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Irish Diet Page 10
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GUIDE to CHOCOLATE

What does chocolate contain?
Chocolate is made up of approximately 30 per cent fat and 50-60 per cent sugar, which makes it one of the most fattening foods we can buy!

Examples
A 54g bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk contains more fat than 123 low-fat yogurts.
A standard-sized Snickers contains more calories than a jumbo sandwich with 3 slices of bread packed with ham, sliced egg, tomatoes cucumber, lettuce and onion. It also contains more fat than 147 low-fat yogurts.

CHOCOLATE BARS
All values are per standard-size bar, unless indicated..

Please Note
While every effort has been made to check the accuracy of the above figures, errors may creep in as products are updated. Anne Collins apologises in advance for any such errors and will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. Should you notice any errors, please email: info@annecollins.com.

QUICKTIP No 39 – LITTLE PRESENTS CAN MAKE YOU FAT!
A couple of weeks ago, when my husband stopped for petrol, he bought me a Blueberry Muffin. ‘How nice’ I thought, until I looked at the label. My nice, innocent-looking muffin contained 23g of fat. What did I do? I looked for the nearest bin! If I hadn’t checked the label, I would have eaten 60% of my daily fat allowance in 2 minutes. The moral? Little presents can make you fat – always check the label!

QUICKTIP No 40 – DON’T SPEND YOUR WHOLE LIFE DIETING
It was a rainy Sunday night and Mary was exhausted. She had been eating badly for the past three days and felt very uncomfortable. She was four stone overweight and was supposed to be on a diet but after bingeing all weekend she had decided to give up. She climbed into bed, turned off the light and fell fast asleep. But it wasn’t a peaceful sleep. She tossed and turned all through the night, then suddenly, an hour before dawn, she sat bolt upright. A strange woman was sitting at the foot of the bed. Mary was terrified. ‘Who are you?’ she said. The woman smiled. ‘I’m your Fairy Godmother, of course. Call me Rita.’ Mary’s heart was pounding. ‘You scared the life out of me. What do you want?’ she said. ‘It’s not what I want, dear. It’s what you want’ replied Rita. ‘I’ve been watching you for quite a while now, and to be honest I think you could do with some help.’ Mary was totally confused. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
Rita smiled. ‘You want to lose weight and get slim, but you’ve just decided to stop dieting. What are playing at? After all, you know what’s going to happen, don’t you? You’re going to put on all the weight you’ve lost and then get even fatter. Why don’t you stop messing about for once in your life and carry on until you’ve reached a decent weight.’ Mary was shaken. She wasn’t expecting something like this – not from a Fairy Godmother. ‘I thought Fairy Godmothers were supposed to be nice and kind” she stammered. ‘I thought they were supposed to help people, not criticise them.’
Rita shrugged. ‘I may be a Fairy Godmother, Mary, but I’m not here to tell you fairy stories. I’m here to tell you the truth so that you can decide what to do.’ Mary scowled and said nothing. She didn’t like the truth. She spent most of her time running away from it. She had dieted on and off for nearly eight years but none of her attempts had lasted more than a few weeks. She always found an excuse to stop. Rita continued. ‘The question is Mary, do you want to be slim or would you rather stay fat? It’s entirely your decision. But you can’t carry on burying your head in the sand. You’ll only make yourself more miserable.’ Mary gave a sigh. ‘I don’t know what I want and that’s the truth. I always start with the best of intentions but then something goes wrong and I think to myself – what’s the point? I’m never going to be slim so why bother?’ Rita took Mary’s hand and told her to relax. Then she told her she was kidding herself if she thought she could never lose weight. We can all lose weight, she said. All we have to do is keep at it. Keep eating sensibly until we reach the weight we want to be. OK, it may take a few months – it might even take six months – but so what? ‘But six months is for ever’ replied Mary. ‘I couldn’t possibly stay on a diet for six months.’ When she heard this, Rita burst out laughing. ‘What’s so funny?’ asked Mary. Rita dried her eyes and tried to compose herself. ‘Oh, Mary, just listen to yourself. You say you couldn’t diet for six months, but how much time have you spent dieting up to now?’
Mary went red. Finally she said ‘About three months a year, for eight years.’ Rita nodded. ‘That’s 24 months. Isn’t it time to make a fresh start and see it through to the end?’
Before Mary could answer, she woke up. The alarm clock was ringing. Had she imagined everything? Was it all just a dream? Perhaps, but this didn’t stop her thinking about it. In fact, she thought about it all day and finally came to a decision. She wasn’t going to stay fat. She wasn’t going to keep making excuses. She was going to carry on with her diet until she got slim. So she did. And seven months later, she was a perfect size 12.

QUICKTIP No 41 – IS IT TIME TO PLAY A NEW ROLE?
Once upon a time, there lived a young actress called Siobhan. She had appeared in several popular plays, but nothing very special. She was still looking for her big break. Then one day, she heard that a Hollywood film producer was in town looking for an Irish actress to star in a major film. Perhaps this was her big chance. Without further ado, she telephoned the producer for details and was told that he was looking for an actress who could play the part of a fat lady. How fat? Siobhan asked. About 14 stone, replied the producer. No problem, said Siobhan, who was actually only 9 stone. So the producer invited her to come and audition for the part, in three days time. Overjoyed at the prospect of auditioning for a major film, Siobhan began her homework immediately. In order to play the part of a 14 stone person, she would have to find out what it was like to be fat. So she dressed herself in 5 pullovers, 5 pairs of trousers, a huge overcoat and a pair of heavy shoes. By the time she was finished she looked enormous. Hardly able to walk, she tottered over to the scales to see how much she weighed. Only 11 stone! She flopped down on the bed. How could she make herself 3 stone heavier? Then she had an idea. She went down to the kitchen and filled all her pockets with bags of flour, sugar, tins, two big ash-trays and anything else that looked heavy. With sweat pouring off her, she climbed back upstairs and stood on the scales. Still only 13 stone! She sat down while she thought how to make herself a stone heavier. Of course! Her shoulder bag! That would do the trick. She rummaged in her wardrobe but the effort was too much. She almost collapsed from the weight she was carrying. So she took off all her extra clothing, found the shoulder bag and filled it with lots of heavy things. Then she got dressed again and stood on the scales. Success! She weighed exactly 14 stone. She turned to the mirror. Her face was bright red and her hair was damp with sweat. She had been 14 stone for less than 15 minutes but the stress of it was already visible. For the first time in her life, she felt what it was like to be fat. And it felt awful. She couldn’t breath easily, she couldn’t move easily and there was no way she could bend. After a moment’s rest, she slowly descended the stairs. By the time she reached the kitchen, the muscles in her back and legs were throbbing with the effort. She sat down for another rest. While she did so, she thought to herself: How does anyone of 14 stone manage? How do they get through a whole day with such a weight on their body? After catching her breath she decided to walk to the shops, about half a mile away. It would help her to learn how to walk like a 14 stone person. She opened the front door and set off down the street. But after less than 100 yards, she had to stop. Walking with all the extra weight on her was simply too difficult. She carefully returned to the house and flopped onto the sofa, completely worn out. Then she rang the producer to cancel her audition. There had to be an easier way of getting into Hollywood, she decided.
Well girls, are you acting the part of a 14 stone person? Have you grown accustomed to lifting 14 stone around everywhere you go? If so, here’s a suggestion. Why not try playing the part of a 10 stone person. The money’s just as good, the hours are no different but the working conditions are infinitely less painful. Interested? Then here’s what to do. Eat sensibly for 3 months. Start tomorrow and you’ll be 12 stone by the first week in June. Then, if you like being 2 stone lighter, eat sensibly for another 3 months and by early September you’ll be about 10 stone. You can always go back to playing the part of a 14 stone person, if you prefer. But I don’t think you will.