Healthy Chocolate

I was asked a question on Facebook and I realized that my response was far too long for a comment on a wall so I'm answering the question here.

Question: Have heard and I think found (though weight has never been much of an issue for me) that healthy chocolate seems to have best weight effects if consumed at least a half hour before meals. Have you tried/noticed this?

Answer: I have actually. I've been eating healthy chocolate for 7 months now and I've found that it cuts my appetite and I find that I eat probably 30% less than I normally would have. That was the most shocking thing I noticed when I first started eating it.

I lost my first 10 lbs eating just healthy chocolate and making no conscious change to my diet. Literally, the only change I made was the chocolate, I didn't even start going to the gym at first. It helped control my appetite and my cravings changed. It gave me just the boost in energy that made going to the gym that much easier and I noticed a boost in my mood (which I especially need during the fall/winter). The biggest help to me was that my blood sugars became MUCH easier to manage. My blood sugar dropped 100 points below where it normally sits with no medication and I need less insulin when I'm regularly eating the chocolate.

I usually eat breakfast at the office because I work early in the morning so I'll eat a square of chocolate on my way into the office. I do the same with dinner, eating another on the way home. For lunch, I used to eat a piece when I just start feeling hungry then ate about 30 minutes later. I now have to plan differently because I don't feel hungry as often.

The first time I noticed a change with the healthy chocolate was a night Michael and I got our favorite salads at a local Mexican restaurant (Sweet Pork Salad) and then came home to watch a movie. Normally, distracted eating like that would mean I'd eat the whole salad and be over stuffed. I know this from experience! Instead, I was totally satisfied and felt like I just couldn't eat any more and went to put the salad down and you couldn't even tell I'd eaten any of it.

Eating healthy chocolate was the start for me on this journey to health. Each square is packed with antioxidants so you get a ton of nutrients that your body really needs. Dark chocolate is also an anti-inflammatory so even my arthritic knees are thanking me at this point. The chocolate has become a guilt free way for me to keep eating chocolate that I normally would have given up by now. I don't use it as a replacement for fresh foods, but I do keep eating it for the health benefits it has given me.

In 3 squares of chocolate (I eat one before each meal) this is the nutrient value (for all 3):

• 170 calories
• 11 g of fat
• 16 g of carbohydrate
• 2 g of protein

The best part is that this healthy, low-carb chocolate actually tastes good! Here is a video that talks about the Xocai Chocolate. I eat this chocolate for the health benefits that I have seen for me and for how it makes me feel.