Free From Chocolate

Our chocolate habit last year had become expensive & ridiculous, so we knew that we had to stop - we wanted to stop... 
We had been aware for a long time that the milk protein put into chocolate is there to make us crave it, so most of us can't stop once we start... Dark chocolate with simpler ingredients doesn't have the same effect - though I don't know many people (apart from Granddad Gerry & myself) who really enjoy a strong dark chocolate.

Sime's attitude to food is to cut it out if it's a problem & not just cut down. Which is actually the best way to do it, because once you cut it out completely & you stick to your decision - after a few days you stop craving it. After 3 weeks, it's appeal just fades & that's what we wanted to do. 

Anybody who knows me can vouch that I have been a complete chocoholic since childhood, my favourites being Fry's Chocolate Creme & Creme Eggs. At work I gained a reputation for always having a creme egg in my pocket & eventually I was nicknamed Munchkin! 

When we first stopped eating dairy some years ago, I was thrilled to find out that Fry's were vegan & then I discovered Maya Gold. Neither of these are vegan any more & due to their connections with Cadbury, we stopped eating them some time ago - along with anything made by Nestle, which our family boycotted many years ago. We then came to the conclusion that any chocolate made by large companies is going to be pretty unethical & finally stopped eating all big name bars last autumn.
Ethical Consumer is a great place to find out more if you are interested in buying ethically & supporting decent, small companies is such a good thing to do.

One of our favourite companies continues to come top of the ethical list, Plamil & their ginger chocolate is just wonderful!
But since stopping completely (we ate our last choccies in January & they were home made by Lesley & Ellen), we went through a few days of craving - but after that, the desire for chocolate has completely gone...

Neither of us are bothered about eating chocolate any more & it's liberating - we are free from all that mass produced crap & not only is it better for our health, it's savings us money & we feel good about no longer supporting animal cruelty.

See here for more info.

If you are an animal lover please spare a thought for all the dairy cows who have their young taken from them in order to provide milk for those Easter Eggs everyone will be eating this weekend & if you haven't bought yours yet - maybe try something different...

dairy free milk chocolate easter egg

Kay :)

Comments

  1. Susie - secondhandsusie.blogspot.com5 April 2012 at 00:06

    That egg looks good! I miss easter eggs, but I know I'm getting a aldi dark chocolate bunny for easter! yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5 April 2012 at 02:22

    Damn. I was planning on picking up a few Easter treats for the kids after work tomorrow. Maybe I will give them cash instead.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rebecca5 April 2012 at 08:41

    I remember loving fry's peppermint cream. At the beginning of the year, I made a decision to only eat fairtrade/ethical chocolate and this has drastically cut down the chocolate I am eating, mainly as to find the chocolate, I have to go further afield. Did you know that there is supposed to be a global shortage of cocoa beans, hence the large increase in the price of easter eggs, not that this bothers us x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just Humans Being5 April 2012 at 21:46

      Becky - thanks for that. We haven't bought any Easter eggs for a few years, although we used to buy the Divine mini eggs for the kids to hunt...

      Kay :)

      Delete
  4. Mrs Thrifty5 April 2012 at 18:55

    Wise words - used to be a vegan and a breastfeeding counsellor - but am totally addicted to crap chocolate, as my waistline will testify. Your blog is maybe the metaphorical kick I need to ditch the habit - a great post - thank you x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just Humans Being5 April 2012 at 21:55

      Thanks Mrs Thifty & thanks for following us too!

      I am so glad not to be eating chocolate - never thought I'd join the savoury ranks, but I would prefer something a bit garlicky now!

      Look forward to chatting more.

      Kay :)

      Delete
  5. Unknown5 April 2012 at 20:54

    I so want to kick the chocolate habit Kay.

    This is very thought provoking stuff.

    Thank you for sharing.

    Sft x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just Humans Being5 April 2012 at 21:57

      You can do it Sft!

      Delete
    2. Just Humans Being5 April 2012 at 21:59

      Whoops - posted that a bit prematurely!

      I'd recommend just stopping completely - it's really great!

      Kay :)

      Delete
  6. Catherine6 April 2012 at 14:41

    I have been doing really good with my chocolate cravings for a long time now. I used to love love milk chocolate. I haven't had any for at least 9 months - maybe longer.

    I indulge in a piece of 90% cocoa dark chocolate once in awhile. I didn't really care for it at first, but I know dark chocolate have lots of good health benefits. Now, I really savour and enjoy my one piece of dark chocolate here and there.

    Happy Easter you two!
    xo Catherine

    ReplyDelete

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Kay and Sime
xx

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