Australian model and mum Abigail O’Neil says she eats chocolate several times a day. She is 39, thin and gorgeous so we should do as she says, right? She’s also a the mother of three young children.
Sounds good so far.
She has written a book called Model Chocolate explaining how we can eat just like her and look fabulous, but before you crack open a block of Cadbury’s you should understand HOW she eats chocolate:
1. She is a raw foodie, vegetarian and vegan, so eats pure form of chocolate such as cacao, veeeeery different from sugary, delightful Cadbury’s;
2. She drinks chocolate tea which is just tea flavoured with cacao beans;
3. Everything else she eats is mostly fruit and veg.
In the book she makes a point of mentioning her lack of exercise, although she is trying to do more Bikram Yoga at the moment. She does forget to discuss the fact she is genetically blessed and it is unlikely that if we try and follow her eating plan we will:
a. Look like a model;
b. Lose weight (who could stick to THAT diet?);
c. Have radiant skill like that she displays in her photos.
O'Neill told news.com.au, "When I discovered raw chocolate about three years ago it was the biggest enlightenment and now I eat it a few times a day. It makes you so vibrant and healthy and takes away cravings for negative things. It just makes you crave juices and salads and good food."
She explains how a typical day looks in her diet:
Breakfast
Either a halva (honey and sesame seeds) with either a cup of chocolate tea or a hot chocolate, raw chocolate tiramisu or a bowl of chopped up fruit with cacao nibs, almond milk and probiotics
Mid-morning
Either super smoothie containing greens, cacao nibs and almond milk, a chunk of her protein bar cacao tea and two bananas or some dark chocolate
Lunch
A big salad with lots of nice dressing
Afternoon tea
Either a big smoothie, a frappe (icy-chocolately milkshake), dark chocolate or chia seed pudding
Dinner
Either vegetables, a big salad, sushi or a healthy vegetarian dish. Often she'll just have a bowl of broccoli with garlic and olives for dinner.
She feels her eating plan is proof chocolate doesn't make you fat. "So I've really proven that this chocolate does not make you fat or give you bad skin because I've literally eaten mountains of it and done no exercise," she told news.com.au. "I was just so snowed under with family and making this book happen. I certainly had to sit a lot and stay up late and that's certainly bad for your thyroid and can make you get fat."
Could you stomach Abigail's eating plan?