection can help you overcome these problems.

8.   Condition yourself. If you have a particularly strong and nasty craving for chocolate that just won’t die, you might need to resort to some strong measures. One way to cure any habit is to give in to the urge. But every time you do so, introduce some very unpleasant event just before you eat that Hershey’s kiss, like snapping a rubber band on your wrist, listening to a song you abhor, or asking your spouse to list all the things that are wrong with you. This pairing of an unpleasant event with a pleasant one will condition your body to learn that chocolate is bad, very, very bad, and your cravings will die out.

9.   Guilt works. Another option is to store all your chocolate in one cupboard and tape a picture of a ridiculously attractive and skinny person to the front so that you must confront this freakishly gorgeous image every time you reach for the chocolate. Hopefully, the guilt will work in your favor and deter a few late night snacks.

10. Accountability. If all else fails, call for back up. Find an accountability partner that will ask you how you’re doing with your chocolate ban and keep you accountable for cheating on yourself.

Beating a stubborn chocolate craving is possible, but it’s not easy. Try to stay positive and don’t be too hard on yourself when you fail. Every piece of chocolate matters and even a single craving denied is a step closer to a happy, healthier life.

Jamie Simmerman is a registered nurse and freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter.

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