What to do after dinner when all you want is chocolate

This is a question I get asked quite often.

What do I do after dinner when all I want is chocolate or something sweet? It’s the end of the day, kids in bed and I feel like I need a little something!

The first thing I say is. ‘It’s just a habit!’

Did you know:

It takes 3 weeks to form a habit
They are easier to form than break
If you repeat a behaviour (Good or Bad) often enough your body & mind will get used to it
It’s time to make good habits and break the bad ones!

How to ditch bad habits:

Make a conscious decision to give up/change
Make a commitment to yourself
Think about the damage your habit can be causing
Understand it won’t be easy!
Replace what you are taking away with a healthy alternative
Start small if you need too
You need to know the benefits
Tell a friend – or the forum – be accountable
If you don’t succeed the first time, keep trying!
Remove the temptations
Think about how you feel when you have kicked the habit
Do it now, what are you waiting for?

The most common habits & solutions:

Snacking after dinner
Picking at your kids food
Making excuses about exercise
3pm sugar cravings
Eating a block of chocolate vs 1-2 squares!
Coffee and alcohol

Snacking after dinner – Brush your teeth, go to bed, get out a few nuts and your tea as your snack, or do something else to keep you occupied! Ask yourself if you are actually hungry – could you be dehydrated? Try some water first!!

Picking at your kids food – When I prepare Chelsea’s dinner I usually have some raw carrots, cucumber, celery etc that I am cutting up ready to cook, snack on those sorts of things!

Making excuses about exercise – Think about how you will feel after your workout! Think about how you will feel if you don’t do a workout. Which one wins?

3pm sugar cravings – Did you have enough protein, good fats and carbs at lunch? Have a healthy snack, try some water

Eating a block of chocolate vs 1-2 squares! – Mmmm, this comes down to listening to your body again. Are you emotionally eating?

There will be times when cravings hit, ie time of the month – that is when you need to listen to your body. Do you really want that chocolate? How will you feel after you have it? If you make the decision to have it, which is fine, just a little bit. Enjoy it and move on. No guilt.

None of this means you will never eat chocolate again or never have another glass of wine again.

Once you get a feel for your body and learn to listen to it, you will know if you actually want a glass of wine, or a piece of chocolate and if you REALLY do, have it! Just in moderation! There are often so many times I would love a glass of wine, but I know that I would just be having it to have it. Not to actually really enjoy it!

182 Comments

- - rachkap said
  - 05 Feb 2015
    2:48 am
Thank you for some great advice!

- - cherz said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    9:48 pm
oh it’s so easy to read but so hard to do.
I find if I am really craving chocolate, I have a hot choc drink instead (lactose low fat milk and cacao.
thanx.

- - aliceou said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    4:27 pm
I will try it slowly.

- - mom106095 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    4:04 pm
So true, got to try and break the habit tonight!
Great perspective. Thanks for sharing.

- - ella12 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    2:30 pm
This was me last night and I gave in to my craving unfortunately. One step at a time, hope I will slowly break the habit. Let’s see how I go after the three weeks! (-;

- - mom113937 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:57 pm
Great article, I found my worst time is night nibbles, but I replaced carb loaded with diet Jelly or my own home made bars.. I really do not like sugar free chocolate and it doesnt like me lol

- - shelley shelley said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:48 pm
i snack on muesli bars and fruit instead of sweets.

- - mom64736 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:43 pm
I have a set time at night (8.30pm) that I tell myself I can’t eat after. Therefore most nights I don’t have snacks. But if I do want something after dinner before 8.30, then I have fruit/yoghurt.

- - mom117219 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:42 pm
good tips, thanks . i love eating chocolates.

- - rovermum said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:24 pm
I know, I know. It’s like you read my mind and put my thoughts on a page. I’m working on it!

- - tammykilby said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:02 pm
These are some really good tips.. I really enjoyed reading it..

- - mom72550 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:02 pm
This is a great article! I find the more water I drink the more I crave it so I’ve been trying to drink more rather than eating snacks. Habits are hard things to break though.

- - meedee said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    12:49 pm
I agree with how easy it is to form bad habits.
I started eating ice cream after dinner each night and that was my downfall. Once i stopped it was so hard as its all i would think about after dinner but then i reached a point where i was happy and didnt think about food after dinner anymore…phew

- - kazjl said
  - 03 Feb 2015
    8:10 pm
I’ve learned to swap from a block to a fun size Freddi. Lol. 🙂
- kazjl replied
  
  03 Feb 2015 , 8:11 pm
  Freddo not Freddi. Lol. ;-P
- - june11 said
  - 13 Jan 2015
    12:20 am
If you are geniunely hungry it could be right if you have haven’t eaten a good balance of protein and good carbohydrates (there are good and bad – you can check lists on google).

- - mom94125 said
  - 07 Jan 2015
    9:53 pm
this is a great article and i try to drink lots of water to help overcome the snacks urge.

- - june11 said
  - 06 Jan 2015
    3:27 pm
You may be picking at kids’ food but some are better raw, fill you up more and are nutritious,

- - Tene said
  - 14 Dec 2014
    3:25 pm
I don’t buy the “naughty foods” so only indulge when I go out to a social lunch or dinner and that is very seldom. If they are not here, I don’t go looking for them. As for execise, that is my downfall.

- - Threelos said
  - 30 Nov 2014
    4:52 pm
After dinner chocolate is definitely my weakness – it feels like a reward for surviving the day, and fuel for surviving the night ahead! But yes, I should cut down!

- - jess said
  - 28 Nov 2014
    7:19 pm
oh my all this chocolate talk makes me want some more, but seriously yeh 3pm hard but i can handle, after dinner when the kids go to bed i have my me time, aarrhhhh thats the hard one i stuff up every night but i have got a little better i would eat a packet of chips half or even a whole block of chocolate and way too many cups of tea for night time, at least i have cut it back to a small snack and 2 or 3 cups of tea, i am not really overweight but wasn’t back to my pre pregnancy weight which was probably a bit too thin anyway but lately iv been feeling a bit lumpish and sluggish so had to do something about those extra 4 or 5 kgs. i have very slowly lost 2kg so wish me luck with my all things in moderation diet.