The Downside of Eating Dark Chocolate for Breakfast

I love dark chocolate. And I believe, based on everything I've read, that dark chocolate is good for you. So usually, when I want a piece of dark chocolate, I eat a piece of dark chocolate.

But.

There is a downside. Here's what happened this past Friday.

Thursday afternoon, I picked up a bar of dark chocolate with sea salt. It was at the check out counter when I was buying some other things (mostly fresh vegetables actually) and, on an impulse, I added it to my cart. I ate half of the bar that afternoon and put the rest in a small container in the pantry.

Friday morning, I was running late, I was hungry and didn't make my usual morning shake. Instead, I grabbed a big handful of nuts and ate the entire second half of that chocolate bar. Before 7:00 a.m. I know, I know.

But it wasn't just that half a bar of chocolate. It was the tablespoon of sugar I put in my coffee (despite the fact that I usually drink my coffee black), the huge hunk of banana bread I ate at 4:00 and the two cookies I inhaled after dinner.

Now, maybe you're not like me. Maybe eating some sugar doesn't make you crave more sugar. And I don't mean crave like "oh it would be nice to eat those cookies" I mean crave like "I must eat those cookies."

Some people believe that a part of the problem many of us face is this: when we eat something that doesn't align with our nutrition goals, we mentally "write off the day" and give up. But I think there is more to it. Eating sugar makes you eat more sugar.

Yup, we all know that sugar is bad for you. But, at least for me, the problem compounds itself because a little sugar leads to a lot of sugar. And, remarkably, when I don't eat sugar -- when I break the habit for even just a day, I don't miss it.