Nightly Chocolate Binge! Help!

Help!  Everynight for the past week I have been binging on about 300-500 calories worth of chocolate in my house.  Anything chocolate i can put my hands on. 

I'm 5'5", 145lbs, and have lost about 20lbs since the beginning on January eating around 1400 calories and generally had only a few binges.   On average I exercise about 200-400 calories off every day.  I'll eat fine and healthy all day long and i usually leave myself about 50 cals at the end of the day for a little sweet treat.  But I think the sugar in my treat is triggering some kind of chocolate/sugar binge.  I threw away most of the sweet stuff in my house.  The only chocolate left in the house at this point are the 100 cal packs of oreos, the lindt 30 cal dark chocolate squares, and a package of no pudge brownies.  I've tried detering myself by drinking water, chewing gum, brushing my teeth, but i crave the chocolate.  As soon as my son's asleep and my husband is out of the house (at the gym or on errands) or asleep, i'll hit the kitchen. 

I don't know what to do anymore.  My weight loss has completely stalled out as a result of the binges.

At the moment when ever I feel like chocoalte in the evening I go for a low calorie hot chocolate. They are about 40cal per mug and as it is water as well it fills you up... try it!

I am a chocolate addict - check out my profile : )

Chocolate treats that don't ruin a diet to help satisfy the craving:

• Chocolate pudding: 45-85 cals depending on brand
• Fudgsicles: 40 -100 cals depending on variety
• Hot Chocolate: 25 -50 cals
• Cocoa Via Bars: 80 cals (if you can find them they are delicious - I eat one every night)
• Chocolate smoothie:  - about 75 cals 8 oz unsweetened chocolate almond breeze(45), ice, splenda, & some sugar free chocolate syrup (15-30) blended
• Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat w/ hot chocolate added - 125 calories.  I use the plain instant packets of eitherone and add an envelope of 25 calorie hot chocolate.  Its so good and so filling.  Its really a perfect sweet dessert for 125 calories.

Try eating more the rest of the day.  Net 1000-1200 calories is exceptionally low and if you run out of energy your body will look for a quick fix.. sugar... in the interests of self-preservation.  Rather than trying to psych or fool yourself out of eating chocolate, give your body more nourishment from the rest of your food.  Aim for an average intake of 1600 cals.  Choose healthy, high-fibre foods so that you get plenty to eat.  Then the chocolate will seem less attractive.

Fat free or sugar free fudge pops are around 35-50 cals apiece depending on what brand you get.  They taste great and chocolatey, and you can suck on them slowly and make them last.  They would fit into your nightly 50 cal sweet allowance no problem.

You should try the Skinny Cow ice cream cones. They are really good and it takes a while to eat as well. The last bite is the cone filled with chocolate which is always a nice treat too! I also get those mini delites and only heat them half way so its still gooey. that with tea is kinda filling too.

good luck!

Thanks everybody for your advice.  I'm going to up my calories to 1500 for now and see if that will help to alleviate the desire for a binge.  Also thanks for all the chocolately treat advice.  I'll have to get some of the skinny cow cones and hopefully can just eat one and/or the fudgicles. I also never thought about putting the hot chocolate mix in oatmeal.  I'm definitely trying that one!

If you live near a Trader Joe's, I would trade the Oreo's for Joe-Joes.  They taste better imo and don't have that trans fat or whatever poison is in it.  It's honest cane sugar and is very sweet. 

Also, I bought a King Size Reece's and put it in the freezer.  When I want chocolate, I take one cup out and defrost it and eat it.  120 calories.  It's such a big deal that I'm not going to binge on it.  I hate eating frozen, hard food too. 

I find when I don't eat enough calories thru the day that's when I crave chocolate! But to satisfy  my sweet tooth - sugar free hot cocoa with 1 big marshmallow, 100 calorie Hostess chocolate cupcakes - they have 5g fiber!, 1 piece of Dove Dark chocolate and a hot cup of coffee.

Weight Watchers makes some yummy desserts too - in the freezer section. Last week I had a gooey fudge type brownie that you heat in the microwave and put a dollop of lite cool whip on it and split it with my hubby - only 85 calories with cool whip!

I don't buy anything I cna't stay out of! LOL

Uncle wallys has smart portion brownies, you get 2 brownies in a pack for 160 cals, they have 3 fat 3 fiber and 3 protein so not to bad. And the best part is they are yummy and you get  2!!!!

Chocolate Muffins:

1 can pumpkin

1/2 can water

1 chocolate cake mix

Mix ingredients together.  Pour into 12 muffin cups and bake.  They're somewhere around 100-120 calories each, super chocolatey, and YUMMY.  You can't taste the pumpkin at all.  Plus, you're getting the extra nutrition of the pumpkin.  The same can be done with carrot cake mix and spice cake mix (I like to add raisins :)  I let the kids eat them for breakfast sometimes, and they LOVE them.

Or, if you're like me, just get rid of ALL the chocolate in the house.  I have no willpower, but if it isn't here, I can't eat it.  After a couple of days the craving aren't nearly as strong.

I've been satisfying my chocolate cravings by buying really expensive chocolate from Whole Foods, the kind that's $2 per bar. I know I'm not going to spend that every day. I eat a small piece and treat it like an event -- sit down and really savor the small piece that I do eat. It's less of a treat if I gorge myself, and one bar lasts about 4 days.

I have had the same problem.  I do great all day and then about 6 or 7 o'clock and night and a switch flips and I shoving anything sweet into my mouth.......until this last Sunday!

I know this will sound like just another fad thing but.....I've been watching the TLC series "I can make you thin".  This last week was on how to get rid of cravings.  I am totally amazed!  It worked!!!

You can go check it out on the website www.tlc.com/thin or here is the gist of the beat the cravings thing.

It is best to do this when you are actually craving the food.

1.  With your LEFT hand, squeeze your thumb and middle finger together and hold it like that.

2.  Close your eyes and image a huge plate full of the the food that absolutely, completely disgusts you.  For me this was sauted slimy onions.

3.  Now make this plate of food even worse.  Imagine hair from the floor of the barber shop mixed in.  Then imagine pouring the contents of a spitoon in with it.

4.  Now imagine taking a huge bite of this gross stuff.  Actually use your right hand and pretend you are scooping up a big fork/spoon full and putting it in your mouth.  The closer you can get to actually starting to gag, the better.  I almost made myself throw up.  Make sure you are still squeezing the thumb and middle finger on your left hand together.

5.  Now, imagine your favorite craving food mixed in with that gross mess and imagine taking another huge bite.  I mixed in every kind of chocolate I could think of.

6.  Once you are thoroughly disgusted, open your eyes and let go of the left hand.

7.  Now, to give you a good feeling.  Squeeze the thumb and middle finger of your RIGHT hand together and close your eyes.

8.  Imagine times when you felt really good.  Really consentrate on how you felt, what you saw, what you smelled.  For me this was my first trip to Cozumel Mexico sitting on the warm beach relaxing and the way I feel everytime I finish the Bolder Boulder 10K (this will be year 4!). 

9.  Once you have really imagined and felt those good thoughts, let go of your fingers and open your eyes.

Now, you shouldn't feel that craving much if at all.

Later, if you feel the craving, squeeze your thumb and middle finger on your left hand for a few seconds.  The craving should go away.  You can follow it up with squeezing the middle finger and thumb on your right hand for a good feeling.

I had planned on making a bag of popcorn after watching the show and when the show was done, I had absolutely no desire for the popcorn at all.  And, yesterday, I took a 100 cal chocolate bar to work for a snack.  Didn't even feel like touching it all day.  On the 1 hr drive home, I thought about eating the chocolate, but didn't feel like it so I ate my carrots and mango instead.  I haven't done a binge night or even really a snack night since last Sunday. 

Amy

I always have a box of the 15g bars of green & blacks chocolate in the house. You get 12 in a box - 2 each of 70%, 70% with cherry, 70% with ginger, plain milk, milk with almonds and milk with butterscotch.

They are soo good and only about 70-80 calories each. Cos they're individually wrapped you just take one out and its easy to limit to just that one. Also they are quite expensive so works on that level too.

I agree with the hot chocolate idea as well - they really satisfy the cravings for so few cals. (although a mini choc bar does go well with them, i just indulged!)