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April 18, 2018

Choose-your-level chocolate

Choose-your-level of sweetness, sugar, and flavour with this quick, easy, and highly adaptable chocolate recipe. There's something for everyone!

Who doesn’t like chocolate? But choose-your-level? What on earth does that mean?

If you have been following me on my blog, you know that I advocate for cutting back and minimizing refined and added sugar. Most commercial chocolate on the market these days is not only filled with sugar but all sorts of other ingredients and chemicals.

Therefore, most chocolate and candy bars on the market these days are a far cry from being the “superfood” that many claim cacao is.

Dark chocolate, on the other hand, contains significantly less sugar than its milk chocolate counterpart. The higher the percentage of cacao, the lower the sugar content contained in the chocolate.

The taste for some, however, is acquired. Dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao can have a bitter taste if you’re not accustomed to it. As your taste buds change over time, you will enjoy higher percentages of cacao.

I usually suggest with commercial dark chocolate to start with 70%, and slowly work your way up to 85% then 90%. There exists 99% and 100% chocolate, which we will use in this recipe. On its own 100% chocolate is not sweet at all, therefore I absolutely do not suggest you start here.

The key to this recipe is that you can adjust the sweetness and flavours according to your taste buds. If you are new to dark chocolate, start with the higher amounts of sweetener, and add some flavour extracts. The more you become used to the taste, you can start lowering the sweetener levels, so that you can enjoy the benefits of cacao without all the extra sugar.

I have provided the basics for a small batch, in case you want to make multiple batches for multiple flavours, or just to test it out. For one large batch, just multiply all the ingredients to make more.

Choose-your-level chocolate

A simple and flexible chocolate recipe that allows you to choose the amount of sugar and flavour, depending on your taste preferences. It only takes minutes to prepare!

If you are not accustomed to dark chocolate, it is best to start with the higher level of suggested sweetener and add a flavour, and slowly reduce the amount as your palate becomes accustomed to the rich chocolate flavours. However you enjoy your chocolate, there is an option for everyone!

5 minCook Time

5 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

  • 2 oz 70%, 85%, 90%, or 100% unsweetened chocolate (you can usually find this in the baking chocolate aisle)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil or other fat of choice (butter, tallow, bacon grease...yes bacon grease! Just omit the salt)
  • Dash sea salt
  • Sweetener: choose-your-level of sweetness between 1 tsp and 2 tbsp of maple syrup or honey, or alternatively, 1-3 drops of stevia, or a combination. Or no sweetener at all if you have become accustomed to high percentage chocolate!
  • Optional: 1-3 drops of flavour extract of choice, such as peppermint, orange, cherry, banana, vanilla, or a combination. (I was surprised how well banana turned out!)

Instructions

  1. Use a double boiler, or heat a pot of water and place a bowl over the water. Bring water to a boil, and place the chocolate and coconut oil in the upper chamber or in the bowl
  2. Once melted, remove from heat, and add the sea salt, sweetener and optional flavours. Stir well to combine.
  3. Carefully pour the chocolate into candy molds (I use silicone molds), and place in the fridge for 2 hours to set.
  4. Store chocolates in the fridge. Because of the coconut oil content, the chocolates will have a tendency to melt on your fingers if left at room temperature. But the texture from the coconut oil is so worth it.
  5. Enjoy!

Notes

Remember: if you want to make more chocolate at one time, just multiply the ingredients by however many ounces of chocolate you want to use (ie 2 tbsp coconut oil for 4 oz chocolate, etc)

Also Remember: The higher the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate, the less sugar it contains. So 70% chocolate will contain the most amount of sugar compared to 85% or 100%. I don't suggest adding extra sweetener to 70% or 85% chocolate, but that's just me!

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http://wellbalance.ca/choose-your-level-chocolate/

Filed Under: Allergen-Free, Chocolate, Desserts, Paleolithic Diet, Recipe Diet Types, Recipes, Vegan

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It’s a vicious cycle. But you can get out of it. It’s a vicious cycle. But you can get out of it. And it makes a huge difference for all of your symptoms.

This is especially important for those of us with autoimmune and endometriosis symptoms.

If you want an effective plan & toolkit to get control of stress & physical symptoms like pain, fatigue, and digestive troubles, I’ll be teaching exactly what to do tomorrow in the workshop: Relaxing You.

Registration closes TONIGHT

Even if You can’t make it live, the recording & all the extra continuing education courses I’ll be gifting you after the workshop is worth it so you can finally get better control over stress & your symptoms.

Send me a DM to @wellbalancend and I’ll send you all the details, and answer questions you may have about it 💛
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The nervous system is a very important piece of th The nervous system is a very important piece of the puzzle for overall health, especially for us with chronic illnesses like autoimmune or endometriosis.

Just like it’s important for our muscles to be toned & flexible, the same is important for the nervous system. It’s what keeps us well in many ways.

If the autonomic nervous system is NOT flexible, meaning you experience poor vagal tone, poor heart rate variability, or you’re stuck in sympathetic fight or flight or dorsal vagal freeze modes, studies show it has all sorts of negative effects on your physical body, including what’s listed on slide 1.

When you start teaching the nervous system to become more flexible, all sorts of benefits come from it, including better control over inflammation, pain, anxiety and depression, autoimmune conditions and endometriosis.

This is such an important & necessary step that it’s the very first thing I teach my own clients. It creates the foundation so everything else we do works better. It’s the first step to getting better control over fatigue, pain, digestive troubles, mood, and more.

If you want to learn exactly what I teach my own clients in their first 2 sessions with me to develop better nervous system flexibility, then register for the upcoming workshop: Relaxing You.

Registration closes Friday night, so time is of the essence.

Even if you can’t make the live workshop on Saturday, I encourage you to register so you’ll receive the recording. I’m offering email Q&A support for replay watchers.

It’s going to be an informative day, with lots of value, and I’ll be gifting tons of extras to help you continue your learning journey afterwards.

Send me a DM ✉️ to @wellbalanceND and I’ll give you all the information you need about the workshop, and I’m happy to answer any questions you have about it.

I’d love to see you there 💛
When your nervous system isn’t regulated, neithe When your nervous system isn’t regulated, neither is your health.

It’s important! Do you consider this?

When the nervous system is dysregulated, it can impact all the processes listed in the slide & so much more. This is especially important news for any of us with chronic illnesses like autoimmune or endometriosis.

When the nervous system is triggered, so is everything else.

The first step? Start creating nervous system flexibility - it takes the pressure off all the other systems & processes in your body.

It will also help you see, perceive, and manage stress much more easily, which, in turn, helps you keep your nervous system better regulated. It creates a positive cycle.

This is so important, it’s the first step I take my own clients through - it makes everything else work better.

Within the first month, they start seeing improvements in mood, energy, sleep, and digestion - because of this nervous system regulation work.

I’ll be teaching exactly what I guide my clients through in their first 2 sessions with me this coming Saturday. It’s a virtual workshop that’s jam packed with tools & techniques, along with explanations as to why - because when you understand, you’ll be more apt to try them.

All participants will be gifted with extra learning material after the workshop so they can continue their learning journey. It’s truly a value-packed experience that will get you on the road to getting much better control over symptoms.

If you’ve been trying all the diets, even Carnivore, and you’re still struggling with fatigue, pain, bloating, digestive troubles, and you want to learn exactly how to better regulate your nervous system so you can finally get some results, I suggest you join me in this workshop.

There will be a recording if you can’t make it live, but registration closes this Friday night - for both the workshop & the recording.

Want in? Send me a DM to @wellbalanceND, I’ll give you all the information & answer any questions you may have 😊
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Who’s that girl talking about the nervous system Who’s that girl talking about the nervous system, autoimmune, endometriosis, Carnivore, and all that other stuff?

My name is Michelle Dowker, Naturopathic Doctor turned Empowerment Coach.

What does that even mean??

I learned my calling & magic involve helping women, who’ve struggled like I have with autoimmune conditions & endometriosis, empower themselves to find better health by healing the emotional roots of their physical symptoms.

The women I best help have tried all the diets, often all the way to Carnivore, just like I did.

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For me, Carnivore helped me get back on my feet after a major flare, like a miracle. But reintroduction was impossible. And I was becoming more & more intolerant, even to some meat.

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This is what I help my clients with now.

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Metabolic flexibility = ability to respond or adap Metabolic flexibility = ability to respond or adapt to changes in metabolic demand.

Those with type 2 diabetes, for example, often have poor metabolic flexibility. It creates a cycle of decline difficult to get out of, unless metabolic flexibility is addressed.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) flexibility is equally important = Ability of ANS to adapt to changes in environment by modifying body functions, attention & perception.

When ANS is flexible, it can easily move back & forth between its different states. This helps us deal with challenges then quickly move back to a relaxed state.

The problem is when we don’t have flexibility - - we lack vagal tone, have poor heart rate variability, exhibit incoherence, in sympathetic dominance or dorsal vagal dominance. If we remain stuck here, allostatic load & overload result in serious physical changes.

This affects health in many ways: inflammation, anxiety, symptom triggering of autoimmune, endometriosis, fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue, heart disease, even cancer.

Developing nervous system flexibility is vital for everyone - especially for those of us with chronic illness.

If we don’t, no matter what diet, treatment, or therapy we try, we may not see all the results we want, or any at all.

This is the 1st step of many I guide my own clients through.

I work with women who’ve tried all the diets to try to improve things like fatigue, pain & bloating.

They’ve come to realize stress & emotions are really at the root of why they haven’t seen all the results they desire.

When we work to heal the emotional roots of their physical symptoms, everything transforms in beautiful ways.

The first step is ALWAYS to create nervous system flexibility. The rest of what we do won’t work as well without this.

That’s why I’ve created a workshop to teach you exactly what I guide my clients through in their first 2 sessions with me, so you, too, can create better nervous system flexibility. It makes a difference for symptoms, mood, energy & more.

Want in? Send me a DM to @wellbalanceND or check out my bio link for information. Registration closes Friday. I’d love to see you there 💛
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This one very important nerve can do a lot to infl This one very important nerve can do a lot to influence health & symptoms in all sorts of ways.

This is especially important for any of us with chronic illness like autoimmune & endometriosis. Studies show the state of your vagus nerve makes a difference.

The aim is to have good vagal tone, which supports good nervous system flexibility. When these are strong, heart rate variability is also strong.

All of the above positively influence how the body & brain function in many different ways. Swipe to view some examples on the slides.

Without these things, we can get stuck in states of sympathetic fight or flight, or dorsal vagal freeze modes - because the nervous system isn’t flexible enough to bring you back to a relaxed state.

Without these things, we can end up with allostatic load & overload, which can have serious physiological consequences to the body - from inflammation, autoimmune development, heart disease, all the way to cancer.

When I work with my clients, teaching the nervous system to become more flexible & improving vagal tone are the very first things we do. Without this step, the rest of the work we do won’t be as effective.

It’s a mandatory foundation that makes a huge difference.

I’ll be teaching this foundation step in my upcoming workshop called Relaxing You.

The goal is to learn how to relax the nervous system & gain improved flexibility & vagal tone, to gain better control over symptoms like fatigue, pain, digestive troubles, and other symptoms of autoimmune & endometriosis.

Registration is open until Feb 26. To register, go to my bio link or DM me & I’ll send you details. You can do that at @wellbalancend 

Or you can go to

https://wellbalance.ca/relaxing-you

Improving the state of the nervous system can do a lot, not just for the mind, but the whole body.

I’d love to know: do you believe this to be true?
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