Daily Dose of Chocolate

So I know I told you guys in my last blog, my husband and I were going to Dallas for a sort of Personal Development type of training.  Well it ended up being way too last minute for us, and we're trying to save money for an upcoming move so we decided not to go.  Thank goodness we opted out considering everyone in my household now has a cold... it must be that time.

All things considered, this means I will definitely not be going to Denny's every day for the weekend, (THANK GOODNESS!) and I won't be able to report on eating clean while eating out.

I honestly have no idea what I'm even going to eat for breakfast yet since I need to go grocery shopping today.  I'll probably end up drinking a Shakeology smoothie for breakfast.  I really want to move that up to lunch time though considering it does really help me curb cravings through out the day...so I figured if I have it for lunch instead, it will help with those pesky nighttime cravings.

Speaking of cravings...

I used to be a chocolate craver for a long time... then I wasn't... now it's back!!! NOOO!!! BUT... studies do report chocolate being good for you; actually it's the alkaloid, theobromine, that is in the cacao plant, which is good for you.  Theobromine is actually the thing in chocolate that dogs are allergic to.  I studied holistic medicine for a little while, so I know about an ounce of information about this. Hehe...  Anyways, I'm allowing for some chocolate dosage in my daily diet, however, I do need some discipline when it comes to the chocolate department!  So I bought this little weekly pill case from the dollar store where I will put my daily dose of chocolate.

I found this article to back me up...11 Reasons Chocolate's Good for You... but I will give you the 11 basic reasons...

1.  Chocolate decreases stroke risk.
2.  Chocolate decreases the likelihood of heart attack.
3.  Chocolate protects against blood inflammation.
4.  Chocolate helps with math. (I'm calling bullshit.)
5.  Chocolate may prevent cancer.
6.  Chocolate reduces the risk of diabetes.
7.  Chocolate is good for your skin.
8.  Chocolate can control coughs. (yay!)
9.  Chocolate improves blood flow.
10.  Chocolate strengthens your brain.
11.  Chocolate makes you live longer.

ALRIGHT! Take this with a grain of salted chocolate considering this article was probably written by Hershey, but I believe there's enough support to say that in moderation chocolate isn't all that bad for you.  I would highly suggest sticking as close to the source as possible with dark chocolate and cacao for highest levels of theobromine.

*Update*
Here is what I did eat for breakfast... not my proudest inner chef moment but at least I ate something...

And yes... I need that ridiculous knife to cut my fruit!

Why You Should Blog

OK… Chances are if you start blogging, your life won't suddenly become as glamourous as you hope. You won't become a famous blogger overnight, and you won't get rich. You probably won't be at Starbucks everyday typing your little heart out and enjoying your Carmel Macchiato with soy milk and no whip.  More than likely if you decide to start blogging, words will not just come to you.  Unless you have a LOT to say then you might even find yourself at a total loss for words, and wondering if everyone else finds you just as boring as you're discovering yourself to be.  In fact… a productive blog takes way more work than you even imagine at first.  It's something  you have to work on even when you are not actively working on it.  For example…when I think of something funny I write it down RIGHT AWAY, otherwise it will be forgotten and never make it to my cyber thoughts.  I am constantly capturing moments, thoughts, ideas, words, and pictures.  

So why in the *bleep* would you want to do this?

I'm learning a lot more about myself than I imagined. 

It might be possible you don't even want to learn about yourself… if that's your case, then that is very sad, but very relatable, so I can't judge.

It's giving me a better relationship with my husband. 

When it comes to my own thoughts, and words, I'm way more self-conscious about what my friends and family think than I am about what strangers think.  Reading my entries to him before publishing is very intimate for me.  It's opening myself up, and allowing him to learn even more about me than he already knows.  I say things in my blogs in a different way than I would normally tell him out loud, so it gives us something to talk about in a light way.  He also gets super excited when he hears that he's in my blogs even though I've given him the role of the "dumb man" (his words), but he says that's ok because he "plays the role well". (Again…his words.)

Time management…I suck at it, but I'm getting better.

I am absolutely awful at managing my time!  I have the hardest time finding a schedule for myself and sticking to it.  But I am finding the more "responsibilities" I give myself, the better I am at finding time for them.  I have turned my blogging into a "responsibility" therefore I have to find time for it, making it so that I have to manage my other activities better as well.

I'm trying to be more interesting.

Is that weird?  I don't necessarily think I am boring… but I don't always think I'm fun.  And who wants to read from or about someone that's not having any fun?  I wouldn't.

Might I add that I currently am sitting at Starbucks, drinking tea, and blogging (obviously)… and it's not as great as it sounds.  I now know all the words to Louis Armstrong's, "I Ain't Got Nobody".  What's the big deal?  The big deal is that there are only a handful of words in the song, and it's about 10 minutes long, and plays almost every 10 minutes.  

Anyways… my point is that you shouldn't expect to be the next Carrie Bradshaw (although I believe she was a newspaper columnist…and then a write for Vogue…not a blogger)…but you just might discover that you have your very own inner Carrie Bradshaw.

"As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost.  And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the coulda, shoulda, woulda, buckle up and just keep going." Carrie Bradshaw