Chocolate withdrawal

I am going through a difficult time now. I have given up chocolate. This is the third day of no chocolate and I am wanting chocolate. I heard from someone/somewhere that after a while of not eating chocolate, the need for chocolate goes away. I want chocolate. I have procrastinated all day about doing this bit of work, and I think chocolate could let me do it. I have drunk three cups of orange tea and eaten two oranges. Orange is no substitute for chocolate.

9 comments

  1. joanium says:

    Well, my housemate Damian just gave me a Magnum and a chocolate cupcake and I gobbled it up. I couldn’t say no. Addiction is a terrible thing.

    Okay, my ban is on standalone chocolate, not chocolate incorporated into other foods, like ice cream, cookies and cake.

    Yes, I know how ridiculous that is.

  2. vera says:

    I had a friend who vowed to give up chocolate for a whole year. This included anything that was chocolate, chocolate flavoured, included cocoa, etc. And he did. He lost an incredible amount of weight!

    After that, he gave up all soft drinks.

    I think he’s back to eating/drinking both now (this was some five years ago), but he hasn’t regained any of the weight.

  3. Brad says:

    Joanium – I had a giggle at your expense. We are on a bit of a regime at the moment. We were in town yesterday and had decided that we would eat a gelati – a walk through our Italian memory lane. We got to the gelati shop (in an overly lighted and air conditioned shopping centre! Ah, Canberra) and decided that we would refuse to wait in a line of about 20 people with shopping trolleys. Our experience had been ruined. The upshot, I figure, is to make the experience of chocolate bad. I am not sure how you could do this, but it might be worth giving it a go.

  4. joanium says:

    Vera, your anecdote gives me hope. Today, I was pleased that I declined a hot chocolate (known to be well made and delicious) and asked for tea instead.

    Brad, I know someone (Vera) who drank a lot of Baileys in one night (as an experiment) and now she cannot bear it. Perhaps I need to GORGE on chocolate.

    The thing is, I’m pretty sure that I’d bounce back an hour later, ready for more!

  5. vera says:

    Oh, Baileys… I only drink it now with Chambord, as a “jam donut”. Still won’t take it on its own!

    Also, I was put off (warning: Chinese… possibly badly spelled… or badly translated from Cantonese to Mandarin) lian gao (the sticky-ish “cake” you eat at Chinese New Year) for more than a decade because one time I ate too much and “got sick” (in hindsight it was probably just a coincidence). Yeah… that happened in prep or grade 1… I only started eating it again about two years ago…

    So try eating chocolate when you’re about to get sick!

  6. joanium says:

    Hey everyone, I had a breakthrough!! There was a BAG of TOBLERONE on the table with a note that said EAT ME and I reached for it then cried, ‘NO! I’VE GIVEN UP CHOCOLATE!’ and I WALKED AWAY!!!!!

    Huzzah

  7. Pan says:

    That’s some Funny stuff….. I have given up chocolate. This is the third day of no chocolate and I am wanting chocolate. I read that and just started rolling. OMG LOL … You don’t say…? LOL!

  8. Kim says:

    This is my first day without chocolate…I know it is going to be a long haul for me, but it’s not good for my thighs! I have stopped before and lost weight. This time, I am quitting for good!!

  9. Tamara says:

    I bawled for three days after I gave up chocolate. I was eating a mountain of it per day. I am an athlete so I can handle a LOT of fat and calories without getting massive, but it became an addiction to keep going. The energy from the sugar and the caffeine was enormously beneficial with my high energy, busy lifestyle. I don’t know that there are any studies on it, but my emotions were not stable. At first I didn’t feel anything at all. I found myself emotionally closing off. Then someone said something and the floodgates opened and then I bawled on and off for a few days. I did not crave chocolate because I switched first to organic chocolate so that I didn’t have the high insulin issues to deal with but there must be something else in chocolate that made me emotionally “different” than I was before. I had to learn other ways to make myself feel purpose and happiness. It was connecting emotionally on a deeper level with my loved ones that I replaced chocolate with. I don’t know why but I suspect I’m not the only one with these issues. I had no clue any of that was an issue til after I gave it up…but it didn’t last long. A few days, tops. If you are having trouble giving up chocolate, use organic chocolate and sugar to make your own chocolate food sources for up to a week before you wean yourself off of it entirely. You won’t feel tired, either, if you do that.

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