For the love of chocolate: Tips to survive Easter
Hands up how many people over indulge in chocolate and other sweet treats this time of the year just because it’s Easter?
Or maybe you’re happy to consume chocolate any time of the year. Either way, it appears Australia is a country of sweet tooths and our taste for chocolate ranges from bars to boxes and anything in between.
In fact, the CSIRO estimates Australians eat an average of 32kg of chocolate each year – that’s a lot of chocolate! Roy Morgan research found that women are bigger chocaholics than men, and that more chocolate is consumed in Victoria than in any other state or territory.
My health for life canvassed the views of Queenslanders about their eating habits during COVID. As we all know, COVID has had far reaching effects on our economy, employment, travel and food. Their research reveals that during this period many people have struggled to maintain a balanced, nutritional diet, eating less fruit and vegetables but consuming more takeaway and confectionary such as, you guessed it chocolate.
More than 60 percent of Queenslanders said they now eat sugary snacks at least once a week while almost 50 percent reported their eating choices during COVID contributed to weight gain – some estimating a gain of more than 5 kg.
So, if this Easter, you are looking to curb your chocolate cravings or generally want to cut back on sweet treats, try these tips:
- Brush your teeth to signal to your brain you are done eating
- Sip on a peppermint tea
- Eat protein to get a sense of fullness
- Have a piece of fruit instead, like an apple – an alternative sweet snack which also contains fibre
- Chew gum when you go through the supermarket checkout and purposely avoid the confectionary aisle
- Freeze small pieces of chocolate so you get the taste slowly and a smaller portion
- Sip a mug of hot water with a slice of lemon
- Be mindful of how much chocolate you are eating by consuming individually wrapped bite-size chocolates.
My health for life is a free, healthy lifestyle program helping Queenslanders to live well. Thank you to our friends at My health for life for this article.
