How to divorce chocolate

Yes it's true, I quit eating chocolate.  It's a bit like quitting smoking or crack.  Chocolate is absolutely addictive, it makes us feel good, and it is so darn delicious.  This is what I did:

Step 1: I made my house a no-chocolate zone. 

Step 2: you are going to have cravings so bad that you will want to drive to the gas station at 3am and you won't even care about the mascara that is half-way down your face and the strange looks you will get.  You need to prepare for this.

                    Step 2 part A: Find a non-sugar, non-junk food substitute that you like.

Step 3: eat chocolate substitute and wait 5 minutes.  The craving will be gone.

Step 4: never leave home without a sweet substitute in your purse.  It's easy to fall back on inhaling an Oh Henry bar if you have no other options. 

Step 5: Do not ever walk down the snack aisle.  For any reason. Ever.

After about 1 week, it's not so bad.  My sweet options are: 

1. fresh juice: 1 apple. 1 orange, 2-3 carrots, and sometimes ginger.  It is deliciously sweet, and   feels like a treat.  It quenches the sugar craving, put is packed with vitamin A, C, K, Omega 3 and 6 and some protein too!
2. Tamarind.  It's sweet, and kinda fussy to eat.  You need to get over the fact that it looks like dog poo, and that pulling the fibrous parts is strangely like de-boning an alien.  It's tastes a bit like a fig or a date, and has big seeds in the middle. It will also satisfy the need for sweet, but has a ton of magnesium, potassium, thiamine, niacin and iron

3.  Lara bars.  Gluten free, simple ingredients.  The ingredients for this one are dates, peanuts and salt. That's it.  There a bunch of different flavours, most are good.  At about $2/bar, they aren't cheap, but you can buy a 12 pack at costco and  save a bit.  Perfect for the purse.

                 4. Air popped popcorn very lightly drizzled with olive oil and a generous sprinkle of garlic powder.

                 5. If all else fails, make healthy muffins.  I made pumpkin muffins using 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree and 1.5 cups of pulp from my juicer.  Super high fiber, but also sweet enough to make you think you are eating a treat.  

I didn't deprive myself of sweet things, I just changed what I ate.  After the first week or so, I didn't have the chocolate cravings anymore and I didn't need to eat the chocolate substitutes either.