I'm addicted to chocolate - help

[Sk3l3t0n]

I am being unreasonable, obviously, but I need the attention of AIBU.

I am absolutely addicted to chocolate. I cannot stop eating it. It's like when I Was a smoker, I know all the risks etc but I Cannot stop. I eat it multiple times a day, I would eat more if I could.

I have been like this since I was young, as a child I would steal it. As a teenager I got into smoking and I don't recall being as obsessed with it when I smoked. I smoked till my late 20s then one day I woke up and said 'not anymore'. Somewhere over the next few yeas the chocolate started up again and its worse than ever. I do all the things people say, dont keep it in the house - doesn't work I go and buy it. Chew gum - doesn't work I go and but it. Eat a balanced diet - doesn't work I go and buy it. I have had counselling. Didn't work. I have had blood tests. All fine, not diabetes etc. I do have AuDHD and I know that binging is related. But I don't care about other sweet things; I hate sweets, hate desserts, hate sugary drinks. I don't drink alcohol, dont use packet sauces with loads of sugar or but ready meals with loads of sugar or have cereals or sugary condiments. I eat a great diet and I know a lot about nutrition. But I cannot go a day without chcolate. And one small bar is never enough. I have tried switching to dark chocolate but they only come in massive bars and then I eat the whole thing. I even tried that Paul McKenna thing to help me quit - it did not work!!! Cold turkey also has not worked, I managed a whole day then relapsed. Fuck, I took coke as a teenager and it wasn't like this!!!!

How do I stop this? I quite smoking overnight with no cravings so I know it is in me, but I can't fucking do it. I don't want to have a pickled liver, or develop diabetes or brain issues as I get older. But I'm early 40s and this has been going on for a long time. I'm chewing my hands right now as there is a chocolate yoghurt in the fridge and it is all I can do to not go and get it.

Are you eating huge amounts and getting overweight or causing yourself health problems?
I think I’d cut myself some slack and allow a small bar a day or a strip from a larger bar.

I am not overweight but I think the amount I eat daily must be doing something and I reckon I will have issues later. Because its every day. for years and years. I have tried placing a small limit and it doesn't work. I know people say you cannot be addicted to food, but I swear that isn't true. This feels like a full blown addiction. If I have a larger bar, I eat it (hence with the darker stuff, and that was the 80%+)

How much are you eating? Why do you think there will be long term health issues from eating chocolate every day?

Could you maybe try cutting down rather than stopping cold turkey? Maybe a smaller bar a day and then after a few weeks, make it half a bar a day etc.

Just draw a line in the sand and tell yourself you're not going to buy it and not going to eat it. Prepare yourself for very difficult cravings but tell yourself that you are strong and can withstand it.

I have PCOS and had a very bad sugar addiction and had to do this years ago. Just said no more and stuck to it. The good thing about it is that it's very hard, but it's also very straightforward. It honestly felt like coming off drugs, the cravings were that intense, but when it was over, it was such a relief and I felt so much better.

Because of sugar consumption I guess? So it is a lot less than it was, but today for example I ate one of those large yorkies, about 8 squares of dairy milk and a chocolate milk. Which is a lot of sugar. I mean, other than that I had boiled eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch and chicken and veg pasta for dinner with only cold olive oil as a sauce, and snacked on an apple and a mixture of seeds, so dietary-wise things aren't that bad, I eat more than 5 a day and lots of healthy fats, protein etc, but this sugar thing is just defeating me. I feel tired a lot, which I am sure is related.

How long did it last? I tried to quit smoking loads and couldn't, then one day I woke up and thought 'I'm never smoking again' and I never have, no cravings, nothing. So I keep hoping the same thing will happen but it just isn't.

I'm similar - I eat chocolate daily and it's a battle not to have it multiple times each day.

Things that have helped me:

• not buying it! If it's in the house, I will eat it. I don't buy those big bars, because like you I can't stop.
• find something that helps the craving that isn't a bar of chocolate. For me I've found only two things that do this - dark chocolate coated rice cakes or those little chocolate eclair sweets (the toffees with chocolate in the middle). But hit the spot enough to stop me wanting to eat more.
• I know you said chewing gum didn't work - what about brushing your teeth?

Also suffer with the same issue so you have my sympathies though I do find the cravings go through peaks and troughs. I do find that if I don't eat for periods I don't crave it as much anymore. Years when I've given it up for lent I find myself eating very little after as the cravings aren't there as much. I try as much as possible to not have it in the house so even when I fancy it, I can't just grab it. I try replacing it with dark chocolate covered biscuits as I don't eat the same volume of them as I do chocolate bars, I could easily get through a large sharing bar in one sitting. Also trying to drink water when craving it can help. I'm sticking on this thread to hear any other pearls of wisdom you might get!

Also forgot to add I find eating mints helpful. Try to carry one of the tins of mints around and have one when I crave chocolate as after you've had a mind you know the chocolate won't taste nice anymore.

Around 2 weeks. It felt like it would last forever. Then it was like a switch flicked.

I feel tired a lot, which I am sure is related.

Have you had a blood test to check your blood sugar level?

I was/am addicted to chocolate and the only thing that stopped it consuming my life was mounjaro. Which obviously won’t help you if you are not overweight. I wasn’t hugely overweight until I had a couple of kiddies and left my 20s behind then I ballooned.

It would help me get out of bed in the morning if I knew there was something chocolatey I could eat. I would instigate meeting up with friends e.g dinner/cinema as those are acceptable places to eat loads of chocolate. I would drive to the shops every evening to buy more. I would lie about what I was eating and hide it. Had various counselling and hypnotherapy. Being a ‘chocoholic’ was a well known ‘joke’ amongst friends and family for years but I just felt devastated and pathetic. I would probably average 5x ‘family sharing’ sized chocolate bars a day. Really hard to describe to anyone who has a ‘normal’ relationship with chocolate, think I had a thread about it at one point.

Yep, all is well.

I have heard people say it dulls the noise. I get what you mean, I have reduced a lot but I used to walk to my local shop and buy it in bulk when I had a day off at home alone. And I can't smell coffee without thinking chocolate. And I can't think about a walk without thinking 'a cafe'. I couldn't afford the jab unfortunately, otherwise I would take it to clear this daily obsession. Glad you have found something that has helped you.

I can offer no helpful input at all but have you seen that scene in Charlie and the chocolate factory where Augustus Gloop falls in? If not you should watch it as I only found out recently that they actually used real chocolate. It was something ridiculous like a million litres of melted chocolate

I have seen it, and that is wild. It looks watered down though? What a waste!

It was in the 1970s version (mixed with water and cream and it started to smell) but the 2005 version used 100% swiss chocolate

I'm on Mounjaro and been on it for about 7 months with the last four months positively dreaming about chocolate, which is the opposite of how you should feel. I've just gone into my fourth stone bracket of weight loss so it's working do not sure what these cravings are about . I've found out that having low magnesium can cause chocolate cravings so I've just bought a pack of Magnesoum Glycinate.

I'm going to see how I get on but it might be worth you trying this to see if it reduces your cravings.

I had magnesium glycinate, had a whole packet, never made any difference! But I hope it does work for you.

Have you tried dark chocolate? Gradually increasing the cocoa content.
I find I eat a lot less dark chocolate because it’s rich!

Yes, I have mentioned up thread that I was buying 80%+, as strong as I could find and because they only come in massive bars, I would eat a massive bar. And they're so expensive! But I know I should at least switch to that as its so much better for you.

I totally sympathise and have really struggled with the same. I managed to quit smoking and alcohol (years ago!) but could never crack chocolate. I tell you what has worked for me, it’s weird. I’d been working remotely for years quite happily but recently got another job which is out of the house. As soon as I started working with people again it was like something switched on again for me and I realised how much I’d missed interacting with people. It makes me tired in the evenings in a good way and the chocolate craving has just gone. I feel like I was missing something in my life that has now been filled. Could it be the same for you, OP? Not with work perhaps but something else?

Read the thread!

Aldi do smaller individual wrapped bars, Moser Roth (see my user name I like the orange and almond) but does the 70% and 80%.
I limit myself to one bar! Otherwise I would keep going for more!