Women and chocolate.
It’s not a relationship you want to try and mess with.
It’s personal.
With such eye-rolling back pleasure some of the women at the Body Love + Radiance workshop spoke of their beloved nightly ritual, those moments to themselves when they could do whatever they wanted and just be happy, eating chocolate.
At the same time they wanted to be their healthiest and not need the chocolate.
So I’m going to tell you my philosophy and some easy and enjoyable ways to cut down without missing out.
Because I’m all about the pleasure!
We are pleasure-seeking creatures by nature.
It actually goes against our nature to be motivated by pain rather than pleasure.
That’s why most diets fail.
And those plans to go jogging when you don’t love it?
Fail.
That’s why I only advocate doing what you enjoy or finding a way to enjoy it.
Let’s talk about Cacao
Cacao was used in ancient Latin America and the Latin word for it translates to “Food of the Gods”. It was used in betrothal and marriage ceremonies, as medicine and as currency – highly valued and celebrated.
And why not?
Cacao is actually a superfood!!
It’s rich in antioxidants and minerals like calcium, magnesium, sulfur, copper, iron, zinc and potassium, oleic acid (a heart-healthy essential monounsaturated fat), fiber and vitamins E, B2, B1, B5, B3 and B9.
So when you are craving chocolate, especially around menstrual time, your body is probably craving some of these nutrients.Listen to your body!
She knows.
You can buy raw cacao from Health Stores. My favourite place to get it in Perth is to buy it loose from Kakulas (in fremantle or Northbridge).
Add it to a smoothie, sprinkle over coffee, raw balls or make your own chocolate quite easily.
By giving your body the purest form of what she desires (nutrients), you will find you don’t crave the low vibe alternatives as much.
That’s the first way of cutting down without missing out.
Let’s talk about High Vibe Food
As I’ve said many times before, everything is energy.
When you are low in energy, things don’t flow so easily in your life.
Have you ever noticed that?
Change your energy and change your life.
This is why I believe that everything I purchase is an investment in myself.
When I get my weekly massage or make having a cleaner a non-negotiable or pay for a yoga class, a self-development program or book, I am investing in my energy.
When our energy is flowing, our life flows.
To have your energy flowing you need to be receiving and not just giving out your energy all the time.
So everything you buy is an investment in yourself – even the chocolate you buy!
How much do you value yourself?
Do you gift yourself with high quality chocolate?
Imagine you are your own best lover (you are), what kind of chocolate would you gift yourself?
Not satisfied?
Up-grade!!
Personally what I look for when I buy chocolate is how natural it is – those without soy added or milk (if it’s dark) and with cocoa mass, cocoa powder and cocoa butter as the first ingredients. If it’s milk chocolate sugar will come higher up on the ingredient list.
I love Lindt 70% and 85%, the Woolworth’s Select Brand 70% and Green and Black’s Organic (Milk, White and Dark), The Alter Eco range and Luvju (made with coconut nectar and raw cacao) – found in health food stores.
Some of these cost more but remember it’s an investment in yourself.
And what happens when you value something?
You savour it.
Imagine that every time you looked at your chocolate, good feelings came up and you felt like you really valued yourself.What would happen then?
You’d affect your energy.
You’d be high vibe!!
And when you are high vibe, you attract high vibe people and opportunities into your life.
When you feel guilty and shit about yourself, you attract that too.
On the Emotional Guidance Scale (by Abraham Hicks)… Joy, Love and Appreciation are of the highest frequency.
Guilt and Unworthiness are at number 21 out of 22.
Everything in the universe is made up of energy and…
Like attracts like.
Have you ever noticed?
Eat high vibe and feel good, attract more of the good into your life.
That’s the second way to cut down easily without missing out.
Let’s talk about Sacred Rituals
I looooove that the women at the workshop expressed how important this daily ritual was for them.
Keep that part!
Make it even more sacred.
Take the time to honour yourself each day.
Because you do deserve it and you are worth it!
People often talk about ‘guilty pleasures’ but no pleasure should be guilt-inducing.
In fact, the only thing to remove from your diet is guilt!
If you remove guilt, you will be your naturally healthy and radiant self.
Trust me, I spent years making rules for myself around food, breaking them, feeling guilty, overeating or binge eating because of this feeling of guilt and then hating myself and making up more rules – only to repeat the cycle again.
Guilt, remember, is extremely low vibe.
It pains me greatly that this is not spoken about more in society! We are fed so many rules and ‘new findings’ that we don’t listen to our body’s own wisdom.
What happens when you feel guilt and in fear?
You buy things! Quick fixes. Solutions.
Have you ever noticed how, when you read a magazine and feel shit about yourself, you then want to a) eat and b) buy things?
How convenient that the magazine is half full of advertising!
All this is why the diet, health and fitness industries are worth billions of dollars and we as a society are only getting fatter and more unhappy.
So let’s step outside the matrix and return to our natural state of pleasure.
Let’s make life a sacred ritual.
And revere chocolate for the super amazing food it is.
If you love watching TV and eating chocolate at the same time, I’d suggest you cut this connection and clear all space for your chocolate-loving ritual.
If this feels hard to do at first, how about only eating the chocolate in the commercial break so you can focus a bit more.
It doesn’t have to be hard or unpleasant!
Little steps and easy and enjoyable changes… This is how I help myself and my clients to make giant leaps!
And that’s the third way to cut down easily without missing out.
Let’s talk lastly about Diversifying Pleasure
When you don’t have enough pleasure in your life, you seek it in its most convenient form.
Sugar.
Or social media, for example.
Because what you really crave is excitement and connection perhaps.
So seek greater and more satisfying forms of pleasure.
The secret of pleasure is cultivation.
You don’t know what you enjoy that much?
Go looking… explore.
Explore life with all your senses.
Then you won’t even crave the chocolate, the social media or the cheese as much.
That’s the final way to cut down easily without missing out.
Writing about chocolate has encompassed many of my beliefs and practices for life and transformation!
Maybe you do life like me – you take what works for you and you evolve through it.
This is what the Healthy + Powerfully Feminine course is made up of – what I have found to work in the area of personal transformation.
It’s now available for you to attend on a week-by-week basis, called Wild Soul Wednesday Sessions.
We cover Abundance, Health, Self-Love, Manifesting, High Vibe Living and being in your Feminine Energy so that you can Receive more, Flow in life and Surrender control and Trust.
Weekly we work on your Faith and keeping your Vibe and Energy high so that your whole life is spiraling upward.
If this sounds like something you’d like to explore further, we start this week!
The first week is on Self-Love + Sacred Rituals…
I’d love to connect with you in-person and share this journey with you if this is what you really desire too AND YOU’RE IN PERTH OR FREMANTLE.
You can go here to join and find out more.
www.healthyandpowerfullyfeminine.com/course-sessions
In any case, I’d love to hear from you. Have you eliminated guilt from your diet? Are there any of these suggestions that you’re taking on? Or any more that work for you?
