Nutrition – Eating Chocolate and Loving Every Bite

This month, we are celebrating love, and when it comes to food, there is no greater love than the love of chocolate. At first, I had planned on writing about discovering love for oneself, one’s body, as is often my way. I wanted to write about both the importance and the challenge of accepting one’s body, about my own struggles with self-acceptance and about some of my clients who have faced these challenges as well. I wanted to write about how doing something with your body−yoga, dance, sex, even taking a walk−can help to foster a greater, deeper love for your body. Then I started to think about all of the physical and sensual pleasures our bodies can experience and I was reminded about a client who recently shared a food breakthrough with me. Of course, it involved chocolate. She reminded me that our sense of taste is a powerful thing that many people take for granted. It may seem backwards, but just like laughter, a great massage, or a hot bath, acknowledging the need for pleasure from food and indulging in it with attentiveness and full appreciation are important for a healthy relationship with oneself.

For many, chocolate is the ultimate forbidden indulgence. For my client, chocolate candy was one of many triggers for overeating. Hit with a craving, she would buy a big bag of peanut butter cups and start eating, aware of very little until she hit the bottom of the bag, realizing that she had once again lost control. When asked, she would say that during episodes like these, she couldn’t even taste the candy after the first few pieces. To me, this said that she was partaking in an indulgence that actually gave her very little pleasure. Her answer to the problem was to avoid chocolate all together. She stopped buying it and turned it away when offered; until she got another craving and the process of indulgence followed by guilt, shame, and deprivation started again. She was stuck in a vicious cycle.

She came to me for help losing weight, but even more, I sensed that she wanted freedom from the cycle of deprivation and overeating. Knowing that this was someone who truly loved food but had lost touch with the actual pleasures of eating, we started working on mindful eating and finding pleasure in eating again. Once a week, she had an assignment. She would pick a food that she loved and eat it mindfully, paying special attention to the flavors, aromas, and textures, and journaling about the experience. She started with foods that felt comfortable for her: peaches, oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, even cheese and crackers. Then she moved on to more challenging foods that she felt she had little control over.

Each week, as she tried new foods, she became increasingly more comfortable eating foods that she loved and reconnected with the sensual pleasures of eating. She was also learning to get real satisfaction from food, feeling satisfied with less and was eating mindfully even when not working on her homework assignments. Even with all of this progress, the guilt of eating something forbidden was hard to shake. Recently, she came to a session with her food journal and showed me that she had eaten some chocolate the week before. She seemed ashamed, hesitant to talk about it, but the more I asked her, the more it became apparent that something significant had happened. She had enjoyed a snack of fresh cherries and dark chocolate, but unlike before, was fully present and enjoyed every bite. She told me that while in the past, she might have quickly polished off the entire chocolate bar, this time she had just a few pieces and decided that she had had enough. With a smile on her face, she recalled the cherries and the chocolate, the way it melted in her mouth, the tart sweetness and the rush of pleasure she felt. She had a craving for it, and rather than denying herself, she enjoyed it, savored it and moved on. She ate chocolate and loved every bite!

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This is one of my favorite chocolate recipes. It’s super quick and quite nourishing and works well on its own, or baked inside a pie crust for chocolate mousse pie. Choose your favorite chocolate, dark or milk; the better quality of the chocolate, the more decadent the mousse!

Tofu Chocolate Mousse
(Makes about 2 cups)

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate chips or squares
1 1 package tofu (14-16 ounces)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon chili powder (optional)
Pinch salt

Directions: In a double boiler (or in a heat-proof bowl nested in a saucepan) over simmering water, melt the chocolate. In a blender or food processor, puree the tofu until smooth. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla, chili powder, and salt and blend for two minutes, until very smooth and completely combined. Serve immediately.

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Naima Bigby Sullivan, MS, RD

Naima Bigby Sullivan is the resident Nutritionist for Family Guiding. She is well known for her fabulous cooking and her unique approach to nutrition; she goes beyond prescribing diet and exercise plans, preferring to help her clients examine their relationships with food and their bodies. A former professional dancer, Naima has seen in her peers the anxiety, guilt, and shame that can be associated with food, especially among young women. Shifting focus to how we eat rather than fixating on “good” or “bad” foods, she helps individuals discover an intuitive way of eating to support a healthy and fulfilled life. Naima has been inspired by her work as a nutritionist and chef at a day program for adults and adolescents with eating disorders. In addition she has shared her wisdom with yogis, personal trainers and their clients, and co-manages a nutrition and food assistance program for HIV+ adults. Naima is a passionate dancer, an inspired chef, and an effective nutritionist changing the lives of those she serves.

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Tags: mindful eating

Category: Nutrition