5 ways to curb a chocolate addiction

Want to kick chocolate to the kerb for good? It can be done! Try these 5 ways to curb a chocolate addiction

Everyone loves chocolate; it’s pretty much a fact. Well, unless you’re me. As a teenager I once devoured an entire box of rich, hazelnut chocolates in one go, only to puke it up again just as quickly. It’s been 15 years and I haven’t touched a chocolate since.

But normal people love chocolate.

The main problem is the guilt that you might experience shortly after eating these ever so sweetly sinful delights. So here are a few tips on how you might be able to curb this common addiction.

1. Distraction is key

The best way to steer clear of a naughty habit is to find something else to keep your mind occupied. But let’s face it, your brain probably secretly enjoys the act of doing something a bit naughty, even if you’ll regret it later. So find something else that you’re not really supposed to be doing and do that instead!

Rather than reaching for a Kit Kat, get on Facebook and stalk that boy you promised you wouldn’t. Get online and buy those new shoes you really don’t need, and certainly can’t afford. Watch a trash-filled episode of TMZ. Find something. Anything!

2. Eat some Black Sapote — aka chocolate pudding fruit

This amazing fruit may be the best substitute for chocolate you’ll ever find. From the outside it hardly looks exciting, but cut it open and you’ll find dark, rich–looking, gooey flesh that highly resembles chocolate pudding, and tastes just like it, too! I swear it’s true. They are however quite exotic and can be hard to come by, so if you do see one don’t just dismiss it for an unripe green tomato – buy it ASAP and enjoy a chocolaty experience, guilt-free.

3. Use cacao instead

Cacao is one of those great superfoods that has far too many benefits to list. But trust me when I say it’s full of amazeball-ness. Not to be confused with coca, which does not contain the same good stuff. Cacao is one of the ingredients that’s found in chocolate, without the added sugar and fat, so it can give your brain that, “I just had a chocky” feeling without the naughty bits. To eat it on its own is pretty bitter and will probably make you squirm, but add it to milk for a yummy hot drink, or even better, to sugar-free yoghurt for a creamy dessert.

4. Go brush your teeth!

Can you really imagine eating chocolate that tastes like toothpaste? Eew! Sometimes your taste buds crave something sweet, but if you can trick your mouth and fill it with minty freshness instead, you may find that you suddenly don’t feel like eating the little snackity-snack that you thought you so badly wanted.

5. Do some exercise

Yeah, okay, so I know this sounds like a super unfair trade-in. You want to veg out on the couch in your trackie bottoms and enjoy the taste of chocolate, and I’m telling you instead to do something that’s difficult, and requires both physical and mental motivation. WTF? I get it, but seriously, if you can motivate yourself to do a little exercise it’ll actually release endorphins and fill you up with a natural high, alleviating the need for a sugar fix.

Remember though, as much as you may want to kick that Mars Bar addiction (right in it’s chocolatey balls) it’s totally okay to let yourself have a little treat once in a while.