I genuinely live on chocolate. Please no judgements

[Nowanextraone]

OK I'm genuinely embarrassed to write this but I feel a 'confession' will hopefully be a pathway to recovery (if that's the right word)!!

I am addicted to chocolate. Cadbury's chocolate. I wish I was joking but I'm not .

I am about a stone overweight (I weigh 11 stone) at 5 foot 4 but my weight hasn't changed for years. Despite my chocolate intake, I stick to about 2000 calories a day.

But for my health, my diet is SHOCKING. My day is basically a 100g bar of cadbury's chocolate for breakfast, and another for lunch 😖 None of my family know I do this, it's like my dirty secret. I have done it for years (genuinely 7/8 years).
I don't eat anything normal or proper during the day.

Then for dinner, I eat a normal, healthy family (home cooked) dinner. Then in the evening, I might share a few squares of chocolate with my husband as a 'treat' (he has no idea about the rest of my day!).

What do I do? I have tried, but I'm honestly like a heroin addict trying to get to her next hit and it all goes wrong by lunch time and I'm back buying the chocolate.

I honestly don't know what to do. I am permanently tired. I'm also permanently hungry during the day. I feel very very unhealthy.

Help

Several strands at this!

Add in food- preferably protein and veg. You want something that’s as easy to eat as a chocolate bar, so maybe make egg bites at the weekend and microwave them and eat with a tomato for breakfast. It’s finger food and will take no time to eat or cook.

Similar at lunch- again something quick and easy to eat that you’ve prepared. Maybe vegetable soup or something.

Get in the habit of doing that. Make sure you are getting caffeine AND MILK elsewhere. I accidentally massively increased my chocolate intake when I cut out milk. I hadn’t realised I was missing it.

Look for other ways to bring joy that aren’t chocolate. Light a candle while you eat. Listen to a comedy. Go for a walk. Have a hot water bottle and a squirt of perfume. Some kind of self care ritual to replace chocolate.

And don’t beat yourself up!

I know you WANT to stop, but if you fail, and revert back to chocolate... at least take a few capsules of fish oil and a multivitamin.

You may be getting enough energy, and even possibly enough protein, but vitamins and essential oils you won't be. So for a two second action in the morning with some water, your health will massively improve.

Is there a reason why you don't eat a decent breakfast/lunch and then have a chocolate bar for pudding? For example, have a bowl of cereal or toast for breakfast followed by a bar of chocolate? I could happily eat chocolate after every meal, but I always want a proper meal first otherwise I'd be starving lol.

I’m the same 👋🏻
Although my chocolate habit is at the expense of real meals so I’m actually just a little under weight.

A couple of years ago I was refined sugar free, eating healthily and was strong and fit. Every day I say ‘I’m not going to eat chocolate to excess today’ then, before you know it, I’m several hundred calories down. I last had my cholesterol checked a couple of years ago and it was borderline, that was before my chocolate habit really hit!

This is me as well. 3 healthy or healthyish meals a day, then once the kids are in bed I crash on the sofa with a sharer size bar of Cadbury’s. I usually finish it. I probably do this 4 nights out of 5. It’s an addiction, I’ve been doing it for about 10+ years. Like you I’m not overweight or unhealthy looking, so can’t work out whether it’s a big enough issue to make a concerted effort to stop. I don’t drink, smoke, vape or eat any other sweets, so I guess I tell myself it’s fine 😬

This is actually me but with peanut butter. I get through a kilo tub a week at the expense of real food. Put some weight on recently as I can’t actually put the tub down when I start. I can’t go a few hours without it.

Chocolate is made to be addictive. Cadburys is filled with palm oil and isn't even that nice any more. Swap to Tony's???

More seriously , if you are in the kitchen in the evening can you make overnight oats for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. Perhaps hide the chocolate behind some fruit. Then eat the other stuff first and sometimes you won't bother with the chocolate

I moved abroad and went cold turkey on chocolate as it is so awful here. I had a headache for 10 days when I cut it out. Very glad now that I don't eat nearly as much of it. My skin is MUCH better. There was an episode of supersize vs superskinny years ago where one of the skinny diets ironically was just kit kats I think. Awful nutritional value, but can be lived on!

I read about a man who only ever ate Mars bar all day everyday for years and when he was checked by the Dr he wasn't deficient in anything. He was in good health and not over weight.

There was an episode of supersize vs superskinny years ago where one of the skinny diets ironically was just kit kats I think. Awful nutritional value, but can be lived on!

I think there were a few episodes like that the skinny people lived on chocolate and crisps and were underweight. When you think about it having chocolate for breakfast and lunch followed by a proper balanced meal in the evening is probably not that much different to having 2 slim fast or meal replacement biscuits and then a normal evening meal.

https://www.oneindia.com/2008/06/02/lived-17-years-mars-chocolate-bars-1212404760.html

I get to eating like this when my mental
health is rubbish. Are you ok in that department?

With the tiredness get some blood tests - b12 vitamin D iron thyroid

What are your teeth like? I imagine it’s really damaging to eat this much sugar every day.

Tell your husband, get him to take over the food shopping (online is fine) and make you a packed lunch each day. Give him all you money and plastic cards to look after (or cut them up) . If you drive, get your husband to fill the car with petrol as needed. Cold turkey.

You are permanently hungry and permanently tired. There's a reason for that, and it is your body trying to cope with the yo-yo effect of all that sugar in your bloodstream. The hunger is a sugar craving - it is addictive. Chocolate also causes your body to release chemicals called endorphins or serotonin, the 'feel-good hormone', and the high from that is also addictive.

You know it's unhealthy, so I'm going to say nothing about that.

What I will say is that you are at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Might I suggest that you go to your GP and ask them to do a diabetes blood test, it is called HbA1c. Explain just how much sugar you are eating every day. Get those results, and at least you will know where you stand with that. If your levels are on the high side, there is loads of help available to assist with lifestyle changes and adjusting your diet.

Not sure how old you are but if you've been doing this for 8 years then the majority of your life was spent not doing this. So, why did you start? If you don't address the reason why you started then it's going to be nigh on impossible to stop.

Meal plan! Not in the boring way, but plan delicious breakfasts and lunches you'll look forward to and that will fill you. Bacon and eggs, croissants etc. Food you'll enjoy. Try to eat in moderation and as a substitute for chocolate entirely. You can then work on being healthier once the addiction is broken.

Tell your husband. (Obviously, only if you think he'll be kind/supportive.) These things are much harder to change alone.

I wouldn’t try and go cold turkey, I’d have one square less for a week, then 2 squares until you aren’t having any at all. Replacing it with other stuff as you go. How much does all this chocolate cost you?!

Don’t you get loads of headaches for it op? I only have to sniff the stuff and my head hurts. I do sympathise though as fizzy pop is my downfall.

No judgement. I really feel for you.
I saw a post on here once where a poster said they had had to completely give up on chocolate and sweet food because they figured out they simply couldn't just eat a bit. That they were the same as an alcoholic or drug addict. This really resonated with me. I hope you can get some support. X

Absolutely this. I would urge all of you who eat too much sweet stuff or go on chocolate binges to get your HbA1c checked. You really want to nip this in the bud - before you become (pre-) diabetic.

It might be a good idea to ask for a full blood panel - including lipids, thyroid, etc.

I used to be similar but with biscuits. Packs of biscuits with a cup of tea.

i ended up going cold turkey - got the headaches, shakes and weird teeth grinding for a while but it soon passed. I lasted a while - it almost felt like a super power!!

Im back on the biscuits but don’t eat nearly so many.

why don’t you start incorporating ‘proper’ food alongside the chocolate then slowly wean yourself off?

Shaming yourself will not make you change - it actually leads to worsening of the habit.

But I know how you feel. Ive got an eating disorder that I am ashamed of, won’t go into it but it’s a rough thing to go through alone. If you’re a stronger person than I, perhaps your doctor could help?