Would this be an improvement on eating chocolate? Or would it be worse?

There are 228 calories in a standard size Mars Bar, 151 calories in a Snacksize bar, 80 calories in a Funsize and 355 calories in a Duo pack.

Calorie and Nutritional Information for a Standard Mars Bar
Serving Size 51g

1 Bar/51g
Calories 229
Protein (g) 2.3
Carbohydrate (g) 35.4
of which Sugar 30.6
Fat (g) 8.6
of which Saturated Fat 4.2
Salt (g) 0.3

try making your own versions? A lot of chocolate bars now have so many UPFs that you don’t get satisfied from the sugar and fat in them. Try your own- not even necessarily without the sugar. Just without the other shit.

A complete reset isn’t actually that helpful I’ve found.

I did a 4 week sugar detox, kicked off with 3 days of no carbs or starchy veg either. It was awful, and a month later I’m pretty much back to my high sugar diet (with some changes, but nothing that will be having a huge impact I don’t think - mostly more water and fruit teas instead of sugary drinks). It was an awful detox too, I’ve never been so ill…

What about something like strawberries with two squares of melted dark chocolate drizzled over the top? Feels decadent but it's really a much smaller amount of chocolate than you're eating now

@Chocccg try a handful of almonds each time you want sugar. Almonds have something in them that stop sugar cravings (from someone who likes sugar, it works).

Another go to is a healthier sweet. Pitted medjool dates with some nuts inside - almonds, cashews, pistachios. You can't eat many and they have the added bonus of fibre.

And this is why all the “just has a few squares of dark chocolate” posts will fail. The OP is unlikely to be craving cocoa.

Most likely it’s sugar/calories because she’s not had enough food through the day (given she’s not overweight /gaining weight from this, she’s obviously not having enough calories from her main meals for her body), you don’t fix that in the evening when you are hungry by swapping out for a lower calorie snack, you fix it at breakfast lunch and dinner by eating more “real” food.

I don't like fruit much, nor am I keen on sweets, and I don't take sugar in tea or coffee. I do like chocolate. So I don't think it is the sugar in chocolate that does it for me, it is the chocolate itself. I prefer plain chocolate to milk chocolate as well.

Eat cheese instead

This however only works if you are quickly satiated by cheese. If you're a cheese monster you'll need a different approach

I agree with the dark chocolate suggestion, it worked for me. As a PP said, it's not as moreish, so I don't get carried away.
As i wasn't used to it though, I started with the lowest cocoa dark chocolate, then worked my way up through the percentages (higher percentage has less sugar), so I'm at 90 percent now. I tried 95 but it's nasty lol. So 90 percent for me. Nibbling away at one square is enough to satisfy me.

As for the fruit suggestion, it works for some, but didn't work for me, as I would have my yummy fruit (no added sugar needed), but then I'd still be wanting my chocolate afterwards.

I’ve found that when I’m craving chocolate, what I actually want is the sweet hit.

What about switching to something like a boiled sweet and seeing if that satisfies the craving? If that works, then once you’re off the chocolate craving, switch to a spoonful of sugar and continue to reduce

The chocolate packet will tell you how much sugar is in the chocolate,

Google or a weighing scale will tell you how much sugar is in a teaspoon and Google will also tell you how much sugar is in the fruit (but I don't personally count that!)

Seriously, wouldn't you be better off just having less chocolate than sugar on fruit?

I am a chocoholic or probably a sugar addict. I need to find a way to reduce my side intake as it goes up and down. I get it under control and then I spiral again and have spiralled. Personally I don't go for sugar on fruit as fruit is a completely different beast to me but it can help if you feel the need for something sweet. What helped me more is actually having a small amount of chocolate instead. Instead of a bar of chocolate after dinner I might have a piece of dark chocolate, which I find can satisfy my cravings without being moreish.

My username says it all! I would need chocolate or cocoa based desserts all day long.

The only thing that helped me was the Paul Mckenna Quit Sugar book and audio. But after 5-6 weeks I forget to keep listening to the audio and slip back into my bad habits. And then the pattern repeats. Eating fruit made no difference to me (in that it didn't help with the chocolate cravings but I eat a few portions of fruit daily anyway for fibre and digestion)

Good luck xx

Can you not just have the fruit?
I used to eat a lot of chocolate, I was a total addict. I cut all refined sugar out last year, but I still eat tons of fruit. Every night, when I would have had chocolate, I have a bowl of grapes in full fat Greek yogurt- sometimes with pumpkin or sunflower seeds too. The grapes give me the sweetness and the Greek yogurt gives me the creamy taste. Now I’m addicted to that! But it’s got to be better for me than a bar of choc!

I'm also in good shape but was eating so much chocolate in the lead up to and over Christmas. Didn't help I had a baby and was using naps as treat myself time. What helped me:

• cutting it out for Lent
• making it so I can only eat it with other people (embarrass myself if I overdid it)
• really concrete rules so "no naked sugar" ie I can't have chocolate on its own, it would need to be with nuts or something, after a meal; one time a day including honey in herbal tea so pick what it's going to be; one weekly treat ie nice hot chocolate from a cafe on one specific routined day and no hot chocolate at any other time

I did notice after a while cutting it out, I didn't want it as much. I've not tried it but I've seen books like "I Quit Sugar", could be helpful.

Mars Bar Ingredients -

Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Skimmed Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Sunflower Oil, Milk Fat, Lactose and Protein from Whey (from Milk), Whey Powder (from Milk), Palm Fat, Fat Reduced Cocoa, Barley Malt Extract, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Salt, Egg White Powder, Milk Protein, Natural Vanilla Extract, Milk Chocolate contains Milk Solids 14% minimum, Milk Chocolate contains Vegetable Fats in addition to Cocoa butter

There's hardly any actual chocolate in it. It's all just heavily processed shit.

It's not the sugar in the chocolate you are addicted to, it's the chocolate itself.

Chocolate contains theobromine - a stimulant which improves mood and has a 'feel good' effect. That is what you are craving. It also has caffeine in it.

But honestly, do you need sugar on fruit? My 96 year old Aunt still cuts strawberries up & sprinkles (well somewhere between sprinkles & pours🤣🤣) sugar on them and leaves them to absorb the sugar. They are Devine, but a couple of times a year at the most..

I thought that kind of thing was dying out with her generation. I can't believe someone as young as you is putting sugar on fruit

i guess at least with the fruit you are getting some vitamins..

I am going to vote that you need to eat more meals. You probably aren't eating enough real food during the day and that is why you're craving sugar in the evenings. Fruit and sugar is better than chocolate but none of them are enough food. Have bigger portions of fruit/veg/protein during the day. I'm also having instant noodles/toast when I'm hungry as it's a slower form of energy and therefore better for you than sugar.

I'd actually recommend tracking your calories for a couple of days - you are probably getting very hungry hence the loss of control and the craving for sugar. I've been in the loop before so I know the feeling; was eating half a packet of cake bars and still feeling hungry despite all the calories.

Can you buy the 70% chocolate instead?

I saw a fitness person on Facebook recently say have a bit of chocolate but add it to something that's nutritious and filling so you don't snack on it so much. The example he gave was a bit of chocolate with a bowl of yoghurt and honey

Think of chocolate as fat and sugar, you don't need it, you can give it up for a week and see how you feel. If you want to know the calories of fruit Vs chocolate you can Google that easily. Personally I struggle to eat a little bit, I feel better when I cut all that out. Especially chocolate.

If you cut it out completely it won't last. Your denying yourself something, and we humans don't do well on being denied even if we are the one doing it.

I changed chocolate into supermarket own brand double chocolate icream. I have 2 scoops a day which is approx 130 cals, and I find satisfying. The chocolate density is different in ice-cream than chocolate and far more satisfying.

It's worked for me on my weight loss journey

Bar of plain chocolate is 55% fat and good fraction of those are saturated. Yes they have lot of sugar, but also unhealthy because of sat fat.

Dark chocolate with peanut butter works for me
or Apple with peanut butter
ok it’s not perfect but also - Greek yoghurt, lemon curd, raspberries and a crushed up meringue really hits the sweet spot and you can have a decent bowl full