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Health & Fitness

Chocolate? Yes, No, or Just a Little?

Spring is in the air? How will you manage those seasonal treats?

As a Weight Watcher who has lost over 70 pounds and maintained that weight loss now for 12 years (yahoo!) I know that there is no bad food. Calling foods good or bad sets us up for the all-or-nothing perfectionist behavior that stalls our long-term healthy lifestyle plans. All food turns into energy to feed our cells, to give us strength and fuel for our daily lives. So where do treats fit in?

I've been thinking a lot about this as a few things are in the air:

1.  Spring holidays are traditionally loaded with sweets, and ...

Find out what's happening in Larkspur-Corte Maderawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

2.  A Swiss teenager is living with us as an exchange student. Switzerland equals chocolate!

OK, let's start with the spring holidays. Easter baskets and Easter egg hunts are loaded with sweets — Peeps, jelly beans, chocolate eggs, bunnies, etc. Passover has chocolate-dipped matzos and coconut macaroons. We create and perpetuate traditions that leave a trail of sugar for weeks. No problem! You can eat anything within moderation and be well.

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But, what do we do when we've handed out the treats, filled the pinatas, and hidden those plastic eggs with M&M's? Studies show that 97% of parents eat their kids' treats after the children have gone to bed. And that remaining 3%? I think they're lying. It's just so easy to reach, gulp, and then reach again.

So what do we do about this? It's the same challenge that we face at work with the ubiquitous candy bowl or tray of donuts in the office break room. As Brian Wansink writes in Mindless Eating, the more choices of treats around, the bigger the volume of these treats, and the more tired we are, the more likely we are to eat beyond moderation. For example, he studied people's behavior with M&M's. People ate a certain amount of M&M's if there were just a few colors to choose from. The more colors of M&M's in the bowl, the more we eat. Also, the bigger the bowl, the more we eat. It's the behavior we see ourselves exhibiting at the Vegas buffet — so many choices, and each choice is in a humongous serving plate or bowl, so we want a lot of everything. It's human behavior.

But, we can change this behavior with mindfulness and self-awareness. You see yourself reaching for those rabbit ears after the kids went to bed? Have a frustrating moment at work and feel the desperate need to take a break and eat something in the break room? Just recognizing these patterns can help us create new patterns — healthy patterns.  

Sure, you can eat anything you want. It's the behavior you see yourself repeating again and again that can help you make life-long changes towards moderation and wellness. Instead of that midnight candy looting, grab an apple instead. Dice it up, douse it in cinnamon, then toss in some Greek yogurt for protein and you'll have a bigger snack, a more nutritious snack and you can leave those treats for the kids.  

I've been having to practice this with our sweet young Swiss student. He loves chocolate, and eats it without regret, remorse, or a moment of hesitation. Chocolate means home. Wanting him to feel right at home, I've been keeping a steady stream of chocolate in his realm. I've never bought so much chocolate in my life. It's a bit funny and really strange. Often I'm wearing my Weight Watcher's name tag as I leave work and go pick up more chocolate for him, and that gets some interesting looks.  

Now, a bit of chocolate is no problem. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, organic or not — have what you like. It's the moderation piece that is key. I don't live for chocolate and our exchange student keeps it in his room. It's HIS chocolate. So, I respect his privacy, his love for chocolate, and his connection to home through his cultural favorite. It hasn't impacted the rest of the house at all.

Mindfulness, awareness and no deprivation — that is the key to long term weight management.  

Good luck with the bunny ears, and Happy Spring! 

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