i just binged on lots of chocolate! HELP!! IDEAS on how to stop the crave?

yeah...i know emotional problems most likely cause one to binge..but i think i'm just addicted to chocolate! i cant help it! today i took in 400 extra calories just from chocolate!! this is in addition to my 1300 daily calorie intake. i know going over by 400 calories may not seem like a lot but its been like this for about a week. 100 extra calories for two days and then this binge! omg...i need HELP! ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO CONTROL This Cholocate cravings?

I feel your pain...throw it out, give it away, do whatever you need to do, just get it far away from you.  I have been grabbing a diet cola with a twist of lime when I get the cravings lately and it seems to help.  Just keep reminding yourself of how hard you've worked to get here (even if it's only been as little as a day) and don't let the chocolate sabotage it all -it's not worth it!  Hang in there!

There are ways to have a taste of chocolate without such drastic problems!!!

Try lo cal hot chocolate mixes - either drink hot chocolate, or use the powder as "creamer" in coffee.  For 100 calories, you have a longer time of tasting chocolate by sipping on a chocolate tasting drink.

I eat sugar free chocolate taffy.  It tastes great, has calories, but not as many as pure chocolate.

Try the 90 calorie granola bars with chocolate bits. 

Be creative in finding chocolate flavor in lower calories snacks .. you can do this!

don't let the 400 cals of chocolate get to you too much...or you may just set yourself up for failure again the next time you have a piece

forgive yourself and forget :-)

obviously the throw it out option seems the most obvious..lol..but sometimes i just cant get to throw it out! :( but first thing when i wake up tmrw its going in the dumpster!

and does anybody know what the low-cal hot chocolate brand mix is? i've heard about one that is less than 50 calories a package but i cannot remember its name?

jpalmer, Diet Swiss Miss.

Maybe try to actually get half your calories from chocolate for a couple days, and see if the craving ever resolves, or if you just start craving something else? My guess is that when you allow yourself to finally have all that chocolate, your body will start to want something else that's 'forbidden' because as you already know, it's not about the food.

But seriously, it would probably hurt you less to eat smaller meals followed by half a chocolate bar for every single meal so that you actually end up getting half of your calories from chocolate than if you binged like crazy on it. Your body would respond better to that; binging is pretty harmful.

Hey shakti, I used to have some issues with binging, ESPECIALY on chocolate or peanutbutter, and I know binging is bad for you, but just HOW BAD is it? What are some of the consequences, aside from the obvious? 

Just very curious, thanks!

Some research suggests that chocolate cravings may not only come from the feelings of being tired, fed up, sad or bored but can also be related to a lack of magnesium in your body, so it's recommended you try to snack on nuts instead - unfortunately they're not too much better for us calorie counters! Still, look into magnesium-rich foods, whatever they may be.    

hmmm..i never thought of the making myself eat chocolate to be reverse pyschology in long run...but i am going to purchase that diet swiss miss!! thanks

When I'm craving chocolate I eat a chocolate tootsie pop, or Cocoa Krispies with skim milk, or 1 tablespoon of semi sweet morsels letting them melt one at a time on my tongue.  I too love diet hot chocolate but I make it with 6 oz skim milk instead of water so it's tastes richer.

When I first started counting my calories I bought one of those dark chocolate dove bars and just ate one little section after each meal, so I never really craved it because I ate it all the time. (Dark chocolate is also a lot heavier and gives you more satisfaction than milk, it does take a little getting used to it though. )

Jello sugar free chocolate pudding only has 60 calories per pack....I don't know what I'd do without it. That's my chocolate treat every day so I never feel like I'm missing out on anything. Plus it actually tastes good!

2 words:  Tootsie Pop

The chocolate flavoured ones. Those things are amazing.  They last for a while (30 mins if you don't bite) and they have a good chocolate taste.  At the end, you get a nice tootsie roll.

And its only 60 or so calories per pop.

I love chocolate as well.  but I think that the more you eat it, the more your body craves the sugar.  so you simply need to bite the bullet (har har) and not have any for a week.  Then have a little bit here and there.

Best advise is work it into your daily or weekly plan.

I get this hard candy called Nips to suck on... they have a chocolate parfait one that's yummy, but my fave is the mocha flavor!!   They are only 30 calories per piece and you can suck on them a while!!  Altoids now has dark chocolate coated sugar free cinnamon mints that are pretty tasty!

I, too, suffer from a sweet tooth, so finding alternatives is a challenge!!

lacavilier, I'm not so sure what the 'obvious' consequences you speak of are, so I'm not sure which other ones to tell you about...I'm assuming 'obvious' would be weight gain?

And of course, my 'not-so-obvious' ways in which binging can harm you would appear obvious on the surface, i.e. weight gain, but it's the reasons BEHIND the weight gain that are actually damaging.

First of all, Binging jacks up your blood sugar. There's a lot of energy being consumed all at the same time. High blood sugar levels are damaging to the organs (one of the reasons why diabetics are more prone to having limbs amputated and organs fail). Now, the body knows this, so the body floods itself with insulin to try and get the blood sugar levels down.

Insulin is not necessarily bad for the body. In fact, if you are trying to build muscle, you actually WANT to stimulate an insulin response after your workout. What's bad is the fact that every time you binge, you burn out your insulin receptors, meaning every time you become less and less sensitive to your own insulin.

This means that the more you binge, the more those high blood sugar levels are going to damage your organs because your body can't bring the levels back down. Doing this often enough, you could cause Insulin Resistance, which is a precurser to diabetes. Neither of which are fun.

I also love chocolate! These ideas for chocolate are good ones, so I'll try those too! Thanks everyone! :) I have a bag of Hershey's Dark Chocolate chips in my freezer. 1 tbsp is 80 calories. I let each little morsel melt in my mouth (not in my hand, he he).

Take Care!

shakti,

Those are some really good points.  I did not know that.  Thanks

How about fat free sugar free fudgesicles? I had some that were 35 calories each! They were yummy too. I find the key to avoiding binges on certain treats is to incorporate some into my daily allowance. If you aren't depriving yourself, you're less likely to overdo it.

yoplait also has a chocolate yogurt, which is a an added bonus because yogurt is proven to help with your digestive tract among other things.  I find that I binge when I feel like I can't have or will not be getting something for a long time.  The trick is to eat in moderation and replacing the things you can't control with healthier options.

my secret and it works if you make it work.  buy a bad of choc. chips....most bags 32 chips equal 70 cals.

count out the 1 serving amount and put one chip in your mouth at a time and suck on it until it dissolves.  There have been times I have put some back in the bag!

Wow shakti, thats pretty scary stuff. Yea the weight gain is what I was reffering to. It's incredibly sad to think that so many people out there that bing on superfat, super sugar foods, may be setting themselves up for a lifetime of problems.

I had no plans on eating tons of chocholate in the near future, but this just gives me all the more insentive!  Thanks again! =)

- Greg