Assignment: Chocolate & Strawberries

Have you heard about the LivingAfterWLS Chocolate & Strawberries challenge? It all started when one of our Neighbors was struggling with evening sweet cravings. I tossed the challenge out to her in the Neighborhood (Read Here) and it was featured in our 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin on March 2. Here is the full challenge:

Sweet Treat: Permission Granted

Today's 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin is all about indulging yourself! So often we struggle with feelings of deprivation for the so-called "Bad Food" or "Forbidden Food." But there are many nutritious treats in which we can indulge while respecting our LivingAfterWLS way of life. In the assignment below you will learn how to include chocolate and strawberries in your eating program without feeling guilt or remorse. Are you ready to take this assignment? It's the perfect time of year as strawberries are abundant in the marketplace.

If you are doing the 5 Day Pouch Test this week plan this special treat to conclude your program on Day 5. You deserve to be healthy, nourished and treated!

You Can Do This!

The assignment:
Please go to your grocery store and purchase two items:
1 quart of fresh strawberries (they are looking really good this time of year)
1 jar sugar free chocolate syrup (or 1 bar of 70% cocoa dark chocolate)

Next - think about these beautiful berries that are full of vitamin C, fiber and carcinogen fighting phytochemicals. Putting these strawberries in your body is a nurturing gift. Think about that today, but don't eat the strawberries just yet. Just focus on how sweet and succulent they will taste and how you will kindly nurture your sweet cravings with this wonderful food. Think about how you will feel as you eat them and how you will feel in the morning knowing you did not give you body food that made it sick and sluggish. Remind yourself that you deserve to feel healthy and in control of your eating and you are capable of being healthy and in control of your eating.

What you are doing is creating that "mental storm of enthusiasm" for nurturing your body with smart food choices.

Now, tonight when the sweet craving hits I want you to wash 6 strawberries in cold running water. Dry them gently with a paper towel and arrange them on a pretty plate. If they are large cut them in bite-size slices. Drizzle them with the sugar free chocolate syrup -- not too much -- just a drizzle. Then find a comfortable place without distractions to sit and enjoy each bite. If you like, invite your boyfriend to join you with YOUR refreshment and kindly ask him to respect you by not having his chocolate in front of you. Enjoy every single bite and reflect on how good it feels to treat yourself in a nurturing and healthy manner.

This is a treat and a ritual you can do every night. If you chose to get dark chocolate instead of the syrup just melt one or two ounces on low in the microwave and dip your berries into the creamy chocolate that is actually low in sugar and rich in antioxidants.

Join others in this fun assignment: Go to the Neighborhood