Whether you like it or not, with Easter comes plenty of chocolate
Some of you may have been on a reset following Christmas and arrived at a really good place inside of yourself and suddenly you are now faced with lots of chocolate! Others of you will just be getting to that point where you feel the need for a Spring reset and are going to be hit by all this chocolate. How do you create a balance?
There are always going to be challenging times throughout the year and the secret to maintaining a long term healthy approach is to accept that temptation is around and you must deal with it in a sensible way. If you eat a sensible and healthy diet most of time i.e. 80% of the time, it is ok to veer a little off track 20% of the time. There are small things you can do to face temptation in the best possible way.
Accept that Easter is happening and enjoy some indulgence but don’t go crazy.
If you are doing the buying, choose dark chocolate. The higher the % of cocoa the less room there is for sugar. At least 70% cocoa is what you should be aiming for. Quality is important. Dark chocolate eggs from high quality suppliers like Green & Blacks, have less sugar which will impact slightly less on your blood sugar level. Pace your eating; in other words, enjoy small amounts of chocolate everyday or every other day. Eating a whole egg will lead to an energy crash later on, not to mention feelings of disappointment that you “gave in” or “failed” with your healthy eating plan.
Eating a small handful of nuts at the same time as the chocolate will cancel out the sugar rush as the protein in the nuts will slow the speed at which sugar enters the blood stream.
Eating chocolate on an empty stomach spikes blood sugar levels, so have easter eggs after a protein and veg base meal.
Make sure that you have plenty of your usual healthy foods to hand.
Your decision to eat chocolate should be a conscious one “Some chocolate would be nice but I choose not to have some right now”. Choosing puts you back in control and the responsibility is yours.
Remember, you are the one that puts food in your mouth even though sometimes it can feel as though it is out of your control, it never is.
Even the healthiest people overindulge but they don’t beat themselves up about it, they just go back to eating normally. So if you do overindulge enjoy the chocolate and remember that small amounts of the best quality dark chocolate has benefits:
Anti ageing
Reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke
High in anti oxidants
Packed with minerals such as, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc and selenium
Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, the same chemical your brain creates when you’re falling in love …
If you really don’t want chocolate around the house, try to discourage family and friends from buying chocolate for you but if they do, you could think about giving some of it to a food bank. This puts you back in control of how much chocolate you will eat and you will have made someone else smile.
If the Easter egg and everything that goes with it genuinely plays a big part in your families tradition, consider doing something different this year. Here are some great alternatives to the traditional Easter egg hunt.
Something new to try – this seasons veg is cauliflower and I would like to share a really satisfying recipe with you. Making cauliflower pizza sounds complicated but it is actually easier to make than the original. Here is the link to my recipe. It goes particularly well with a topping of tomatoes, courgettes, pepper, goats cheese and a sprinkling of rocket leaves. Have a go over Easter weekend or when you have some time to try a new recipe. It has been a real winner with my family. Everybody loves it, feels satisfied and as boys will be boys, they sometimes don’t even notice that the base is made from cauliflower and not dough.
