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.

OP I'm a complete chocoholic. I recommend getting some Montezuma's 100 percent dark with orange chocolate, melt a bar down (it's too bitter on it's own) and mix it with sugar free muslei The sweetness of the raisins make it not so bitter and you can eat several of them and still be completely processed sugar free.

OP hard truth time.

I’m a sugar addict. I was exactly like you. I had to do what any addict would do and quit completely.

Ignore the people telling you how to moderate. If you were a drug addict or alcoholic they wouldn’t be asking you to limit yourself to one glass of wine or only line of coke. It’s impossible.

The only way is cold turkey and then treat yourself as “sober”. The first three days are the toughest. I suggest you book yourself a short break somewhere for those three days to get yourself out of your familiar routine. I found this very helpful.

Then when you’re back home treat yourself for the addiction you have.

I recommend the following supports:

https://www.bittensaddiction.com/

https://adaptyourlifeacademy.com/food-addiction/dr-jen-unwin-strategies-overcome-food-addiction/

Feel free to DM me if you want to chat about it.

Check out this product Holland & Barrett Glucomannan & Chromium 90 Capsules from Holland & Barrett This is the one I have been taking

Sorry it doesn’t look like the link is working. It shows as a link when I preview but not when I press post

You have to go cold turkey, it's the only way. I've been in a similar situation (although I fell off the wagon big time, need to do it again).

Something that worked for me which sounds a bit ridiculous is saying out loud 'I swear on (a loved one's) life that I will give up chocolate/sugar etc for x amount of time'. That way I have to do it because my superstitious self won't take any chances. Sounds silly but hey it worked, I gave up all refined sugar for the promised number of months. I just need to do it again now.

Some people have genetics that mean they get addicted to things much more easily than other people, ADHD is associated with it too.

Maybe its not too bad because if you shifted off chocolate, you would pick up another addiction that would be much worse for you?

Maybe try and work with it to accept the addiction but make it healthier for you?
Have you tried getting cacao powder and mixing it with hot milk for a variety of hot chocolate (dont add any sugar). Its very very dark and may satisfy your brain and is actually very good for you.

Do you think having set times through the day when you HAVE to eat a small square of very dark chocolate would help? Break up a bar into small pieces at the begining of the week and bag them by day and time. Then allocate one to yourself every hour for the first week…if that reduces the urgency of the craving, see if you can shift it to every 2 hours…then if you can slowly move towards every 4 hours, I think its perfectly acceptable and healthy.

The key is to get your brain to accept that one square (or a cup of milk and cacao) is all you want at any one time, because the next square is coming soon iyswim.

Some ideas...

You say you eat "the whole bar" before stopping, and are thinking about switching to dark. How about Green and Blacks selection box of mini bars?

Melting the chocolate and eating it with a spoon makes it really sickly. I can eat very little this way (but could easily put away 200g of Cadburys from the fridge). Dip fruit in the melted chocolate?

I have noticed chocolate cravings at certain times of the month. And my friend who is trans said that taking oestrogen made a huge difference in chocolate cravings, when previously my friend hadn't been that interested in it. How are your hormones? Have you ever been on the mini pill and noticed a reduction in the cravings?

Are you on ADHD medication?

My chocolate gorging stopped when I started Elvanse. My psychiatrist said I was looking for a dopamine hit.

I’ve been where you are. For me:

1. Eat much more at mealtimes, and always eat three sensible meals (and probably way more than feels like you should: include protein, carbs, healthy fats and veggies at every meal)
2. Run or walk every morning (the days I don’t my eating goes a bit mad)
3. Make no snacking a rule (eating is not a hobby)
4. Melt dark chocolate over nuts. Have 2 or 3 when you feel like it at the end of a meal.

For me I think I just wasn’t eating enough proper food and it was part of the problem. I don’t really calorie count but I eat 700 cals plus at every meal now. I am not slim but am (high) normal bmi (and I wasn’t before).

Good luck x

I’ve found my people

I’ve lost 6 stone and I’m maintaining but my goodness I’m an actual addict when it comes to chocolate.

It’s all I think about. I don’t smoke or drink alcohol but I eat 100-200g chocolate a day.

Similar to what a PP said, if there’s chocolate in the house I spring up out of bed as I’m excited by the thought of getting my fix!

It’s what I go to when I’m bored, stressed, upset but also when I’m happy and feeling like I deserve a reward.

My whole life revolves around sneaking into shops when I’m alone to get my goods. And I’ll hide the evidence.

The cost also is ridiculous

I remember when I was 18 (now 38), I started rapidly gaining weight as Cadbury had just brought out the big bags of chocolates and I was buying two of the bags of giant buttons per day. I remember eating both bags at once one day rather than spacing them out and when I went to bed shortly after the room started spinning & I had to run to the bathroom to be sick!

Im so sad to think I’ve had 20+ years of this!

I try every single day to have some chocolate and count it in my calorie allowance but I always end up eating at least 5 times more than when I’ve tracked.

Im starting to think cold turkey is the only way, but the thought of Christmas without chocolate makes me sad.

AGHHH what is wrong with me?!!!! Why am I like this 😩

It’s a miracle you’ve lost 6 stone! How did you a achieve this when eating so much chocolate?

Lots of good strategies posted but, if there's a part of your mind that truly believes that chocolate makes you happy (and it's proved right, if only during the time that you're eating it) then it's going to be an uphill struggle.

Would you consider drinking a hot chocolate over an hour or so and this may extend the chocolate taste but via a hot drink. Would this reduce the amount consumed via eating? I know it’s just maybe swapping one for another but you can get different types of powders such as sugar-free and use full cream or skim milk or whatever you prefer depending on diet/taste.

The amount you’re eating doesn’t sound terrible, try to remove the guilt.

Have you tried drinking a pint of water before eating it? It might put you off.

Dip the tip of a wet teaspoon into cocoa - the proper stuff, not drinking chocolate. That will deliver your hit minus the sugar or fat.

This is probably the worst advice I’ve ever seen.

This is what addicts do, can’t you see that? Getting a fix is addiction behaviour.

I am the same - but only with milk chocolate. Switch to dark, I like Lindt salted caramel. 6 squares of that and I feel sick, so I generally only have 2!

Me too! It has changed my life. I did/still do have a lot of weight to lose. Similar to you I would have ate in secret and hid the evidence 🙈 id buy like the packs of 4 bars or packs of rolos and eat them all on one go. I couldn't have had it in the cupboard, it would feel like it was calling out to me to eat it. It's all I could think about. I would have to buy some when I went into the shop and would have made excuses to go to the shop so I could buy some.

Been on MJ since July and I don't even really like chocolate any more.

Get a life. I dealt with my own chocolate consumption doing just this - there’s little pleasure in it. It worked and I now barely eat the stuff.

You should try following ETPHD on instagram

I have this ‘problem’. (I don’t think it’s a problem, chocolate is just food!) but actually abundance works well. I buy 2.5kg bags of dark chocolate chips, no way you can eat them all and find therefore with this abundance I can eat a handful at a time, they last ages and I never buy other chocolate because it seems a waste of money.

Im using the slim pod app. I paid 20 quid for the chocolate pod. Its cured my chocolate cravings overnight

Yes, I was thinking the same. Like OP I need chocolate every day but for me it's an evening thing. I buy 70 and 85% chocolate and it does happen that I eat the whole bar (Lindt) but usually "just" half and on some days only a third.

@Sk3l3t0n You need to be full after your meals or you will crave chocolate even more because your body needs the calories. My craving is psychological in the evening whereas your craving the whole day seem physological. Try to have more for lunch and finish with greek yoghourt and nuts and fruits.

Could you add up the cost you spend on chocolate per week, and at the end of the week tell yourself you can spend that cost on something you really want instead? When you feel like chocolate, eat something else instead of you need to, and bank the money for your reward at the end of the week?

I like this idea a lot. I will try it and see if whatever it is I want motivates me more than chocolate. Despite this thread, my habits have not yet changed.