I've had a chance to look at my physical craving for chocolate in the past short while. I used to be able to eat chocolate without difficulties, but as I stayed on the BTD, I started to develop a headache after eating chocolate, even if it was organic. This is a very sad state of affairs, naturally, because I don't want to lose another one of my comfort foods. For the last very long while, I can eat a small amount of chocolate and not suffer the consequences if I space out my experiences. Not very satisfactory for a person who loves chocolate like I do. I think it is second only to my love for ice cream, but that's another post!

I bought some unsweetened chocolate pieces at the bulk food store. Last week I melted two of them slowly in a pan on the stove and added some vegetable glycerine to it when it was dissolved, stirring it all together. The taste result was a very rich chocolate that wasn't very sweet, but definitely edible. I probably could have added more vegetable glycerine and made it sweeter, but I didn't really care that I hadn't done that. The physical response was quite interesting. I loved the richness of it, but a very small amount satisfied me beyond belief, and I couldn't eat very much of it. It took three days to eat it all, sharing it with my housemate, who also couldn't eat very much at a time. I suspect that if I do this a few more times - not very soon - I may never want to eat chocolate again for the rest of my life, which is saying quite a lot. It does make me wonder what they put in chocolate to make it as addictive as it is, in the form we all know and love. Maybe the sugar content is what does it, but I suspect there is something else in there that we may never know about.

At my T'ai Chi class last week, the topic of crispy creme doughnuts came up after the subject of coffee began (during our break). We have a man in our group with Parkinson's disease, who is finding much relief through the T'ai Chi movements, a dear soul. He was more than enthusiastic about these doughnuts. As difficult as it was to keep my mouth shut regarding the effects of diet, I did it. Victory was mine. But the real loser is this dear man who loves these tasty morsels that would have me flat on my back in bed. My sense of him is that he would probably not be receptive to a suggestion about changing his diet. Perhaps I will have an opportunity at a later date to mention what the BTD has done for my health, and plant a few seeds of inquiry in his heart, but last week was not the right time to start.