Feb 11, 2008

Chocolate - Friend or Foe on Valentine's Day

When it comes to temptation, nothing packs a punch like chocolate. For centuries, chocolate has been loved by the people of the world, from drinking it in cocoa to eating it in bars. So what is a woman who wants to lose weight supposed to do about the delicious box of chocolates she receives from her true love?

If you enjoy your chocolate in moderation and cut back on other calories throughout the day to compensate, you'll be fine. Think of moderation as one or two truffles. Period. Not one or two truffles a day for the entire month of February. Now for many women trying to lose weight, having a pound of chocolate on the kitchen counter will not work. The temptation is far too overwhelming. So here's some advice about what to do with your chocolate love gifts:1. Eat only dark chocolate. Give all your milk and white chocolate pieces away to your skinny friends. Enjoy dark chocolate that is at least 70% cocoa. Research shows that flavonoid-rich foods like dark chocolate may keep high blood pressure down and decrease your risk for heart disease. So as long as you're indulging, make it dark chocolate.

2. Give yourself a chocolate allowance. Enjoy 2000 calories worth of chocolate throughout your Valentine's celebrations, or have five pieces of chocolate, or one piece of cake. Decide beforehand what you are going to do. Indulge all at once by ordering that rich cake for dessert on Valentine's Day or savor your chocolate over a longer period of time (like one piece of chocolate, five days in a row). But after you have your allowance, you are done. Finished. Just like when you were a kid and your parents gave you a dollar a week, once the dollar was spent, you didn't have money to buy anything else.

3. Get creative with the leftovers. Chances are you're going to have some chocolate left after you've had your allowance. You can wrap chocolate pieces and give them away to your friends and neighbors with notes of appreciation. Or if your truffles came from your husband who doesn't really want to see his hard earned money going to buy chocolates for the neighbors, you can put the chocolate in the freezer and have a celebration when you hit your goal weight.

4. Ask your family for help. Tell your husband you would love to get some chocolate for Valentine's Day but just a little bit. Ask for something without calories like flowers.

When you focus on the true source of love in your life, the chocolates you see lining the supermarket shelves will take a backseat this Valentine's Day. Be moderate with chocolate but lavish in showing love to your friends and family!

Today's Action Step: What will you do to indulge smart this Valentine's Day?
Arlene Pellicane, mother of a toddler and infant, helps women lose their baby weight and thrive as wives and mothers. Her weekly podcast "Losing Weight After Baby" is full of practical ideas that work for busy moms. Visit Arlene's website for FREE articles and exercises at http://www.losingweightafterbaby.com and blog at http://losingweightafterbaby.wordpress.com

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Feb 9, 2008

Dark Chocolate Helps In Weight Loss

The truth is nine out of ten people love chocolate and 50% say they can't live without it. Recent studies shown that some chocolates can actually have positive health effects. But these aren't the name-brand chocolate bars you would find at your local grocery store.

An internationally recognized expert in the field of alternative medicine focusing on diet and nutrition, Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby, has studied the properties and benefits of dark chocolate and feels the proper dark chocolate should be a part of our daily diet.

"Chocolate is made from the beans of the cacao tree, Theobroma Cacao," says Scott-Mumby. He explains that plant flavanoids are commonly known for their antioxidant activity. "A small bar of chocolate can contain as many flavanoids as six apples, as four and a half cups of tea or two glasses of red wine." Dark chocolate also can be an effective apatite suppressant and aid in weight loss.Properly processed dark actually provides great benefits without the unhealthy ingredients that are often included in the common chocolate bar. Good dark chocolate can help you lose weight; help thin you blood, improve your mood and can actually address ant-aging and has a number of other significant health benefits.

I one case dark chocolate lover Charlotte Palmer started dieting with her husband. She decided that The Doctor's Chocolate was going to be a treat that she could eat that would help her suppress her appetite. After four months she lost 50 pounds and is continuing to follow her diet. "Eating The Doctor's Chocolate has helped me along because it has kept me from eating other junk food, it has helped suppress my appetite, and it has helped me to remain calm and not so stressed when you're missing out on all the other treats," comments Palmer.

The Doctor's Chocolate a healthy chocolate product new to the market is a mere 20 calories per piece, it is diabetic safe and because it is not weighed down with all the sugars and milk that processed chocolate is famous for, it actually is metabolized slowly and leaves you feeling satisfied after only a couple of pieces.

Instead of sugar this chocolate is sweetened by a sugar alcohol called Xylotol, recognized by the FDA as a safe non-sugar sweetener and has no trans fat. Be careful of products containing synthetic or chemical sweeteners such as sucralose or aspartame. When choosing your chocolate treat make it dark Chocolate with only natural products, without additives, preservatives or coloring.

Enjoy your healthy dark chocolate and eat all you want; now you know dark chocolate can be good for you!
Jan Hrkach is an advocate of health, you are what you eat. Exercise and eating right make a big difference in our daily lives and creates a better you. http://www.thedoctorschocolate.com/

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Healthy Chocolate Can Also Be a Happy Chocolate

Tradition has long held that chocolate could only be savored at the price of health compromising high levels of fat and sugar. There next came the glimmer of hope that dark chocolate contained antioxidants that the body benefited from. There's now a new healthy chocolate developed by a doctor that includes a very powerful combination of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that are superb for brain health and an overall sustained mood elevation.

Dr Paul Anderson, the creator with a history of forming non-drug and nutritional remedies for people suffering from chronic pain and depression, stated that this new dietary supplement is a great product for "anyone looking for better moods, more energy, looking to focus, be able to enjoy their days, and really be happy." The taste may also lead you to believe that it is the absolute best chocolate that you have ever experienced as it melts in your mouth.The advantages that this innovation has over the standard store bought variety are astounding. The energy received from Dr Anderson's invention lasts 4 to 6 hours instead of the frantic kind from store bought chocolate that is short lived and ends in a crash to a state of mental mediocrity. The remedy for this predicament usually meant eating more chocolate to keep the up feeling.

Typical chocolate is also packed with fats and sugar that leave the body susceptible to a variety of health concerns. Dr Anderson's healthy chocolate has only 40 calories and is very low in sugar. It also feeds the brain the "feel good" nutrients that it needs which curbs the former craving for excess amounts the body previously had. There would be a need for only between 2 and 4 pieces of the healthy chocolate throughout the day.
Dr Anderson can be seen and heard discussing this new product known as IsaDelight by clicking on (or cut and pasting) http://www.isadelight.com/video6.html You will then be able to learn more about a healthy chocolate delicacy that can put you in a good mood, give you more energy, help satisfy your cravings and make your world a better place to be.

Email Brian at brian_connors@comcast.net to be sent order information and with any questions including how you can sign-up and get the product at the wholesale price.

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