My tryst with Chocolate

Chocolate… Ah yes, the sinful, brown decadence that causes weakening of knees even amongst the strongest and most courageous amongst us. Some refer to it as the food of the gods. While some do not have the time to make references. Just sanity enough to make a mad grab for it. I do fervently believe that I belong to the latter category of individuals.

I never really understood my obsession with chocolate. Nor have I made too much headway on the issue of late either. I don’t know when it began. Or how. Not that it matters really. But I do know one thing for sure. That its not going to end, ever. Nor is it going to mellow down. Hah! So much for diminishing marginal utility (though this application ought to make my Eco Prof swell with pride!! He he he!!) It is just going to be a life long affair of passion, gluttony and sensory overload. And that is a giddying feeling. Wow. Sigh.

It is hard for me to resist the pull of chocolate. As a kid, stuff like chocolate was a luxury. Something that you could have only when there was a momentary lapse in the parental regimen of extreme self control and / or child control. Or when aunties and uncles who had nothing better to do came home and pulled out a bar of the contraband and thrust them into eager, greedy little hands. Hands that would almost grab at the treat and would almost make an ungrateful run for it. I use the word “almost” here to highlight a most interesting phenomenon. I would like to refer to it as “The LOOK.” Because parental eyes have a mysterious pull that force into submission even the most crazed of chocolate starved minds. Somehow this visual contact would force the victim (mostly me) to stop dead in their tracks. This phenomenon would ensure that the victim (by now on parental auto pilot) would murmur words of hard-to-believe gratitude and throw in a sappy, pitiful smile for good measure. Oh well…

The mind meanwhile would be hard at work, tearing at the purple pack, reducing the gold foil to an experiment in nothingness (Rutherford would have been proud) and imagining the inevitable fate of the bar in hand, lamenting the fact that it had to be shared equally with the sibling. Woe the downside of familial socialism. And all this intellectual duelling for the sake of chocolate in motion while the beneficent aunty-uncle (by now a single fused abstraction to the chocolate addled mind) would marvel at our growth rates (Oooooh I last saw you as a baby!!! Soooo BIG you have become beta. You are now 7 years old!? How time flies!!!) But nothing would beat the ecstasy and satisfaction of when the aforementioned vision came to be. Albeit the fact that the vision was reduced exactly by half (Grrrrr... how I wish I knew ratio and proportion to argue my case mathematically then. Not that I was too great at it when I eventually did learn it. Componendo Dividendo mumbo jumbo) They say the fruits of patience are sweet. Chocolate is sweet in patience or impatience nonetheless.

But age does bring with it sanity. Sharing is now a virtue. Amen. I love sharing my chocolate. (Yeah right and Satyam was an early April Fool's prank. Sheesh.) Er… The voices in my head. (Yeah buddy and they speak only to me! Back off) Sigh. Please don’t pay attention to them.

So that’s that. A tiny peek into my world that can be shrunk to the least distance between me and a bar of chocolate!! And the tryst continues……..

 

Wow! That's a refreshing saying..on a CHOCOLATE :bowdown

and thank you for the chocolates...that was very sweet of you

 

Thanks vidchakra..don't control! Chocolates are supposed to burn the fat calories...the darker the chocolate, the more burning of fat calories

 

Yes! chocolate is high in fat, but if eatten in moderation which is 33 grams a serving late in the afternoon it will actually help boost your caloric burn for the day.If a chocolate bar is approximately 100 grams, then your serving size is about a 1/3 of the bar.

Not all chocolate is the same. Milk and white chocolate contain an extremely high quantity of processed sugars and other junk, leaving relative little cocoa (cocoa is believed to have some significant health benefits).

On the other hand,dark chocolate with few ingredients is made from 70, 80 or even 90% cocoa! And this is the type of chocolate that I highly recommend you choose.

From the perspective of a healthy nutritional program and our weight loss goals, here are the most important:

Dark chocolate’s bitter taste can help the body regulate appetite & reduce cravings

High amount of cocoa butter (stearic acid slows digestion) makes the stomach stay full longer

And let’s not forget that the carbohydrates in dark chocolate also raise serotonin levels, the cause of the famous “mood elevating” effects of chocolate.

Of the above benefits, my favorite is the ability to control cravings. If you’re not craving junk food then your ability to make healthy food choices is hugely improved!