How to manage a chocolate addiction the healthy way

Personally I can't start the day without a cacao hit. And I'm happy with that. I kicked the coffee habit years ago: coffee does ugly things to my nervous system that are more than just caffeine. Tea and Diet Coke still show up in my diet so I cannot I say I have totally kicked caffeine, but compared to the ugly effects of coffee, my current vices are mild :)

Theobromine makes you feel good. And mildly stimulated. Just right in the mornings.

For a long time I took my theobromine hit from dark chocolate. It's nice but I couldn't manage the quantities, so I inevitably gained weight.

Now I focus on cocoa as a source of theobromine instead of chocolate, which greatly reduces my daily fat intake. Also cocoa does not have the "mouth feel" of chocolate so that it is less more-ish - it is easier to manage quantities, to stop.

Some great ways to start the day with cocoa are:

• black cocoa drink
• samporado
• chocolate porridge
• cocoa cereal

Keys to success:

• Take theobromine in the mornings: get the craving over with, start your day with a zing, and spend the day burning it off.
• Focus on cocoa as a source of theobromine instead of chocolate, which greatly reduces daily fat intake. .
• Find recipes that don't add lots of fat or sugar, or you will be back where you started
• Develop a taste for more bitter foods, especially in the mornings. Drinkers of unsweetened espresso coffee understand this.