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

[Chocccg]

I eat so much chocolate and I know it’s so unhealthy. Aside from that I do eat generally well and I’m not overweight. But I know I eat too much sugar as I can easily eat say three Mars bars in one night or two packs of biscuits etc.

I’ve tried cutting it back and not buying it as often but find it incredibly hard. I wondered if I put a bit of sugar on fruit would that be a start to improve or is that actually more sugar than what’s in a bar of chocolate?!

Have you tried eating dates? I find they taste chocolate-y and sweet and can help as a substitute?

I am nearly as bad as you, probably a bar of chocolate per day. At worst, maybe 2. So I would definitely say adding sugar to something like strawberries is better!

But I'm sure someone else will come along shortly and remind us that fruit has naturally occurring sugar etc and that it should be enough without adding any more 🙄

honey or maple syrup is better than adding refined sugar to fruit, but really fruit is high in sugar enough. Can you try dark chocolate?

Why not cut out the middle man and spoon the sugar directly into your mouth?

Seriously though, just because it's hard to stop, doesn't mean you can't do it. Go cold turkey for a couple of weeks and your tastes will change. Fruit will taste great without extra sugar.

In my experience you can't replace chocolate. You will still want it and if you are anything like me end up eating your alternative as well as chocolate not instead of. My solution was one Freddo a day. Only 95 calories and proper chocolate not like this skinny bars etc. I eat is slowly and mindfully rather than just scoffing it while doing something else.so I actually feel like I've benefited from it.

But how much sugar is in a bar of chocolate versus a spoonful on fruit?

I started buying dark chocolate. It's not as moreish and after a few pieces my sweet tooth is sorted.

Another thing I do is sugar free crunchy peanut butter. A couple of spoons satisfies my sweet tooth.

You don’t need to add the sugar to it, just eat it- it’s sweet enough! Of course a tablespoon of sugar on top of a bowl of fruit is better nutritionally than three mars bars but the fruit would obviously be better without added sugar.

Theres a lot of sugar in fruit already without adding more . Try low carb protein bars or switch to a few squares of 70% and above dark chocolate to wean you off . It won’t taste the same but hopefully will still give you your “fix”

What about this? 3 ingredients, no baking, really easy to make, absolutely delicious!
A big hit in our (chocolate lovers) house!

butterbike.co.uk/blogs/recipes/three-ingredient-peanut-butter-date-bark?srsltid=AfmBOor8h6EKig16K0QYYUlLc2q3I7uByHTgWLCz5SgMBIoS9pPc3e0T

It doesn’t actually matter because chocolate (aside from dark) has pretty much zero nutritional benefits whereas fruit obviously does. Your body also breaks the different types of sugar down completely differently.

Chocolate orange works for me. I find with a couple of pieces I’ve had my chocolate fix , or a teaspoon of Nutella with my porridge .

Well, fruit would be better in the sense that it’s more fibre, which we all need.

Why not just switch to dark chocolate or dark chocolate dipped frozen banana slices or drizzle some chocolate over medjool dates and stick in the fridge?

You still get the chocolate, but less ultra processed food and more fibre. It’s simply a habit and you need to break it and then you won’t even think about it anymore.

I blend up frozen mango with kefir or yoghurt and it honestly kills any sugar cravings (haribo/fizzy jelly shite is my downfall).

My favorite memories are having strawberries dipped in sugar with my gran. She didn’t give me many processed sweets of any type; it was a lot of either home made puddings in which case you couldn’t really eat double or the whole family would be going on about one person hogging it, or thinks like this - sweet cup of tea, strawberries with sugar. I mean, on the whole strawberries with sugar is about 100x better for you than a chocolate bar that has even more sugar than that, plus saturated fat, plus God knows what oils.

A cup of strawberries contains 1.5 teaspoons of sugar.
A mars bar contains 7.5 teaspoons of sugar.
Even if you added a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the strawberries it’s still less than half a mars bar.

You need to understand what is driving you to eat three mars bars a day. There have been studies that show that what we eat has a profound impact on our gut biome, which acts as a second brain. If you are consistently eating lots of sugar and other junk you disrupt all the usual signals in your body and basically develop cravings for more and more junk.

you need a complete reset.

Just limit the chocolate increase the fruits until the balance is achieved.
Cutting out chocolate is a way to make you want it more.
Speaking as someone who has had an eating disorder.Good luck.
Also find out why you binge these foods are you lonely..bored .

Melt a either dairy, white or dark choc, or all three in separate little bowls, dip the tip of your strawberries in it. Allow to set. Sit back, and enjoy.

Dates with peanut butter are quite good. Better for that chocolate hit though is Montezumas 100% dark orange chocolate (dark chocolate generally still has loads of sugar but this is sugar free), melt it and add sugar free muslei and make them into cornflake cake type things.

100% is the best though it takes some working up to. I didn’t know Montezuma did a 100% dark orange.

I suspect that the sugar isn't the problem. It might be worth trying to cut out ultra processed foods. They are designed to be addictive. Non ultra processed sweet foods won't be nearly as bad for you. Make a cake or cookies. Something like this https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/microwave-mug-cake takes no skill and doesn't have all the awful ingredients of a mars bar.

Which is perfectly true. Mangoes that are sweet, melons that are sweet, would not require any sugar to be added on top.

Chocolate is about 50% by weight (so 100g bar is about 50g sugar, plus a lot of fat too which has higher calorific density)

A (5ml) teaspoon of sugar is about 5g of sugar.

A strawberry (low sugar fruit) is about 5g per 100g (much of it is water).

Fruit is not a good substitute for chocolate though - it hits differently primarily given the low fat content which reduces that "had enough" feeling.

My advice:
A) Don't buy chocolate when you shop - easier to resist once and not buy it, than every time you open the cupboard.
B) Buy 80% dark chocolate and only eat small lumps

I came on to recommend dates -but only 4 or 5 a day.

They are packed with fibre, low GI, delicious and sweet but are full of calories.
Honey or maple syrup isn’t that much of a better option than refined sugar tbh, it’s still sugar, albeit a little less processed with some nutritional benefits.