Chocolate vs Cheese

My wife loves desert -- usually about 8 p.m, or about two hours after dinner. We typically eat a health diet. She is a great cook and most of our meals are made from scratch using fresh ingredients. We also have a large garden (by urban standards) and it's not unusual during the spring and summer from most of the veggies in our meal to come from the garden, like potatoes, onions, leafy greens, beans, peas, tomatoes, etc. A typical breakfast includes granola she makes fresh from oats, walnuts, raisins and local honey. We often include a dollop of our own home-made yogurt. But when it comes to desert, we have a parting of the ways. She likes chocolate and I like cheese. Dark chocolate vs. extra sharp cheddar; chocolate chip cookies vs. Gouda & crackers; chunky chocolate frozen yogurt vs goat cheese on toast. I say she's crazy. She says I am.

So, we both need to lose a few pounds. She says "Cut the cheese!" I say, "Death to Chocolate!" We both laugh. I think all may be lost, except the pounds.....

(Dark) chocolate is not dessert - it is health food.
See https://permies.com/t/34578/fermentation/Chocolate-ferments-body

Cheese has to stand as one of mankind's great inventions:
Centuries before refrigeration, we took the surplus milk and converted it into a form that would last almost forever.

It sounds to me like you aren't getting enough fat. I have a lot of friends who swear by paleo diets, and from what I understand it mostly has to do with replacing carbs with fat. The fat seems to be more filling - just think about that cliche of how when you eat Chinese food (i.e. rice dishes) you're hungry again in an hour or two.

I need some carbs but I do seem to be able to eat less when there's enough protein and fat in my meals. Without enough fat I end up craving more carbs.

And chocolate candy and cheese both have fat, so you are both satisfying that need. I think you're fine doing that as long as you don't overdo it, but if you want to change that post-dinner habit then try adding more fat to dinner.

well the one thing I know for sure: low fat diets did not work for the great american nation
with all the low fat we've seen for decades now, this should be a nation of trim and healty people
so how come I see more morbidly obese folks than ever?
guess it is not (necessarily) the fat and most definitely not the fat alone

we, that is the people in this household, did fairly well with cutting anything with a high glycaemic index
but I can only speak for us
you need to find out for yourself

low fat diets did not work for the great american nation
with all the low fat we've seen for decades now, this should be a nation of trim and healty people

EXCEPT that food manufacturers trying to hop on the "lower fat is good for you" bandwagon quickly discovered that reducing the fats in foods tended to make the foods more bland. To compensate for that, they began adding more sugar. "We" are eating less fats, but more sugars now.

John Polk wrote:

low fat diets did not work for the great american nation
with all the low fat we've seen for decades now, this should be a nation of trim and healty people

EXCEPT that food manufacturers trying to hop on the "lower fat is good for you" bandwagon quickly discovered that reducing the fats in foods tended to make the foods more bland. To compensate for that, they began adding more sugar. "We" are eating less fats, but more sugars now.

not sure, what the average American eats, but strolling thu a supermarket, reading labels, can spoil my appetite
guess part of the problem is we are not eating anything fresh and simple
most of what we eat is chemically altered to the point it does not remember where it came from or what it used to be
I shy away from 'foods' that display several lines of things I can not pronounce and have no idea, what it looks like in pure form

serious question, why do we need so many prefabbed foods? convenience, they say
how much time and work do you save cooking mac'n'cheese from a box over making them yourself with storebought noodles, containing only wheat and possibly egg?
OK I am weird enough to make my noodles from chickpeas and pumkin and even that does not take but a few extra minutes
but it gives me a handle on what I put on the table


sorry for the rant
back on topic:
James, I'll keep the cheese and have a piece of fruit with it, you can have the chocolate - deal?

Cut out the crackers and other grain products. I lost weight most efficiently when I simply cut out grain products and continued to eat cheese (with fruit).

I lost weight most efficiently when I simply cut out grain products

I'm pretty certain my extra pounds are not cheese-related, but rather grain products -- fermented grain products, that is. I never buy anything that says "lite" and that includes beer. I hate the calories, but sure love the that glass or two of liquid goodness in the evening....

Tyler Ludens wrote:Cut out the crackers and other grain products. I lost weight most efficiently when I simply cut out grain products and continued to eat cheese (with fruit).

Another vote for this. Have your cheese with an apple instead.
Instead of potatoes use sweet potato, turnip, rutabaga or squash.

James Laughlin wrote:sure love the that glass or two of liquid goodness in the evening....

Life is too short for lite beer. Just cut back on the other grain items and you'll probably see a difference.

I agree with those above talking about fat. I used to eat a vegan diet and I was always always hungry. After a huge plate of pasta at dinner (like seriously huge), I'd be hungry to a dessert an hour later. Now I eat a highly nutritious, diet full of good fats and moderate carbs. I can go several hours without eating and no longer need a dessert. Although, cheese and chocolate can be very healthy foods, so either way, I think you're good!

The problem here is we have changed the way our body fuels itself. We were designed to convert fat to sugar to burn for energy. Today we consume so much sugar that our body stores the fat and consumes the sugar we give it instead. If you get your body converting fat again, you will lose weight and with a high fat diet you will find that you need less to fuel your body. You eat less, have more energy and feel a whole lot better. Just google ketogenic diet for more info.

I did a modified Atkins diet and lost more than 100 pounds over about a three-year period. I was amazed at how wonderful raw vegetables could taste after my body adapted to the diet. Broccoli and cauliflower were incredibly delicious as were most other low-carb veggies. Carrots tasted like candy. Now that I'm back eating things like pasta and potatoes, basic veggies are starting to taste bland again.

On the topic of high protein and fat, at times during my diet I would eat an entire roasted chicken in one setting, like some starving cave man. It was a wonderful feast, and I still lost weight, too.