What girls can't live without.....

Chocolate chocolate chocolate. That's all that's been on my mind over these festive days of the Easter celebrations. With my pre-wedding diet (kind of) been going on for weeks now, with only a sneaky treat at those times when I just can’t get through the day without something sweet, Easter is that one time of year when it somehow seems okay to indulge in that exquisite, brown ingredient that I couldn’t possibly live without.

However, it’s lucky for me that in Mallorca, the joy of receiving an Easter egg isn’t of as much importance as it is in many other parts of the world. It’s probably a good idea that I’m not in the UK right now, or in fact have been over the past month, as I remember how the shelves were stacked in many supermarkets, stores and whichever other shop that could get away with selling those yummy alternatives to the bog standard egg we usually have lying around in our fridge. On my island, in most places you’d expect to see those delicious chocolate creations sold, they quite disappointingly only display a modest array of mostly bunny shaped chocolate, the more-than-usual selection of Kinder eggs, not forgetting toys and teddies mainly related to rabbits. Most children don't expect the Easter bunny to pass by their houses leaving them chocolate eggs a-plenty, and many would give you the most puzzled look if you ever mentioned an Easter egg hunt to them. We all know, however, that in Spain they're nowhere near as commercial as us Brits, and at the end of the day, Easter, as well as Christmas and all those other celebrations that we seem to have forgotten the real meaning of in the first place, are now celebrated with over-publicised and heavily adverted treats and presents, rather than family get-togethers and times for love and caring like they should all be about. In Mallorca, this week has been full of never-ending parades, street markets and bustling restaurants complete with the whole family enjoying huge feasts.
So, my question is, what best suits us British residents of Spain? The good old commercial Easter with supermarket shelves bulging with chocolate in all shapes and sizes, or the traditional family-orientated celebrations the way the Spanish spend their 'Pascua'. Well, seeing as you´re asking a self-confessed chocoholic the answer is fairly obvious, isn't it?
So then, my next question is - how does someone hoping to squeeze into a size 8 wedding dress in less than 4 months possibly get through the whole chocolate experience without piling back on the pounds lost in previous months? Well, without spending 2 hours sweating it all out over a treadmill after every naughty piece of luxury that passes past your lips, I may have finally found the answer to still being able to enjoy each and every moment of delicacy without the guilt or the extra inch to your waistline. Choose the chocolate wisely girls. It's as simple as that.
All right, we all know how easy it is to pop into your nearest newsagent´s, grab your local Sunday newspaper and a Kitkat as a weekend treat, as we've all heard they contain less calories than most chocolate bars. That vending machine is also too tempting as you go and get a quick coffee fix whilst at the office, and you know that after grafting away at your desk all day you so very much deserve that Dairy Milk staring at you from the Cadbury's machine next door. And who else keeps an emergency supply of chocolate at the back of the cupboard for those rainy days when you just "need" a sweet tooth fix? (I'm sure I have far too many 'emergencies' though....) Bottom line is, chocolate lovers like me can easily fall into the trap of eating every and any Easter egg in sight, and before you know it, you´ve consumed anywhere near 2,000 calories in a couple of highly-indulging hours, which we all know is way above our daily recommendation for all food in general. So, that´s when chocolate knowledge is essential if you want to indulge sensibly and free of all guilt. Let me give you starting point ideas....
Previously mentioned Dairy Milk was always my favourite treat in the world. A friend of mine once very kindly brought me over a giant size bar from England and I devoured it all in only 2 days. How greedy is that? I always knew how many calories and grams of fat even the smallest bars contain, (525 cals. and a whooping 29.8grms of fat); however, I would still allow myself more than one probably too many times. But as I went from a comfortable size 10 to the next one up, I knew the full fat milk chocolate had to go. So that´s when I discovered dark chocolate. I must admit, never had I been a fan. The bitter taste always reminded me of something that should be cooked and melted down to add a rich taste to yummy chocolate deserts. Most dark chocolate resembles a rock and is almost too hard to bite the little squares off with your average set of gnashers, unlike the milky stuff that instantly breaks off and melts in your mouth. However, after some getting used to and finding the right brand, it´s really not as bad as I once thought; in fact, far from it.

And then I found out that dark chocolate is actually good for you! I know, it certainly took some believing and lots of research on my own personal behalf. Surprisingly enough, it can lower blood pressure, and the best news yet - it´s full of antioxidants, even more than green tea provides us with.

But once you mix milk with the choc, it interferes with the absorption of strong antioxidants found in pure cocoa, the ones which fight off heart disease and lower our risk of strokes, cancer, diabetes... The cocoa content does, however, have to be at least 70% to do some good, which means it´s going to be extremely dark and rich, but not necessarily bitter if you choose the right choloate.

The Swiss make, 'Lindt', is my personal favourite. They boast "chocolatier excellence", expertising in making sure their chocolate is of the very finest quality. Their delicious dark varieties start off with a minimum cocoa content of 70%, going all the way up to 90%. The rest of the ingredients are made up of low fat cocoa butter, vanilla and the very best demerara sugar. However, the bad news is that a 100g bar of this amazingly good quality sweetness contains 529 calories and even more grams of fat than a Dairy milk - a sinful 46 grams! Looks like it´s going to have to be a square at a time then girls, instead of gobbling down the whole bar in one go, if that´s even possible.
However, looking around my local supermarket and pining over the chocolate and sweet shelves, I´m always surprised to find how the variety of ´healthy´, dark chocolate, sometimes even sugar free, is getting better and better. They even now make organic dark chocolate, such as the incredibly good 'Green & Black´s', who boast to produce a "high-quality, bittersweet, dark-chocolate bar, packed with 70% cocoa solids". But no, they have no fewer calories or fat as any other other rich choc we´ve grown to love (551cals, 41.1g fat).
Now, let´s get back to Easter. Do they make chocolate eggs with good, solid, health-conscious cocoa beans, skipping on the milk? Actually, yes they do. We can still enjoy the whole experience without having to live with the guilt. Most confectioners like Thorntons and Aphrodite, English handmade chocolatiers, seem to be the only ones who remember us dieters, and, of course, those with a tolerance to dairy. However, apart from being a few pounds more expensive in the UK, they´re hard to find in most local stores and almost impossible on my island of Mallorca. So what can we do.....?

Well, my advice is just enjoy the 100g of dark luxury chocolate bars the best way you can. Stock up on as many different flavours as you want, ('Lindt' even do chilli flavour; it's actually delicious), and as long as you don´t eat them all in one day, indulge, delight your taste buds, and let that rich, dark, bittersweet texture light up the moment it melts in your mouth. Heavenly goodness - that pretty much sums it up for me.

The Celebrity Bug

As I pass my local kiosk on the corner of my street, I cant help but notice the front page headline on that glossy celeb magazine that never manages to escape my notice. A stunning, enlarged photo of an impeccable-as-always Jennifer Lopez catches my eye and the huge, red print reads, 'How did J-Lo lose all that baby weight?'. I can't help myself, but glide over to the magazine stand, which is bursting with celebrity magazines alike, and I immediately pick out that all important mag with the full cover story of how the beautiful Ms. Lopez went from carrying around 40 whooping pounds more than she's used to whilst pregnant with her adorable twins, Emme and Max - now 14 months old - to now; her body as enviable as ever and her weight down to her Jenny from the Block days. No need was there for me to flick to the intriguing feature, all I had to do was reach for my brand new, electric blue, patent purse that, if I may add, was a must-buy purchase after seeing Paris Hilton carrying one just like it in a photo I'd seen of her leaving Starbucks also in another of those celeb mags; the J-Lo cover story, along with the rest of the mag, was then an instant buy. So I popped it into my Chanel tote bag - ok, another celebrity inspired buy - and I waited impatiently unti l I could spare 5 minutes to sit down, open up that all important, 90-page spread out of glossy pages, and read about yet another celebrity and their not-so-private, intriguing life that we all can't help ourselves but delve into.

Jen's story was inspiring, and her killer body wasn't all down to thousands spent in some miracle LA clinic that promises to make you look beautiful on your lunch break. It was the result of a lot of hard work, time and effort spent getting her body back to the one we've either jealously cristisized or drooled over at some point. Yes, she's got a bod we'd all die for, but it's her life in general we're so interested in. And it's not just about Jennifer Lopez, her baby twins, her heart throb hubby, Marc Anthony, or even her drop-dead looks. Those of us like myself can't resist a celebrity story, a good old gossip magazine or one of the millions of biographies now becoming the latest trend in celeb land. We're just so obsessively involved in what's going on with them, their relationships, their clothes, their stories, to the point that we feel we know them almost as well as we know our own best friends. Bearing in mind, nothing is kept a secret in celebville.

But what is it about them that attracts so much of our attention? Apart from all the exclusive parties they go to, fancy restaurants they dine in, or luxury stores they shop in, what is so interesting about their lives? Okay, so most of them make blockbuster films, great music and star in some of our favorite soaps or TV series'. But off screen, we continue to follow their every moves and keep a constant track of what they've been up to over spring break. And whether it's something as boring as washing their car, walking their dog or sunbathing down on Malibu beach, for most A list celebs, their paparazzi shots and sometimes uninteresting stories always manage to creep their way into one or more magazine or newspaper. We forget that they're also normal people like us who lead normal lives off-screen or out of the studio. They also have that tendency to do the same naughty things that most of us have done at least once in our lives, like getting incredibly legless, maybe have a smoke, or even get caught wearing no underwear.

Beautiful women are photographed with no make-up on and are are slashed as 'UGLY', and the handsomest of some famous males are seen unshaven, in scruffy jeans and a baseball cap, and are labelled 'TRAMPS'. But this is what we all forget - they're ordinary people just like you and me.

So why? What makes everything they do so eye-catching, attention-grabbing and amazingly intriguing? Well, my opinion is explained above. Because they are normal people just like the rest of us mortals and we enjoy to read, see and hear this.

Former females breathe sighs of relief as they realise that they're not the only ones struggling to maintain a size 8 figure and that even celebrities have their slip-ups days, as they see stunning supermodels indulging in a chocolate sundae. Whilst the male population catch a glimpse of Jake Gyllenhaal having a bad hair and hungover day looking like what us girls would call 'sexy rugged', but our men would think scruffy and rough looking. They secretly feel proud of themselves for thinking that these male models aren't as hot as their girlfriends think. And that's why we've all caught the celeb bug. Why we take so much interest in their lives. Because most of them are as boring and normal as ours and that's what we, subconsciously, like most about them. As long as they keep getting snapped doing their weekly grocery shop, angrily picking up a parking ticket, or having a quiet drink in their local, that's what we all want to know. They may have more millions than most of us will see in a lifetime, but what's money when they've got a constant trail of photographers, reporters and crazy fans followng their every move? We may love their lives, but definitely wouldn't want to lead it. Reading about it in my favourite celebrity magazine will always do for me. I've got the bug, but my feet are staying well fixed to the ground. Glossy pages are the closest I'll come to living in La La Land.