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With Easter on the horizon and the consumption of chocolate sure to increase, I thought it would be a good time to look into the research.

There is a lot of data surrounding the health benefits of chocolate and these are regularly brought up in the defense of eating swags of it.

Chocolate is made from the fruit of the cocoa tree, the cocoa bean. So that makes chocolate a fruit right!! Just like many other plant based products it contains a variety of vitamins and essential minerals. Also, the fats that come from the bean contains fats which, unlike many others, doesn’t increase cholesterol levels.

Sounds pretty good so far. The problem is that most of the positive research is based on dark chocolates with 65% cocoa solids or more. Generally speaking, the darker the chocolate the higher the level of beneficial cocoa solids. They contain less additives such as sugar and other unhealthy vegetable fats which cover the naturally occurring bitter taste of quality dark chocolates.

The higher quality chocolates also have a higher level of antioxidants. The standard measure for antioxidants, the ORAC scale, shows us that dark chocolate has 13,120 ORAC units/100g and milk chocolate has only 6,740 units/100g. The other interesting fact is that it appears the presence of dairy reduces the level of antioxidants absorbed into the bloodstream.

So the news might not have been what you had hoped for. Dark chocolate in moderate amounts (one or two pieces, up to three times per week) is what you should be aiming for to reap the health benefits and not be adding extra inches to your waistline.

There is some good news however. If you are getting the rest of your diet and exercise right 80-90% of the time you can afford to get a bit of the sweet stuff in over the weekend. It is Easter after all.

James

Enough with the boring ‘I want to lose fat, get in shape, look good, feel good and be healthy’ rubbish.

That’s not for everyone.

Maybe you want to be overweight, unhealthy and lethargic.

Never fear, I have the solution.

Read on to say goodbye to your slim waistline forever…..

Skip Breakfast

Not only will this help slow down your metabolism, but studies have shown that people who skip breakfast will overcompensate with calories later in the day. By skipping ‘the most important meal of the day’ you are also more likely to eat foods which have a higher sugar and fat content (read junk food). Skipping breakfast and overeating rubbish for the rest of the day is a surefire way to pack on the pounds.

Eat a large, high carb meal late in the day

What’s better than loading up the body with a heap of heavy, dense carbs before you go to bed? Sure, I hear you, but you’re not that active in bed! By giving your body a swag load of these carbs (think pasta, rice, potato, biscuits, cake) and then hitting the hay, you body will have no excuse but to store the extra energy right on your belly.

Drink alcohol regularly

Looking to hide that six pack under a layer of belly fat? No AF days here. Get on the grog, and there’s no need to be picky either. Beer is great, so are those sugary alco pops. And just think of all the antioxidants you will be getting from downing a bottle or two of red wine! Of course there are the extra calories that are going to add layers to your waistline, but this magic bullet will also decrease muscle building hormones. Less muscle means more fat. Let’s toast to that.

Eat infrequently

You can pick up any glossy celeb mag these days touting the success of ‘X’ celebrity that has made radical changes to their body. 9/10 times the author will cite eating ‘smaller, more frequent meals.’ Trust me on this, if you want to get fat, you need to smash massive amounts of calories (ideally from high fat, high carb foods and plenty of liquor) on one or two meals. If you do this your body will slow itself down and hold onto all the energy you give it. Perfect formula for getting your waist measurement up.

Now let’s be honest. You don’t want to be fat, I don’t want to be fat, and I don’t want you to be fat. But if one of your goals is to lose belly fat you are only going to be successful if your actions match this goal. If you are doing any one of the four nasthy things mentioned above you are sabotaging your efforts in getting leaner. If you are doing two or more, then its time to have a good hard look at what you are trying to achieve.

Keep it simple. Eat breakfast (everyday), limit starchy carbs, pass on the alcoholic drinks and eat every 2-3 hours.

Take action and get started today.