My struggle with chocolate cravings

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have discovered I can lose weight by eating clean foods, like vegetables, salads, whole grain rice, whole wheat pasta and natural ingredients in my meals. This may sound difficult to do, not to mention boring, but I really enjoyed my meals and felt-and looked-a lot better for it.

For eight weeks, I went back to basics eating only natural foods. I cut out caffeine, alcohol, dairy and any artificial ingredients. Stir fried vegetables were used for most of my meals for the first couple of weeks until I became a little more adventurous. Shepherd's pie made with vegetables and topped with sweet potato is a versatile dish which most people enjoy. Vegetable crumble is another favourite, not to mention the curry. I will include some recipes in future posts.

After eight weeks, I introduced some low fat dairy, including cheese, skimmed milk and free range eggs. I only drank small amounts of alcohol at the weekend but continued to drink caffeine free beverages. However, Christmas arrived and I relaxed my eating habits and that's where the trouble started. Chocolate and sweet food became my go to food, I couldn't get enough!

Although I limited myself, I constantly craved chocolate and sweet desserts. Once I had started eating them, I found I wanted them all the time. Was it possible that I was addicted to chocolate? If anyone has the answer, please let me know.

The only way I could curb the chocolate cravings was to only eat the purest chocolate, those bars which contain around 85 per cent cocoa solids. It is quite bitter but satisfies the longing for something sweet, strangely enough. My time of falling off the wagon lasted around six months. I have decided not to beat myself up for my lapse, even though I did gain half a stone. I am now back on the healthy eating, although I am not as strict as before.

If there's anyone else out their who believes they may be addicted to chocolate or other type of food, please let me know.