If you are a chocoholic like me, eating one piece will open the floodgates. I get chocolate on the brain and demonstrate “chocolate seeking behavior”. When you have trouble controlling an intake of a certain food, it is called a trigger food. I bet many of you city girls and guys have trigger foods. So what would you do if you were now spending time in an environment that was filled with these trigger foods?   How would you control your “chocolate seeking behavior’ before you started packing on the pounds?

So here is the scenerio:
- You keep minimal food in your apartment. Now you start dating someone and his apartment is filled with tempting treats (i.e. chocolate). A large bowl of M&M’s in the kitchen and huge bowl of assorted mini chocolates (Dove, Hershey’s mini bars, kisses) on the dining room table. And variety makes it even worse because you find the urge to sample more …  (yes, that is my hand)

- You can’t get the chocolate out of your mind.  You think “I’ll just have 2 little pieces”. But every time you walk by the kitchen or dining room your hand dips into the bowl. Before the weekend is over, half of the candy has moved from the bowls to your hips!

Tips to control your chocolate intake
1. Explain to Mr. Chocolate Lover that you have trouble controlling your intake of certain foods (ie. chocolate) and that it would be really helpful to you if he keeps them out of sight hidden in the cabinet. Explain the benefit to him  —>  that hiding the chocolates would help you to maintain your svelte figure. (um… my hand again)

2. Maybe he will take the hint and get rid of the chocolate totally and replace it with fruit!  (this would only happen in my foolish nutrition dreams…)

3. If he insists on keeping chocolate in the house, maybe he can buy a type that is not as appealing to you. For example, I’m not as tempted by Rollo’s, but am very tempted by Dove and Hershey’s. I find dark chocolate to be more satisfying, so I may eat fewer of them.

4. Cover the bowl of chocolates with a towel/napkin. Keeping it out of sight MAY help you to reduce your intake.

5. At the very least, keep the chocolate bowl far away from your reach. Obviously you wouldn’t want to keep it near the computer you work on or near the couch where you watch tv.

6. Tell yourself that you are allowed to have ~ 100 calories a day from your trigger food. (this would be 2 mini chocolate bars)

7. If you find that once you start, you can’t stop, then don’t even start with one.

8. If all else fails, think positive. It is possible that as time goes by, you may get used to having the chocolate there and won’t be so obsessed with it.

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