Chocolate – for breakfast?

A few years ago, a friend and I were staying in New Jersey for a couple of days. One morning, for a variety of reasons I can no longer remember, we were unable to get any breakfast. My friend, unfazed by this, munched her way through half a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, declaring that this was her perfect way to start the day.

I love chocolate (just not the American stuff – does Hersheys even contain cocoa?) but chocolate for breakfast?  However not to be outdone I attempted to finished the remaining half of the bar. It just didn’t work for me. Very soon I felt sick, and the “too much sweet stuff” feeling lasted all day as my body screamed at me for some “real food”. So since that morning I keep my chocolate eating for after breakfast (then I don’t seem to have a problem at all!)

But it seems my friend is not alone in her love of a chocolate breakfast. While staying at the Wiesenhof Hotel in Pertisau in Tirol, Austria, I was greeted one morning with their chocolate breakfast buffet. A chocolate fountain, chocolate donuts, and dozens of hand-made chocolates with a variety of fillings. Plus bread and Nutella and even a muesli with chocolate drops. So what is a girl to do?

The answer, of course, is simple – have breakfast as usual (I opted for fruit – after all I need to watch my weight) then come back for a breakfast desert of chocolate! I can confirm that even for my “no chocolate first thing” stomach, this worked very well.

Still not convinced? Well the good news about eating chocolate for breakfast is that you have all day to burn off the calories, and if you are staying at the Wiesenhof then you’ve no excuse. They have a fully equipped cardio studio and gym with inspiring views of the mountains to take your mind off the exercise. They have a selection of saunas and steam rooms – you can try sweating out the calories. And the location is so beautiful that a walk along the lake, or into the pine forests or perhaps up into the mountains will help you burn off even the most indulgent breakfast.

So where there is a chocolate will, there is always a chocolate way.

FACT BOX

Wisenhof: http://wiesenhof.at/en/

Pertisau: http://achensee.info/en/ and http://achensee.info/en/towns/pertisau-am-achensee

About the Author:

Chantal Cooke is an award winning journalist and broadcaster with a passion for the planet. In 2002 she co-founded the award winning radio station PASSION for the PLANET http://www.passionforfreshideas.com and in 2009 Chantal was awarded London Leader in Sustainability status. Chantal also runs a successful communications agency – Panpathic Communications.