Weight Loss and Valentine Candy

7:53 AM Weight Loss Trainer 0 Comments

Holidays always include favorite foods and Valentine’s Day is no different. In the case of Cupid’s delectable treats, however, Valentine food is usually candy. The confections come in many flavors all sporting the same shape, a heart.

Everything from small hard pieces with fun messages, favorite candy bars newly released in heart shape, to pounds and pounds of chocolate. How does one survive a field of hand dipped, cream filled, richly rich land minds?

Valentine Candy Sabotage From Caustic Family and Friends

The reality of life is that there are those who really do not want others to succeed at weight loss. There are many reasons. Some don’t want others to be able to do what they cannot. There are those who are afraid a spouse will leave them if they are at a healthy weight. It’s easy to see that there could be any number of reasons why someone would place a stumbling block in the way of a dedicated Positive Loser.

Sometimes the friend or family member’s overt attempts to subvert one’s efforts can be extremely caustic, capable of burning someone’s resolve and utterly destroying all their hard work. When they will not respect the individual’s new way of being with food, these caustic people must be avoided.

Chocolate Therapy and Its Positive Effects

This author is not saying that chocolate should be avoided on the biggest cocoa day of the year. In fact, much has been written about the enjoyment and even benefits of chocolate. In small amounts, it can lift the spirits and give a sense of well being.

It has been reported for some time that dark chocolate has a soothing effect on emotions. Now, something chocolate lovers are happy to hear, is that dark chocolate has real health benefits as well. A Penn State study found "that a diet in flavonoid-rich cocoa powder and dark chocolate had favorable effects on LDL (‘bad’ cholesterol) when compared with a diet that limited or excluded other flavonoid sources . . ."

Therefore, since one of the keys to successful weight loss is portion control, caution and moderation is suggested. The important point is that a small amount is all that is needed.

Surviving Chocolate Cravings and Maintaining Weight Loss

Valentine’s Day can bring disappointments and Valentine blues. Many people with negative emotions turn to food to overcome emotional upheavals. The Positive Loser will conquer chocolate cravings if they reframe their experience and set a new plan into place.

To reframe an emotion, one rehearses the opposite statement from the one they are telling themselves. The mind will believe what it is told. If the internal message is how sad and disappointed they are, they will continue to feel sad and disappointed. Some restructured self messages could be:

"I never have a date on Valentine’s Day." Reworded: "I loved planning a Valentine tea party for my nieces."
"My date was such a dud." Reworded: "My date was so different. It was fun to get to know them and find out what they do."

For a plan to take mastery over the angelically innocent box of chocolates, decide on an approach before the box is open. These are a few suggestions.

Take tiny snack size plastic bags and place one or two pieces of candy in each bag that has been labeled with the date it can be eaten.
If that takes too much control, give half of the candy to someone else, getting it out of the house.
Put a three by five card on the box and indicate the date each piece can be eaten.
Reward positive food choices by having one piece of chocolate at the end of the day.
It is easier to wait until late in the evening to have a piece of candy than to have one earlier and then try to have no more that day.

Think of it as a game rather than a power struggle. The tiny piece of chocolate has no power other than what is given to it by the one who wrestles with their own cravings. The Positive Loser refuses to struggle with power they already own.