Yep, it’s true. I must admit that Beverly and I were indeed at the Northwest Chocolate Festival. In fact, we bought the full sh’bang all-access weekend pass!

How much chocolate did we eat? About 2 small pieces worth. And those were sweetened with coconut nectar.

So why were we there then, if not to binge on chocolate like everyone else? Well, Beverly was there to scope out the chocolate makers at their booths and I was there to take classes and learn stuff. In fact, I was in classes nonstop all day Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM and it was awesome! I learned a ton, met a lot of great chocolatiers and was reinforced with the knowledge I already had about the science of chocolate and its health benefits (when done right).

One of the things that made the biggest impression on me was this fact: Every single hard-core chocolatier (which is the term used for the “bean to bar” chocolate makers) was SKINNY! Yep, this was true 100% of the time for all of the chocolatier presenters and company owners that I met or saw. These people eat A LOT of chocolate, so it doesn’t make sense for them to be skinny, right? I even asked them at one point, during one the presentations, how they could all be such chocolate freaks and all be so skinny. They laughed and replied, “Well, we aren’t chocolate CAKE freaks.”

This was exactly the response I wanted and I obviously knew the answer before I asked the question. I just wanted everyone else to hear it.

It further confirmed what I already knew: That chocolate done the right way is a HEALTH food and makes you SKINNY!

Chocolate done the wrong way however, will make you fat. What’s the wrong way you ask? That would be most popular commercial brand chocolate produced in mass quantities. If it’s a household name that you are already familiar with, it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s fattening. If it’s one of the more obscure bars you might not have heard of, that is made from organic, fair trade ingredients, with 70% cacao or more, it could indeed help make you skinnier.

This was actually a new discovery to me. I already knew that high quality chocolate like this was a health food (even despite the fact that it has some sugar), but what I learned was that this type of chocolate is a weight loss food too! Granted, the weight loss effect is mild, and this chocolate can be overeaten to the point were it becomes a weight gain food (especially if it pushes out your green vegetables because you are so full from chocolate all the time), but even as much as 2 bars a day of this type of chocolate can be good for you and can help you lose weight!

This information was also exciting because my chocolate (click here for the free recipe to make it yourself at home) has an even BIGGER fat burning effect and there really is no upper limit to how much you should eat. In fact, the more you eat, the leaner you get! You truly can eat yourself skinny with my formula!

There is a caution though: If you do choose to binge on my chocolate to get skinny fast, you will push out certain other foods that you need in your diet to get the proper nutrients for optimal health, so make sure you are getting your greens in too. No time for that? Yeah right. I hear that a lot. Yes, salads and greens do take some time to prepare and eat, but c’mon – you have the time. I work 16 hours a day and I still have enough time. However, sometimes I’m not in the mood, so I came up with a strategy to get my greens anyway and guess what – it saves time too! Check out the video below: