Day 15 – National Chocolate Week

Yes, that’s right, it’s National Chocolate week here in the UK – the world’s third fattest country and the rulers of European obesity!
It’s not just a little made up ‘event’ either; Tom, Dick and Harry didn’t come up with it in the pub one night:
Tom: “This week sounds a bit boring…there’s no much happening in it is there…”
Dick: “…nope.”
Harry: “nope…maybe we should call it something then…”
Dick: “…yep.”
Tom: “You mean give it a title?”
Dick: “…yep…”
Harry: “…yeah, National ‘Something’ Week.”
Tom: “But National ‘What’ Week?”
Dick: “……..CHOCOLATE!”
No no nooo, this has been a campaign carefully coordinated and crafted by the numerous chocolate companies and emporiums that we have here – there’s even a National Chocolate Week website.
I know it sounds like I’m an anti chocolate-bashing looney; I’m not, I promise, it’s just I’m beginning to feel a little jaded by all the press releases that have been hitting my inbox about this for the last two weeks.
That and the constant drip-feeding of the fact that a size 14/16 is now the average female dress size here; that it’s normal and it’s ok.
That’s the size I was 18 months ago! How has it become acceptable, and part of the national culture, to be overweight and a walking heart attack in the making?!
HOW has this become an acceptable standard? Where fat is the norm’ and those of us that aren’t are the weirdos and the odd ones out?!!
So not only do we have a National Chocolate Week but we also have an National Health Service crisis [from ukwirednews.com]
“The NHS has come under fire this week amid reports suggesting that approximately £29 million of public money has been spent in the past year on quick fix, obesity related surgery.
Since 2001 figures have shown a 15-fold increase in the numbers of people receiving free NHS Surgery in order to cure obesity related illnesses.
The British Medical Journal has defended the increase, claiming an increase in surgery will reduce hospital admissions and will make financial sense in the long term.”
There are even serious talks going ahead for a ‘pounds for pounds’ scheme where the Government (aka the tax-payer) will PAY people to lose weight!
I sometimes wonder if my country hasn’t gone stark raving mad!
(Bear with me a minute, I just need to climb down off my soapbox…it’s a long way down from this one too 😉 )
Right, back to the chocolate bashing!
I don’t dislike chocolate in fact, I’m rather partial to it now and again – albeit VERY now and again.
I’ve just flashed back to when Galaxy brought out their Cookie Crumble chocolate bar – this would have been October/November time 2008 I suppose:  I’m sitting at my desk, it’s late afternoon so it’s just getting gloomy and it’s a bit chilly too.
Time for a hot cup of tea (two sugars) and some chocolate; lovely, but for ‘some chocolate’ read – WHOLE BAR of chocolate…and it wasn’t a small bar either!
What’s even worse is the fact that if there were two bars of this Cookie Crumble chocolate in the house, they would both be eaten.  Not one after the other (I did have some restraint *hur hur*) but maybe with a three or four hour gap and with another cup of tea (two sugars) as well.
A few months ago now, I was sent a pair of rather clever scales to review. They have the nutritional values of various foods programmed into the tiny on-board computer, so when you weigh something and input its corresponding code the scales will give you the nutritional breakdown for the amount of whatever it is you’re weighing.
I went on a bit of a weighing frenzy – what can I say, I like numbers! They do things for me *grin* – and as part of my review I also took photographs.
See if these numbers don’t make you think twice about having a large bar of chocolate just as a ‘one off’…

One 197g bar of chocolate…

You’re not reading those number wrong…there really ARE just over 1000 calories and 55g of fat in that 197g bar of chocolate! And to save you doing the maths, each square is worth about 31.37 calories.
On the few occasions that chocolate leaps in to my mind, I just think of this picture – chocolate thought…GONE!
Ok, ok, how about this one?  (oh this is mean *evil grin*)

One teaspoon of peanut butter (crunchy, of course!)…

WAHOOOO! 66 calories in one tiny teaspoon!
Now I realise that peanut butter is also recognised as a good source of protein and fat, and if you can stick to small amounts you’re a better person than I am; I could eat half a jar of this stuff in one go!
I’m clearly in a foody mood at the moment, I think it’s to do with the change of seasons.
Gone are the summer days of six pack prawn salads…

and six pack tuna salads…

Instead, I’ve been creating six pack versions of Moroccan Beef and very light chicken and veg SIX PACK SOUP! No pictures of those yet, but there will be.
I’m musing on creating a six pack recipe section – if that’s a resource you’d be interested in, let me know.
Or maybe you have a culinary challenge for me, drop me a line and I’ll see if I can come up with a Six Pack Girl version of something that takes your fancy!

It was my first day back training since my, all bar one day, sick week off and what a rollercoaster ride I went on!
I wanted to give it everything I had, but not go to over the top (yes, I know – me? Go too hard too fast? Noooo, surely not!), but I struggled with weights that I was lifting last week for double the reps! I won’t pretend I wasn’t a bit upset about this at the time.
It also felt like the longest training session in the world – I’m telling you, it was THREE hours long not just under one!
By the time I reached the half way mark I was beginning to wonder if I’d done the wrong thing training today, maybe I still wasn’t recovered enough…
Then I got the last super set and ohhhhh did I love it; all upset about the first sets forgotten in an instant.
It’s cardio tomorrow…is there a doctor standing by?