Oh no, Valentine’s Day is coming up and you know what that means- Chocolate… EVERYWHERE. It’s in the front of the grocery store as you walk in, it’s advertised on every website you visit at home, and it’s even generously available at your workplace for the whole month of February. Nothing succeeds more than Valentine’s Day in making you feel like crap if you, A. Don’t have someone special, or B. Are trying to avoid sweets. Well I am not a love doctor and I can’t build you a significant other (by the 14^th at least), but I can make you feel a little better by telling you that although Valentine’s Day maybe be your enemy this time of year, chocolate doesn’t have to be.

Photo by: Dramafever

With many things in life progress is made, not by trying to be perfect and of course not by completely giving up, but by making better choices. If you’re a chocaholic like me, you may find yourself constantly struggling to balance a healthy and fit lifestyle with your love of chocolate always on the tip of your taste buds. Well I am here to tell you that you can you still reach or maintain your health goals while satisfying your love for chocolate.

In a nutshell, certain dark chocolate:

• Can help lower blood pressure and heart disease
• Contains many antioxidants that fight against free radicals
• Satisfies hunger for a longer period of time
• Is a great choice for diabetic because in moderation of course
• Can help reduce stress

Click to read more about the possible benefits of dark chocolate. 

10 Products to Satisfy Your Chocolate Cravings

Remember when I said that thing about progress and making better choices? Well now I am going to help you make better choices by providing you with a list of health products that I believe are great for satisfying chocolate cravings.

1. Metromint Chocolatemint Water- Chocolate infused water. Just the right amount of chocolate flavor to satisfy your sweet tooth without grossing you out. One of my personal favorites.  Buy

Calories-0. Calories from fat-0. Carbs-0. Fiber-0.

2. Teraswhey Dark Chocolate Protein Powder. Throw some in your post-workout shake or make some chocolate milk. Buy

Calories-110. Calories from fat-15. Carbs-5. Fiber-1.

3. Betty Lou’s Chocolate Powdered Peanut butter- Powdered peanut butter is great because it has significantly less calories, oh yeah and this one is mixed with chocolate. Spread it on a banana or mix it in with some yogurt. Buy

Calories-40. Calories from fat-10. Carbs-6. Fiber-2.

4. Numi Chocolate spice or Chocolate mint tea- All the great benefits of tea, along with the great benefits of chocolate. Double whammy. Buy

Calories-5. Calories from fat-0.5. Carbs-0. Fiber-0.

5. Alpen Dark Chocolate Muesli Cereal- A much healthier alternative to cocoa puffs. Buy

Calories-170. Calories from fat-23.4. Carbs-30. Fiber-3.2.

6. Annie’s Homegrown Double Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. Oh look, you’re getting double the chocolate and double the benefits. Score. Buy

Calories-110. Calories from fat-30. Carbs-21. Fiber-3.

7. Garden of Life Chocolate Macadamia Nut Protein Bar- An excellent source of antioxidants, protein, AND fiber. Triple threat. Buy

Calories-230. Calories from fat-70. Carbs-25. Fiber-9.

8. NuGo Slim Brownie Crunch Protein Bar- It’s a healthy chocolate brownie protein bar. Do you really need more convincing? Buy

Calories-190. Calories from fat-50. Carbs-19. Fiber-7.

9. ACURE dark chocolate mint lip balm-No of course you don’t eat this, but I have a theory that if you smell it on your lips long enough your chocolate craving will die down. Buy
10. Wrigley’s EXTRA mint chocolate chip desserts delight gum-A good way to get that chocolate taste in your mouth for a while without consuming it. Disclaimer: This product contains some ingredients that I would not recommend you ingest on a regular basis.  **Wrigley gum can be bought at most grocery stores, markets, and gas stations

Calories-5. Calories from fat-0. Carbs-2. Fiber-0.

11. One-A-Day Chocolate brownie Multivitamin vitacraves- These guys are geniuses. A chocolate flavored multi-vitamin. To a chocolate lover, that’s a lot of bang for your buck. Buy

Calories-20. Calories from fat-0. Carbs-5. Fiber-0.

Almost all of the products listed above are available at Sprouts Farmers Market.

Now you may have noticed that some products above were in bold while others weren’t. The items in bold are special because they represent not only a good way to curb a chocolate craving, but a significant amount of fiber. Fiber is important for many reasons including:

• Promoting intestinal health
• Slowing the rate of digestion, which leads to better blood sugar control
• Playing a role in lowering LDL cholesterol
• Inducing the “feeling fuller longer” effect on your appetite preventing overeating
• Lowering the risk of developing a heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, and certain cancers

The presence of fiber in anyone’s diet is necessary, but it is extremely beneficial for a diabetic or prediabetic in particular. On top of all the previously listed benefits, Fiber has the ability to help control the rise of blood sugar in your body after a meal. Fiber directly affects carbohydrates, which must be closely monitored in diabetics and prediabetics. These bold products are really GOLD products for diabetics who love chocolate. Not only do all the bolded products contain a significant amount of fiber, but they also contain less than 30% of calories from fat.

So don’t be afraid to indulge a little come Valentine’s Day, you deserve all the benefits that chocolate has to offer you.

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I should share a story about a person that I love dearly- my mom!

It’s about what started out as an act of love for her,  ended up also becoming Lesson of Love for me.

Happy Valentines Day, everybody!

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For as long as I can remember, I have had a hard time asking for help.

One of the main reasons I haven’t liked asking for help was because I didn’t want to burden anybody else with the task of helping me, particularly if it involved a situation “I created”.  But then I realized something.  Failing to ask for help not only shackles me to the problem, making it more difficult to keep moving forward, but it also ties the hands of those around me that want to help.

But then, as I was preparing to post my mom’s story, I had an epiphany…

I realized that ASKING for help is really offering an invitation to achieve greatness in disguise, and those who accept it have the opportunity to realize their own potential and achieve more than they ever thought was possible.  — I guess after all these years my mom is still teaching me a thing or two.

You see, almost 2 years ago I made a special birthday wish. It was what I’d call a “2-fer”.  You know, 2 wishes in 1. I hoped to inspire my friends and family to get out and be more active while raising money to fund our Skinny Gene Birthday Wishes program, which provides financial assistance to those in need of nutrition education and support to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Truth be told, I had my mom in mind when I created the part of the wish to get moving. But my mom was also the one person I was afraid to ask to participate. Mom has always been a very busy person, but over the years her health has made it difficult for her to remain active.  Her frequent migraines and sensitivity to heat and sun exposure make it difficult for her to participate in many outdoor activities. In fact, being outside can make her downright miserable.

Needless to say, I was both relieved and pleased when my mom accepted my first birthday challenge to walk 3.4 miles (in one day) for my birthday.  Not only did she say yes, she took it seriously. She went to the gym and started exercising to make sure she wouldn’t have any problems on the “big day”.  She also recruited her office staff, friends, and local business to participate in my wish.  In total, she walked 40 miles during my birthday month and raised $1,300 in donations. And this was just the beginning!!!

Last year, in 2012, my mom made her own challenge –  do a “tri-city walk”.  She set a goal of walking 418 miles, the

equivalent distance from San Antonio (where she lives) to Austin, to Houston, and back home. She used a pedometer to track her distance and kept a running tally of her monthly totals. At the end of the year, we added it all up and realized that she had walked a total of 760 miles, surpassing her tri-city walk goal, and actually walking the equivalent distance from San Antonio, through New Mexico, and past the Arizona border.

This year, my mom is once again raising the bar. She is determined to walk 760 more miles in 2013. My mom will start where she left off in 2012 (around Bowie, Arizona) and continue all the way to San Diego, California -where her granddaughter lives. She has also donated $760 and hopes to raise  an additional $760 for the Skinny Gene Birthday Wishes rogram.

Not bad for a”68 year old grandma” who 2 years ago trained to walk 3.4 miles in 1 day, eh!!!!

If somebody had told my mom, you’re going to walk 1,520 miles in 2 years, she would never have believed it;  neither would I.

By accepting my initial birthday challenge, she accepted the opportunity to unlock her own potential and achieve more than she ever thought was possible.-Way to go mom! I’m proud of you!

The Lesson of Love…that (real) love is rarely one-sided. When we have the courage to act out of love, what we receive in return is often times greater than we could ever imagine.