I did it! Forty Six Days Without Chocolate!
These are my thoughts and what I learnt about myself from giving up chocolate for Lent…
Did it help my weight loss efforts?
To begin with it did seem to help my weight loss/Slimming World efforts. But after a while I realised that instead of eating chocolate I just ate other sugary foods instead.
In the end it didn’t help my weight loss at all. It probably had the opposite effect – I ended March heavier than I started (and that doesn’t happen very often…only 2 other times in the 19 months).
Avoiding chocolate can be tricky
It’s in a lot of things that aren’t necessarily labelled as chocolate. For instance – Tesco sell Fresh Cream Toffee Meringues which are quite good for Slimming World but the meringue has chocolate on it.
And I was even offered a free chocolate sample one day in a shop! (Why didn’t that happen when I was eating it!?)
I have more will power than I realise
I often find myself using lack of will power as an excuse. Going forty six days without chocolate has helped me to challenge that belief. I thought about chocolate most days and would have happily eaten some had I not been abstaining. Remembering my end goal helped me stick with it. If I hadn’t been working towards Easter Sunday this may have been tricker to do.
I can do hard things
Okay so giving up chocolate may not seem that hard to you. And in the big scheme of things it isn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with…not by a long shot! But before I started I knew I would find it hard. So many times through the 46 days I thought it was difficult. And yet I still got to the end. I did it. A reminder that I can muster inner strength when needed.
Removing moderation makes it easier to say no
It’s far easier to turn something down because “I’m not eating chocolate” than “I shouldn’t…I’m ‘trying’ to be good”.
I really appreciate my support network
My husband and son mostly stayed away from chocolate too which I really appreciated. When we visited family and they visited us – they had chocolate free treats to share so I didn’t feel like I was missing out! I’m glad I shared my plans with them all so they could offer support.
Keeping track helps motivate me
I liked looking at my Bullet Journal tracker each day to see how many days had passed and how many were left. Each night I coloured in the number representing the total days I’d been without chocolate and I found it motivating to track my progress.
Where to now with chocolate?
I’ve enjoyed eating some Easter chocolate since Sunday but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had anticipated after 46 days without it.
Once the Easter chocolate is finished I am thinking about trying to go mostly chocolate free. I might just enjoy chocolate on special occasions.
Where to next?
Given that I substituted chocolate with sugary foods and sweets I’m keen to challenge myself further. I’m quite keen to try sugar free. I may try this for a week and see how it goes.
If you have any sugar free tips and advice I’d love to hear from you!
I too am a chocolate lover!! I found this to be very interesting and helpful. I thought your perceptions on lack of will power were very keen and I am glad that you have found that you do have the will power or “strength” to complete a goal you set out for yourself. As I said before, I love chocolate and all sweets. So much that I could literally live on sweets. So, I decided to try and eat low sugar a some time ago. I have started eating high protein… lots of protein bars and veggies and salads. Surprisingly, it has been far less difficult than I thought. I also love peanut butter and have found that looking at it as a treat instead of all of the sugary things has helped. I have lots of celery with peanut butter! Yummy. I am not doing this as I diet but Adkins has some great protein meal bars that help also as a yummy substitute for chocolate or “sweet” cravings. Oh, about the peanut butter.. You have to be careful because many brands have lots of sugars and carbs. Pure organic peanut butter or Smuckers brand … I have found to have the least sugar. I guarantee that after a week or two you will have lost some weight if that is what you feel you need. I did and I didn’t necessarily want to lose weight. Just a few ideas that worked for me as far as cutting out the sugars and a lot of carbs too. Thank you for sharing your great tips and hope maybe this helps in some way. Oh… I did eat sugar on Easter as well and like you, it was not as satisfying as I thought it would be after awhile without it. It actually messed with my stomach a bit! Thank you again. Love your blog!! 🤗😍
Allison Fonzo
Hi Allison – thanks for visiting and for all the information and advice. I really appreciate you taking the time.
I love the tips for trying low sugar. I am a peanut butter fan (and only buy 100% pure) so I might try that as an alternative snack! I’m sure once I’ve given low sugar a go and perhaps even sugar free that I will post an update here.
Take care and hope you’re having a lovely weekend 🙂 Thanks, Katie