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Did you know that 1 tablespoon of semi-sweet chocolate chips is 70 calories? That’s about 22 to 24 chips, barely a handful!

I had no idea. When I used to snack on chocolate chips, I’d have 64 at a time. That’s about 380 non-filling calories. What a waste.

Despite all that, I agree with the Maya. Chocolate is the “food of the gods.” In fact, science used this Mayan belief to create the scientific name for chocolate. Theobroma cacao literally translates to “food of the gods.” I wonder if the manna God gave Moses and the people he led tasted like chocolate?

As you might have guessed by now, I, like so many others, am an unabashed chocolate lover. Which is why I have these things to be thankful for:

1) Chocolate, especially dark, more bitter chocolates, can be a good source of flavinoids. Flavonoids are strong antioxidants, which are able to help protect tissues and cells in the body from the destructive effects of free radicals. Scientists suspect that free radicals contribute to age-related chronic diseases.

2) Research has indicated that chocolate has beneficial effects on the heart and circulatory system. One study found that cocoa, the basis of chocolate, has a similar effect as baby aspirin in reducing the stickiness of platelets. Platelets are the cells in the bloodstream that cause blood to coagulate — great when you have an open wound; not so great when it builds up in your veins and arteries. At least one other study discovered that the phenols in chocolate could prevent LDL cholesterol oxidation as well as red wine. (LDL, or low density lipoprotein, cholesterol is often referred to as “bad” cholesterol because too much of it can build up along the walls of arteries, forming plaque and causing heart attacks or strokes.)

3) Most of the fat found in chocolate is in the form of stearic acid, which, unlike other saturated fats, does not raise blood cholesterol levels. There is also some indication that stearic acid may even help lower blood cholesterol levels, but further research needs to be done.

4) Since I don’t tolerate caffeine very well, I was especially thankful to discover that although chocolate does contain caffeine, it is much lower than I thought. In fact, a one-ounce bar has only 10-20 milligrams. Compare this to a 6-ounce cup of regular coffee, which contains about 105 milligrams.

5) When it comes to tooth decay, chocolate is better for you than crackers, raisins or granola bars. In fact, chocolate may modify the cavity-causing potential of its sugar because it contains a component that blocks the production of plaque, the first stage of tooth decay. An added benefit is that the cocoa butter in chocolate melts quickly and helps to clear the mouth, thereby reducing the potential to cause cavities.

6) NutriSystem has at least 16 items on the menu that contain chocolate. So far I’ve indulged in a chocolate drink for lunch, which was high in protein, a double chocolate almond cookie, which I talked about yesterday, high-protein chocolate pudding and chocolate almond pudding. Yum!

I know, I know, I’ve been remiss in not posting about my trip to Spain. I’ve just been so busy! The Genre Traveler is taking up much of my time and I’m really working hard on my business plan. But I promise another installment is on its way, really.

Also, I’ve been very tired lately and have had to start sleeping in on the weekends. It might be the medication I’m taking, but I think it is more likely that it is the fact that I only get about 6-7 hours of sleep a night.

Anyway, the real reason I’m posting today it to update you on my weight loss progress.

After one week on NutriSystem, I now weigh 195lbs.: that’s three pounds lost in my first week. And the food – oh my – it is as good as I remember it.

There are a few dishes I don’t like, such as the Chicken Cacciatore, which I find too sour-sweet. But the Pasta Primavera with Tofu is to die for. I’m trying something different each day and thought I’d use the experience to hone some of my food writing skills. So I’m starting a new “column”: The Winners of the Week. This is where I discuss the really good meals I’ve had that week.

BREAKFAST
To be upfront, I’m a big fan of granola cereals and NutriSystem’s Lowfat Granola Cereal did not disappoint. It has a light cinnamon flavor in addition to the rich honey-oat flavor I’ve always liked about granola. It stayed crunchy in the vanilla soymilk I used and blended well with the 1/2 cup of Fiber One cereal I mixed in. To round out the meal (and follow the plan), I served it with light yogurt and some tropical fruit salad. This meal was quite filling and I didn’t get hungry again for about three hours.

LUNCH
Determining this week’s lunch winner was hard. Not because the food was so good, but because I chose several meals I didn’t really like. But the Vegetarian Sloppy Joe still makes a good winner. It comes in a little pouch. You add water, mix, microwave and serve with some bread. It was vibrantly spicy, but not too hot. The down side is that you have to supply your own whole grain roll (the old plan supplied rolls for you). Since I didn’t want to go out and get some, I just used a slice of the whole grain bread I already had. Served with a spinach salad and light yogurt smoothie, this meal kept me feeling full for a good 3-4 hours.

DINNER
The Pasta Primavera with Tofu is the clear winner this week. The tofu was firm and tasted much like marinated chicken. The pasta was al dente, the way I like it. And the sauce – oh my! The sauce was creamy and reminded me of a bold Italian marinara sauce. It tasted so good I wanted seconds! Served with a salad, carrots and French cut green beans; I barely had room for dessert.

DESSERT/SNACK
At first, I didn’t know what to think of the Double Chocolate Almond Cookie. When I opened the package, I found a medium sized, soft-style cookie, much like the Ms. Fields packaged cookies you can get at the grocery store. I’m more of a crispy cookie person (think Dove’s new line of cookies). But the lightly chocolate cookie, combined with the chocolate chips and chopped almonds, rounded it out, giving it enough variation of texture to satisfy my chewing habit. The flavor was subtle: not too sweet, without going into the “so healthy it tastes like cardboard” territory. I increased the number for my next order.

Well, my NutriSystem food arrived Wednesday. I’ve organized it and crammed as much as I could into my little cupboard space. I’d forgotten how much room four weeks of food takes up! I had to put some of the food in a box.

Anyway, this will be short.

I start my NutriSystem plan today.
I weigh in at 198 lbs.
My goal is 143 lbs or less.
Here I go!

PS: I’ll be posting photos of my progress if I can. Watch me melt away into the person I really am.

NOTE: OK, I know I promised the next post would be about Estepona, but this random thought got in the way.

I’m a big Monkees fan. I own most of their albums on CD and long to own the DVD collection of their TV show. My favorite episode is the one where Peter sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for the ability to play the harp. Mickey, Mike and Davy save his soul by proving that Peter had the ability to play the harp all along and that the transaction was void.

I bring this up because yesterday I read a story where a man in Jiaxing, near Shanghai, tried to auction his soul on Taobao, China’s equivalent to eBay. 58 people bid on his soul before the auction was pulled by Taobao.

“We reviewed Taobao’s policies and realized we had no specific policy on the selling of souls,” said Porter Erisman, a spokesman for Taobao’s parent, Yahoo-backed Alibaba.com. “After some discussion, we decided that we will allow the member to sell his soul on Taobao, but only if he can provide written permission from a ‘higher authority’.”

This story intrigued me, so I did some research. Turns out he’s not the first. At least three other people have tried to sell their soul on eBay!

In February of 2000, a Canadian man put his soul on the auction block and got a highest bit of $20.50. eBay objected to the auction, and sent him a list of reasons why: “If the soul does not exist, eBay could not allow the auctioning of the soul because there would be nothing to sell. However, if the soul does exist then, in accordance with eBay’s policy on human parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls.”

In January of 2005, a Hamilton County, Indiana, man tried to recoup money he lost in a car-sale scam by auctioning his soul on eBay. The auction site balked, again, so he updated the listing to selling his “autograph,” which just happened to be on a bill of sale for his soul.

In January of 2006, a British man auctioned his soul on eBay, along with a signed certificate and license of authenticity. But this sale came with restrictions and rules:

• The owner would have permission to contact the seller in the afterlife for benign or malign purpose.
• Ownership would expire 1000 years after date of purchase, and could be sold or passed on from person to person until the duration of this period was up.
• The buyer could “be human, extra terrestrial, a celestial being or even Satan himself.”
• If the seller should cease to exist in anything other than natural circumstances then this would void purchase and ownership, and “would most certainly cause wrath to be inflicted upon said purchaser, using methods such as haunting and poltergeist activities.”
• The buyer has the right to try to contact “said soul whilst still bound to human host. This however is only permissible whilst host is sleeping, as per license agreement.”

After five days, this soul had just one bid for £10.99.

All this made me wonder, “Why?”

First, it is my personal belief that one’s soul is priceless and that no human being could ever come up with a sum of money equal to its worth. Second, it gives me the willies just thinking about selling your soul to anyone. Then again, I’m rather territorial and wouldn’t dream of giving up something so valuable.

But then again, maybe there are people who don’t believe in the value of the human soul, or possibly even its existence. Again, this just gives me the willies. What do you think?