I have a cautionary tale for you. A few weeks ago I was merrily strolling through Bentleigh, and decided to see what they had in the discount supermarket place. To my delight they had some very cheap Cadbury breakfast bars. Ah, the goodness of muesli combined with the deliciousness of chocolate. Okay, so slightly past their Best Before date, but what difference could that make? 5 for $2, thank you very much — a rather splendid morning tea snack at a bargain price.
I ate one per working day for the next week.
The week after that, I got a massive pimple. So big it cast its own shadow. And just my luck, it was present one afternoon when I had to talk to Channel 10 about crowded trains. Yes, my pimple got broadcast on statewide television.
Sigh.
Of course it’s not just the acne that thrives on excess chocolate. There is the odd case of Diabetes in my family, and I noted last time I gave blood that my weight is creeping up — 77Kg, where I used to be about 75. So while some (principally the chocolate industry, I’m betting) like to push chocolate as being healthy, I can’t help feeling that it wouldn’t kill me to cut it from my diet totally.
So not only have I vowed not to buy any more Cadbury breakfast bars, I’ve stopped buying chocolate altogether. Well, almost. I’ve set myself a maximum of one small bar a week, and that’s only if colleagues are selling them for fundraising, Charlie Bucket-style, and I’ll still have the occasional hot chocolate (because there’s nothing I like better as a hot beverage when out).
Since then, no more big pimples. Touch wood.
(Oh damn, there’s a small one on my nose. There goes that theory.)
7 replies on “Chocolate-free (almost)”
Daniel
I guess you are entitled to a bit of vanity – since you’re on national TV.
You gotta read the fine print on the side of “health bars”. Most are full of sugar. An occassional treat is all right, I’m sure!
PS Speaking of targets, wasn’t it Michael Jackson who set myself a maximum of one small bar a week? Or was that a minimum?
OMG life without chocolate? What’s the point??
Honestly I don’t think there is a proven chocolate-pimple link…
And personally I like my chocolate straight up (I think you would probably find there is as much if not more sugar in the museli/chocolate variety of snack than just the regular chocolate bar…so why spoil the flavour of the chocolate?)
Gosh I have a lot I could say about chocolate…it’s a staple here for sure and that’s why I exercise!
BTW the new Coles Brand Chocolate is from Belgium and actually surpasses Cadbury for flavour in my opinion…sadly for you I haven’t seen them in 50g portions so you may just have to get yourself a family block of the stuff to see what I mean :).
You are made of stronger stuff than I.
You must have had a big date lined up too, ‘cos that’s when the pimples visible from the moon usually emerge. I’ve never identified with the chocolate thing. I can take it or leave it. But potato chips…
The new Coles Belgian chocolate is excellent quality, and excellently priced too! The dark is not too bitter, and the milk is smooth. But as you’re going cold-turkey this information is purely of academic interest, of course ;-)
One regular Tim Tam = 400 calories
By my logic, the entire packed contains the exact same amount of calories, so:
1 Tim Tam = Packet of Tim Tams = 400 calories
Aaah, so you want to be able to eat what you like, drink what you like (Hoegaarden and Dark Chocolate, how I love to sup at thine’s alter of deliciousness…) and not feel like a porker? Easy, get a Kelpie. Not only does he provide us with unlimited, unconditional affection, but if we don’t share a very healthy level of daily exercise with him he reminds us of the necessity for such by destroying something. He gets a massive daily run and I get to maintain the same weight I was were a lad of 21. Winning grins all round!! Zombie
P.S. Hope you are all catching the run of SBS cult zombie flicks they have had on lately. Top stuff….brains!