You’ve heard it all before. Either from other gym goers, from your gym instructor, from the diet commercials you see on the internet to even your neighbor Suzy, who you go to Pilates training with every weekend: Chocolate will make you fat. So it’s a big no-no. But can it really make you fat? Or is there an actual way to eat it while still maintaining your diet? After all, it’s not always so easy to say no to a small chocolate bar, especially after months of eating nothing but veggies and whole grains or maybe the occasional snack. To answer the first question, yes, it will make you fat in the same way any food that’s a concentrated source of calories will. It’s not some new form of discovery. Depending on the type of chocolate you eat, it will have a lot of calories and can easily derail your daily calorie “allowance.” 'But it’s just one bar,' you say. And sure, it may just be one bar on your cheat day. But soon enough, those “little” chocolate bars will slowly add up that soon enough you realize yourself derailing from your diet. And even if you do only eat one bar of chocolate, that can still take you off your path. But why? As we’ve mentioned earlier, no matter the type, chocolate is a concentrated source of calories and not the best use of them either. So for example, using 600 of your daily calorie “allowance” on a single bar of chocolate instead of eating a meal containing whole grains, veggies and lean proteins can have repercussions. This means energy that doesn’t fill you up, hunger pangs, and worst of all, a spike in your blood sugar. Did we mention that chocolate has lots of sugar in it? Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to avoid it completely. It has its fair share of benefits as well. For one thing, it can reduce any stress-induced weight gain and may motivate you to exercise more. Furthermore, studies have also shown that frequent consumption of small amounts of dark chocolate can help lower your overall body mass index, since it has the lower amount of sugar out of all chocolates. At best, it can also just help keep your cravings under control, which is vital. However, we do recommend you eat smaller portions of it, and only on occasion, especially if you follow a strict diet. In any case, it will only make you savor every uhm… small bite of it. Stay healthy, folks. Source
