Sweet Reality

Chocolate is key.

Moving is a reality when you are in the military. Traveling with pets, household goods, and a teenager and on icy roads is a recipe for stress. Stress kills-raises your heartrate and blood pressure, causes chest pain, irritability. Long term, stress harms your overall well being. This will put you at risk for heart disease, weight gain, more susceptible to cancer and even a stroke. As a dietitian, I can tell you there are many healthy options when you are on the road. Gas stations, truck stops and even fast food restaurants all offer healthy options: portioned fresh fruits and/or vegetables, freshly made sandwiches, mixed nuts, grilled meat options, rice bowls, etc. There are also other choices that may not be as “healthy.”

As a parent and a wife that is not fond of winter-time travel, I can tell you that comfort outweighs health. A cup of gas station hot chocolate (or hot cocoa) is a cup of warm, delicious sugary comfort. Is it artificially flavored? Probably. It is an additional 2 hours of letting the dog drag me around with his leash, to burn off the calories? Certainly. Heart logic sometimes outweighs head logic. And sometimes that is just ok. Chocolate, after all, is an antioxidant. Antioxidants lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. Dark chocolate eaters report reduced stress and cortisol levels.

I’m pretty sure my gas station hot chocolate wasn’t exactly made from prime ingredients or even dark chocolate, but sometimes you just have to “sugar coat it.”