Carbs or chocolate?

neilo23

Although blessed with a slim physique I could still do with losing a few pounds. I've given up alcohol and fizzy drinks and am enjoying watching the odd gram or two disappear. However, to speed things up, would I be better off cutting down on the carbs or the chocolate? Carbs turn into sugar anyway (correct me if I'm wrong). Obviously cutting down on both would be the best method, but I want a gradual transformation into being a monk. 5 years ago I ate almost a box of chocolates every night and weighed 10 kg less....but I was riding for 5 hours a day.

Pokerface

You need the carbs. Ditch the chocolate - it's extra calories that aren't needed or particularly useful. Don't have to cut chocolate out all-together, but have it as a treat rather than a daily item.

joeyhalloran

nothing good for you in chocolate

sheffsimon

JoeyHalloran wrote:

nothing good for you in chocolate

WGAF, it tastes nice

liversedge

JoeyHalloran wrote:

nothing good for you in chocolate

dark chocolate is a good source of iron

fernholt

If you're training, not even too hard, I have no problem with chocolate.
I love chocolate and, like you, gave up booze. I use choc as a reward in moderation but it's not a quality food carrier. Count the grams of fat being consumed per day and let it in. That's my policy.

neilo23

Chocolate's the only luxury I'm allowing myself. I'm afraid I'm a chocoholic. But on a more serious note.... The Atkins and various low carb diets are well known. Wiggo put a lot of his weight loss down to reducing carbs. I'm not daft enough to think that chocolate is a useful aid to weight loss. I only really want to know if cutting my chocolate consumption by, for example, 25% would be more effective (in regard to weight loss) than reducing my carb intake by 25%. I think I already know the answer....

Headhuunter

Carbs ARE sugars or should I say sugars are carbs, so chocolate has carbs (sugar) in it. I eat chocolate every day but only a couple of squares and only ultra dark (70% cocoa solids and over) stuff, which is much better than something like Cadbury's Dairy Milk whilch is probably about 20% cocoa solids and mostly made of vegetable fat. Very dark chocolate is quite good for you, like a glass of red wine, just so long as you don't plough through a 1kg bar in 1 sitting!

If you want to eat fatty, milk chocolate though, just do it immediately before or immediately after a long ride and your body will plough through the sugars (although perhaps not the fat).

joeyhalloran

true, dark chocolate is good in moderation.

I eat too much so have given up chocoalte until 2011...very hard at a birthday at the weekend when a big fat choc cake came out the kitchen!!!

Pokerface

Yeah, but dark chocolate tastes likes @ss. :oops:

freehub

Dark Chocolate tastes nice.

smithy1.0

Personally, i'd take a nice beer over chocolate anyday 8) Carbs without the fat..

liversedge

according to this months C+ it also contains flavanols which apparently help to lower blood pressure.

joeyhalloran

damn, low blood pressure already...need more excuses :P

rdt

Headhuunter wrote:

I eat chocolate every day but only a couple of squares and only ultra dark (70% cocoa solids and over) stuff...

While I'm sure some uber choco-addict will probably contradict me, IME it's pretty hard to eat a large wodge of proper dark chocolate (e.g. >70% cocoa solids) in one go. The low sugar content just doesn't hit your blood sugar levels, and thus fuel an insatiable demand, in the same way as milk (sugar) "chocolate".

So weaning yourself onto proper chocolate, rather then Cadbury's et al sugar-rubbish, may be an option. And if you're OCD, the world of proper chocolate also offer the prospect of head-up-the-@rse single-estate obsessiveness akin to that of coffee and tea buffs. What more could you ask for?

hopper1

Quality dark chocolate will aid weight loss...

Try eating a large bar of 85% cocoa solids chocolate in one go...

You'll sh!t through the eye of a needle

joeyhalloran

I think i'm your "uber choco-addict"...no problem eating an entire bar of 70% or more chocolate.

sheffsimon

rdt wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

I eat chocolate every day but only a couple of squares and only ultra dark (70% cocoa solids and over) stuff...

While I'm sure some uber choco-addict will probably contradict me, IME it's pretty hard to eat a large wodge of proper dark chocolate (e.g. >70% cocoa solids) in one go. The low sugar content just doesn't hit your blood sugar levels, and thus fuel an insatiable demand, in the same way as milk (sugar) "chocolate".

So weaning yourself onto proper chocolate, rather then Cadbury's et al sugar-rubbish, may be an option. And if you're OCD, the world of proper chocolate also offer the prospect of head-up-the-@rse single-estate obsessiveness akin to that of coffee and tea buffs. What more could you ask for?

Next you will be sayin that Cadbury's Wispa's are rubbish eh! Sick b@stard.

or Wispa Gold..mmmmmm.

rdt

SheffSimon wrote:

rdt wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

I eat chocolate every day but only a couple of squares and only ultra dark (70% cocoa solids and over) stuff...

While I'm sure some uber choco-addict will probably contradict me, IME it's pretty hard to eat a large wodge of proper dark chocolate (e.g. >70% cocoa solids) in one go. The low sugar content just doesn't hit your blood sugar levels, and thus fuel an insatiable demand, in the same way as milk (sugar) "chocolate".

So weaning yourself onto proper chocolate, rather then Cadbury's et al sugar-rubbish, may be an option. And if you're OCD, the world of proper chocolate also offer the prospect of head-up-the-@rse single-estate obsessiveness akin to that of coffee and tea buffs. What more could you ask for?

Next you will be sayin that Cadbury's Wispa's are rubbish eh! Sick b@stard.

or Wispa Gold..mmmmmm.

Despite being lashed up from the sugar-fest that is Dairy Milk, I'll fight anyone for fridge-cold Twirl bars.

Valy

After reading Headhunter's comment it crossed my mind - what are people actually talking about when they mean carbs - complex or simple ones?

Buckled_Rims

If you go without chocolate for a while it's incredible how sweet and sickly many of the Cadburys brands are. I can't eat any of the Dairy Milk bars now as it tastes of wax! I used to love Mars bars, now it's like a bowl of sugar in syrup.

Even the doggy chocolates smell better then Cadburys

Valy

Buckled_Rims wrote:

If you go without chocolate for a while it's incredible how sweet and sickly many of the Cadburys brands are. I can't eat any of the Dairy Milk bars now as it tastes of wax! I used to love Mars bars, now it's like a bowl of sugar in syrup.

Even the doggy chocolates smell better then Cadburys

That does happen if you don't eat any of that stuff for a while! :P

rodgers73

I avoid normal choc bars etc and eat Weightwatchers stuff instead - think they use a lot of sweetener rather than sugar. Still, half the calories of normal suggary rubbish and tastes just as nice

Pross

Buckled_Rims wrote:

If you go without chocolate for a while it's incredible how sweet and sickly many of the Cadburys brands are. I can't eat any of the Dairy Milk bars now as it tastes of wax! I used to love Mars bars, now it's like a bowl of sugar in syrup.

Even the doggy chocolates smell better then Cadburys

Don't stop eating it for a while then and you can continue to enjoy the delicious taste

sheffsimon

Pross wrote:

Buckled_Rims wrote:

If you go without chocolate for a while it's incredible how sweet and sickly many of the Cadburys brands are. I can't eat any of the Dairy Milk bars now as it tastes of wax! I used to love Mars bars, now it's like a bowl of sugar in syrup.

Even the doggy chocolates smell better then Cadburys

Don't stop eating it for a while then and you can continue to enjoy the delicious taste

+1, part of the pleasure of riding a bike is being able to eat like a pig, and still be thin

Havin said that, I have been on a 'no snacks in the evening' regime for the last two weeks, and by the time its time for bed I'm f00kin starvin.

Just had a Kit Kit chunky after me lunch. Nice.

Headhuunter

I find that having mainly eaten 70, 80% and above dark chocolate for a while now, when I eat stuff like Cadbury's milk chocolate, the overriding taste for me is of vegetable fats and sugar, the chocolate taste is hard to detect. As for Milky Bar et al, I'd rather eat dog poo...

Valy

Headhuunter wrote:

I find that having mainly eaten 70, 80% and above dark chocolate for a while now, when I eat stuff like Cadbury's milk chocolate, the overriding taste for me is of vegetable fats and sugar, the chocolate taste is hard to detect. As for Milky Bar et al, I'd rather eat dog poo...

Milkybar is fucking vile.

Aggieboy

freehub wrote:

Dark Chocolate tastes nice microwaved.

Fixed.

simon_e

Headhuunter wrote:

I find that having mainly eaten 70, 80% and above dark chocolate for a while now, when I eat stuff like Cadbury's milk chocolate, the overriding taste for me is of vegetable fats and sugar, the chocolate taste is hard to detect. As for Milky Bar et al, I'd rather eat dog poo...

+1. Decent (real) choccy beats the cheapo sugar & veg fat junk every time. Dairy Milk isn't at all satisfying, it leaves me thirsty and my mouth sticky. Dark chocolate with 50%+ cocoa solids is much better.

Milky Bar is mostly sugar, there's naff all cocoa so it's not really chocolate.

@rdt if you're using chocolate to quench an "insatiable demand" then your diet is screwed.