137/365 Junk Food Exception: Fine Chocolate

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

We've discussed junk food before. Only eat it if you made it. It's a tough rule to follow but, I must make an exception: chocolate!

I am talking about fine chocolate bars like those from Dolfin, Chuao Chocolatier, or Scharffen Berger. These are definitely exceptions. They are delicious and made of simple ingredients. You can also find chocolates that are fair trade and/or organic.

I am NOT talking about your standard Halloween fare like Kit Kats, Milky Ways, Butterfinger, etc. These mass produced, highly processed, and mystery ingredient laden candies are really not worth your time. Do you ever notice that after you have one, your craving for chocolate or something sweet isn't satiated? The chocolate isn't of good quality and the treat is over sweet. Here is a pretty good summary of how many calories are in the fun-size/mini bars.

Instead of those grocery store candies, try a finer bar of chocolate, something pure though I encourage you to try ones with nuts, fruits, and other flavors mixed in because they are quite good. Also, remember that dark chocolate is better than milk chocolate because of the antioxidants and cocoa phenols (these are believed to lower blood pressure).

You may have to expand your food run in order to get these specialty chocolates from say Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Wegman's, etc. but it will be well worth it. As far as calories go, they are comparable to the fun-size/mini bars; they are also way more satisfying.

In health,

Lauren