At 6:00 this morning, I found myself lying in bed (awakened by a wee person, of course) thinking about chocolate. What else am I gonna think about at 6:00 a.m.? Naturally, my thoughts wandered to this whole South Beach Diet business and other ways to incorporate my favorite treat into the bleak carbless landscape of the first two weeks. Suddenly, it hit me like a ton of cacao beans: I have sugar free dark chocolate! Not just any sugar free dark chocolate, though - DCD sugar free dark chocolate, which I have actually tasted and found quite satisfactory. Normally, mind you, I would probably not purchase such a thing, but I got it for free (one of the perks of my job - I get free stuff!) a few months ago and have reserved it for limited sampling at parties.
If not for the toddler I was attempting to get back to sleep, my excitement would have catapulted me out of bed at that very moment to check the calorie & carb count of said discs of promised heaven. As it happened, though, I had to wait. I waited through my sad little breakfast of reheated spinach quiche cups, feeding the babies, and all the other routine morning stuff. At last I had a moment to dig the box out of the pantry (where I keep my sample stash) and check the specs. Calories: 170 in 7 pieces. This equates to a little less than 25 per piece. Since Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet allows 75 calories worth of "sugar free" treats daily, I could feasibly have three per day! WooooHoooo!
Now, since I haven't tried one of these in a while, I felt it necessary to taste a bit at that moment (no, 9:15 a.m. is NOT too early for chocolate of any kind) because 1) I needed to make sure my joy wasn't misguided and 2) I desperately needed some chocolate!
I broke a disc in half, then in half again, and put the little 1/4 pie-shaped piece in my mouth. I let it start to dissolve on my tongue, and instantly began to melt along with it. Heaven! Absolute Heaven! Having gone for a whole THREE DAYS without sweetened chocolate, I cannot imagine any more delightful experience than this one. I know I heard choirs of angels singing (of course, that may have been some alphabet song on Sesame Street) as I stood in the kitchen savoring this moment and feeling as though all will be well.
Ya know what's cool, though? I don't need three of these a day. One quarter of one satisfied me quite well. Thus is the beauty of DCD dark chocolate - when you savor "the good stuff," you don't need as much. This will become my foundation for incorporating chocolate into a healthy lifestyle - and I just might make it through these two weeks.
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I agree. It is never too early for chocolate which is why I sometimes have oatmeal with chocolate and nuts on it. As I see it, the pure healthy goodness of oatmeal combined with the wonderful fruit of the cacoa plant plus added protein from nuts is just a well-rounded meal. And, hey, if it tastes like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, I'm all over it.
Something to look forward to once you're past your southbeach restrictions perhaps? :)
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