Keeping fit!

Recently, I started a new healthy lifestyle program and changed most of my meal plans. Thus, my delay in posting the Chocolate Diet Day 4 and Day 5. I had to re-adjust some things to be able to fit in the chocolate consumption.

However, it is not easy. You see, I am trying to lose weight here and have even taken up a losing weight challenge and joined a fit and healthy eating club for mothers. The club is known as Club Fit Yummy Mummy and it is not exactly a diet program but more of a lifestyle change for a healthier one.

If you’ve been a constant dieter like I am, you’d know the drill. Healthy choices means less sugar, less processed food, less unhealthy stuffs, more vegetables, more fruits, more healthy proteins and complex carbs. I have been choosing to eat this way for quite a while, the only exception being chocolates.

Though my own personalised Chocolate Diets worked in maintaining my weight, it didn’t help much if I wanted to lose a few more inches off every jiggly part of my body. So, I went around looking for a suitable program which I could adopt for life and not worry about gaining an inch even as I continue to indulge in my chocolates.

It may sound next to impossible to lose weight while still keeping my cravings for chocs satisfied but try I definitely will! So, I am off to my journey of discovery and hopefully I will have something positive to report soon.

Chocolate Diet 3

This is a continuation of my previous chocolate diet entry (chocolate diet 2). Here is the meal plan and exercise regime for Day 3.

Day 3

Morning:

Exercise – 10 minutes light stretching, 30 minutes brisk walk / treadmill

Breakfast

A banana

Two slices of wholemeal toast with less than a teaspoon of margerine

A glass of chocolate milk (low-fat milk with a teaspoon of chocolate sauce)

A glass of water

Morning tea break

Two Hershey kisses

A glass of low-fat, low-sugar, chocolate-flavored weight-control protein shake (you can get this at any pharmacy/ health store)

A glass of water

Lunch

A glass of water

Chicken salad with low-fat Italian dressing on the side

Celery and carrot sticks

Afternoon tea break

One Snickers bar

A glass of water

Evening

Two sets of sit-ups, two sets of crunches, two sets of side bends, 20 minutes on exercise bike (medium speed) – one set is 8 reps.

Drink as much water as you can manage

A chocolate-flavored low fat, low carbo energy bar

Dinner

A bowl of nutritious vegetable and chicken broth

(Recipe for broth: Place a pot of water to boil and add chicken meat, chopped carrots, green peas, chopped onions, tomatoes, celery and cabbage. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked. Add pepper and salt to taste. Can also add fresh mixed herbs for extra flavor.)

Two scoops of light chocolate ice cream

5 – 10 minutes of slow and light stretching before bed.

I will be posting Days 4 and 5 soon. Look out for it. Meanwhile, for those who have just stumbled upon this entry for the first time, this chocolate diet meal and exercise plan offers no guarantee of weight loss but offers a great solution to enjoying your daily chocolate without having to worry about gaining weight from it. I formulated it based on my own experience so you can give it a try and feel free to tell me all about your experience trying it out.

Chocolate Diet 2

So, you have been indulging in loads of chocolate recently and suddenly found that all your clothes had shrunk. Including the ones you bought a week ago! So, what do you do? A professional dietitian will tell you to dump any leftover chocolate in your house along with other sinfully fattening foods such as chips, candies, sweets, cakes, ice creams, etc. She will probably put you on a strict, low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar, tasteless food diet which leaves you craving for more of those sinful stuff.

To a chocoholic, like me, dumping the rest of the sinful food is easy but when it comes to chocolate and chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream, I just could not bring myself to it. It is like throwing out my BFF (that’s Best Friend Forever). It is like throwing out my lifeline. It is like throwing out the reasons for living…I am sure you get the picture.

So, what do I do when the scales are moving the wrong side of the spectrum? It is sadly true that I go on a diet too but nothing as restrictive and as boring as a normal diet. I go on my very own ‘custom-made to suit myself’ chocolate diet. And I combine that with exercise and an active lifestyle to get the pounds moving. Or simply to keep the pounds away.

The meal plan of my chocolate diet was mentioned in my first chocolate diet post and to keep from getting bored, I have since changed some of it and incorporated an easy exercise regime to burn off some of the unwanted calories. Here is my very own customized meal plan and fitness regime.

Disclaimer: This blog author shall not be held responsible for any additional addiction to chocolate or addiction to exercise (if ever that is possible!) as a result of this meal plan and exercise regime. These are merely her very own custom-made plans based on personal experience and readers are advised to follow it at their own peril! No weight loss is guaranteed but I absolutely guarantee that no chocolate will be left out!

Day 1

Morning:

A brisk 25 minute to 40 minutes walk / jog

Breakfast: Chocolate and banana shake (refer to this post for recipe), a glass of water

Morning tea break: One serving of fruits, a glass (or two )of water

Lunch: Wholemeal cheese and tomatoes sandwich (Recipe: Place cheese on bread, add chopped tomatoes and you have your sandwich!), a glass (or two) of water, small bowl of mixed salad.

Tea break: One bar of chocolate wafer, a glass (or two) of water, 5 roasted plain almonds and if still hungry, a banana.

Evening:

Hit the gym for a bout of 20 minutes to 40 minutes of resistance training. Do two sets of each exercise. This can be two sets of sit-ups, two-sets of lower body exercise and two sets of upper body exercise.

Replenish body moisture by drinking loads of water after gym.

After workout snack: A tall glass of fruity freeze (Recipe: Throw in green apples, peeled oranges, carrots and ice into a blender and blend it all together. If too sour, use ripe red apples instead).

Dinner:

Starter: Big plate of mixed salad, dressings on the side

Entree: Grilled / poached salmon / cod topped with mushroom or lemon sauce and served with stir-fried vegetables.

(Recipe for stir-fried vegetables: Cut broccoli into bite-size. Slice carrots thinly. Chop some garlic. In a pan, heat a spoon of olive oil. Stir-fry the garlic till fragrant and then add the carrots. Stir for a while and add the broccoli. Add soya sauce or salt to taste. Once the broccoli turn a bright green, it is cooked.)

Dessert: Two scoops of low-fat chocolate ice cream topped with a spoon of chocolate sauce and some roasted almond flakes.

At least another two glasses of water.

Day 2

Morning:

30 minutes to 1 hour of power yoga and floor exercises.

Breakfast:

Fruits, milk with chocolate sauce, a bowl of full grain muesli, a glass (or two) of water

Morning tea break: two glasses of water, 3 pc wholewheat crackers, 5 dark chocolate-covered almonds

Lunch: a glass (or two) of water, wholemeal egg sandwich, celery and carrot sticks

Afternoon tea break: 5 dark chocolate-covered raisins, a glass (or two) of water, one serving of fruits

Evening:

Pre-workout snack: a banana (preferably an hour before workout)

Workout: Go for a 30 minute jog or power walk. No cheating. Really sweat it out. Drink a glass (or more) of water.

Dinner :

Starter: Mixed salad, dressings on the side.

Entree: Roast chicken breast in brown sauce served with baked asparagus, carrots and tomatoes.

Dessert: A bar of 75g chocolate bar or four truffles.

Do remember to drink lots of water throughout as it is really good in cleansing your system. Do note that most of the meals do not have simple carbohydrates (except for the chocolates!), this is so that you can indulge in some chocolate at least twice a day!

I will come up with Days 3 to 5 soon. Just keep a lookout for future postings.

Chocolate diet

This is a continuance of my previous post on chocolate and losing weight. I decided to write further on the chocolate diet since there are so many chocolate lovers out there who just could not do without chocolate so a diet is often very torturous with visions of mouth watering sweet scrumptious chocolates playing before your eyes…

Okay, so I am not going to present the chocolate diet per se but it is my very own formulated meal plan which incorporated chocolate with a sensible eating plan. Beware, I am not a qualified nutritionist nor am I a diet specialist. I am only one of those who have tried every fad diet there is out there and suddenly wake up one day to realize that fad diets just make me fat! Ever since then fad diets are avoided like a box of moldy, tasteless chocolate and I am now adhering to my very own diet plan which worked very well…till recently, that is. My fall from the sensible dieting plan is due to over indulgence but I digress. Let’s get to the chocolate diet.

Disclaimer: This diet should only be tried at your own risk and this blog author shall not be responsible for any chocolate addiction or additional pounds or ineffectiveness of the diet in losing weight or failure in the maintenance of current weight. Readers shall read this with a pinch of cocoa powder and not take it too seriously. However, they are most welcomed to try it out!

Breakfast

A glass of thick healthy chocolate shake

Recipe for healthy chocolate shake:

8oz sugar-free soya milk

2tbsp dark cocoa powder

2tbsp chocolate sauce (Hershey’s should be great!)

3tbsp oat bran

Half a medium size banana (optional)

Ice

Blend the ingredients and you will get a thick healthy shake which is nutritious, chocolatey and not too sweet. If you can’t stand soya milk, you can replace it with non-fat milk but it won’t be as healthy.

A glass of water

Morning break:

Fruits with chocolate sauce dip (however, do not overdo the chocolate sauce. Use only a little for taste, don’t smother the fruits with it!)

A glass of water

Lunch:

Grilled Chicken Sandwich (grilled chicken breast on wholemeal bread)

Mixed salad

A glass of water

Tea break:

5 almonds / groundnuts

5 chocolate covered nuts / raisins

A glass of water

Dinner:

A glass of water

Mixed salad

Baked cod / salmon steak in lemon sauce

Recipe for baked fish: Marinate the fish with some salt, pepper, garlic and mixed fresh herbs. Cook lemon juice with fish stock, a little honey and cornstarch for thickening. Wrap the fish in foil and bake for about 20 minutes or till cook through. Pour the sauce over fish and serve. Add ground black pepper if needed.

Dessert: A bar of 50g dark chocolate

Just remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

You can alternate the chicken sandwich for smoked turkey sandwich, tuna sandwich or turkey ham sandwich while dinner could be grilled chicken breast, baked dory or even tofu (if you even like that stuff). No red meat and no white bread or potatoes. Stick to green vegetables, white meat, wholegrain and legumes. This way it will give you the leeway to indulge in chocolate three times a day!

Again, no guarantee that you will lose weight or even maintain your weight with this plan.

Chocolate and Losing Weight

As I have mentioned, creating a chocolate website and maintaining a chocolate blog is putting extra inches on my waist and butt, let’s not even get into the extra pounds and the upgrade in dress size. So, it is with much interest that I actively seek out the fad diet called ‘chocolate diet’ but it was not exactly what I was looking for.

The diet do contain chocolate which is supposed to act as a vitamin replacement due to its health benefits of preventing high blood pressure and heart disease. However, the meals are not all chocolate. It is the usual diet stuff of wholemeal pasta, healthy fruits and vegetables and lots of water. The only difference is that you get to eat some chocolate in the diet.

There is another fad chocolate diet which requires dieters to consume healthy food throughout but they take chocolate powder shakes as healthy snacks in between meals and also some chocolate diet pills which supposedly boost metabolism.

I am not sure if either of these diets do work but if the meals are all healthy low-fat, low-calorie, low-sugar and low-carb foods and only a small portion of chocolate is allowed, then I guess it could work. That is if you don’t go overboard on the chocolate allowance!

Besides that, I came across a really interesting chocolate product (ChocoLeans) which supposedly promotes weight-loss by suppressing your appetite. Again, I have not tried it so your guess is as good as mine on whether it really works or not. They have the sugar free and organic dark chocolate variety too. In case you are wondering why I am promoting this product, I am not getting any commission from this. I just thought I would share it with whoever dropped by here. So, if any of you out there who has tried it, feel free to comment here about your experience trying it!

So, am I still putting on weight due to my chocolate forays? Well, let’s just say I am padding up for now but I will definitely lose it with the right exercise and diet plan…if ever I get around to it! ;-D