Do you need chocolate rehab?

Beyond Chocolate runs workshops to break the cycle of yo-yo dieting and emotional eating for women. Could it work for you? Our doughnut-loving guinea-pig puts it to the test.

Unless you've got Gillian McKeith living in your breadbin, most diets are not working. If they were, there wouldn't be a multimillion-pound diet industry, and we'd all be a size 10. The reality is, I'm a fluctuating size 14, and I'm thoroughly sick of dieting. Sick of fancying a bit of chocolate but telling myself in a whining voice: 'You can't have any, you're trying to be good.' Sick of then opening cupboard doors and half-heartedly eating carrot sticks, a pickled onion and three raisins before eventually eating a chocolate bar or two anyway. Without even tasting them, and feeling disgusted with myself afterwards.

It doesn't have to be like this.

A company called Beyond Chocolate, set up by sisters Sophie and Audrey Boss, has come up with a way of breaking the cycle of yo-yo dieting and emotional eating. Workshops are held several times a year, alongside weekend retreats and a website packed with information and help for women who, like me, get a bit obsessive about food.

I went on the day workshop. And while a room full of 24 women talking about their eating habits might not be everyone's ideal way to spend a Saturday, it's amazing how a safe, non-judgemental atmosphere can make you admit to secretly scoffing doughnuts in the car, as a result of work stress.

Beyond Chocolate's philosophy is that eating should not be associated with shame or guilt. The main way to get your head round this, according to Sophie (who had her own fair share of diet hell before realising they just weren't working for her), is to tune into your body. Once you focus on your hunger, and what that feels like, you can make informed decisions about what and when to eat.

Gone is the cycle of 'good' and 'bad' eating. The workshop taught us the importance of giving yourself permission to eat any food, with nothing off limits. Great, you might think, an excuse to embrace my inner biscuit fiend!

Actually, it doesn't work quite like that, which was surprising. For me, my normal 'forbidden' doughnuts seemed strangely unappealing the first time I let myself go free in the bakery aisle. This is no miracle, and I'm no saint, but when the whole supermarket is your oyster, you'll be surprised what form your cravings take. The first time I 'tuned in' my heart belonged to salmon (OK, that was on the day I also ate half a Toblerone, but I'm still getting to grips with the freedom).

When you do listen to your body, you realise how much of the eating you do is nothing to do with food. The Beyond Chocolate workshop also deals with body image. One emotional session saw us writing a letter to our bodies, then replying. I got a bit tearful when I realised how hard I am on myself. As the day progresses, you learn that the happier you are with yourself, the less emphasis you put on weight, and ironically, this freedom can be the catalyst that helps you lose it. 'Be your own guru,' say Sophie and Audrey.

With an emphasis on movement, rather than exercise, doing rather than trying, and making a meal an occasion rather than a stand-up snack, Beyond Chocolate is a breath of fresh air in a diet-obsessed world.

For more information on the workshops, go to www.beyondchocolate.co.uk

Beyond Chocolate: how to stop yo-yo dieting and lose for good by Sophie & Audrey Boss, published by Piatkus is available now.

 

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