How you doing with those New Year’s resolutions you made? Lost that 20 pounds yet? Changed your diet or stopped eating chocolate? How about those cookies — any left? And the big one, getting more exercise — did you join the gym?

In my estimation, New Year’s resolutions usually last about a month and the month is up. So now what?

I now have a pedometer that I hooked to my belt, and guess what, just doing normal stuff around the house (housework and laundry), I walked almost a mile. Whoopee! I am getting my exercise so that is taken care of.

Now I need to think about changing my diet.  I’m thinking more veggies and fruits, and more protein and less carbs (I think I heard this plan somewhere). So that means stir-fry and chicken. Wonder how many times I can eat that before I throw away the whole kit and caboodle? Or could that mean steamed and baked or roasted — I might be able to manage that.

And now facing the no-chocolate part — this just doesn’t seem realistic. Giving up something that is so good for you (I luckily found this study that I want to share with you).

Chocolate decreases stroke risk: A Swedish study found that eating more than 45 grams of chocolate per week — about two bars worth — led to a 20 percent decrease in stroke risk among women. Chocolate contains flavonoids, whose antioxidant properties help fight strokes says the study’s author, Susanna Larsson. Other studies show that eating chocolate prevents blood clots, which in turn reduces the risk of heart attacks. Blood platelets clump together more slowly in chocolate eaters, the studies say.

Chocolate protects against blood inflammation: Eating one Hershey’s dark chocolate bar per week, (about 6.7 grams per day) keeps the blood inflammation-inducing proteins away.

Chocolate helps with math: A British psychologist found that flavanols (a class of flavonoids, which are found in chocolate) helped people with their mental math. Study subjects had an easier time counting backwards from a randomly-generated number between 800 and 999 after drinking a cup of hot chocolate than they did without the cocoa.

“The findings suggest students who binge on chocolate when revising for exams may gain a real benefit from doing so,” the British Telegraph reported.

Chocolate may help prevent cancer: Cocoa contains a compound called pentameric procyanidin, or pentamer, which disrupts cancer cells’ ability to spread. When researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University treated cancer cells with pentamer back in 2005, the proteins necessary for cancer growth were suppressed and the cells stopped dividing.

Chocolate reduces the risk of diabetes: A small study from the University of L’Aquila, in Italy found that eating chocolate increases insulin sensitivity, which reduces the risk of diabetes.

AND… my favorite:

Chocolate makes you live longer: Jeanne Louise Calment lived to the age of 122 — the oldest anyone has ever lived. She ate two-and-a-half pounds of dark chocolate per week. Harvard researchers found that eating chocolate actually adds two years to your life expectancy.

Now that I have given you the scoop on chocolate — no accolades needed —  enjoy Valentine’s Day guilt-free and have a long and happy life. Maybe have a cup of hot chocolate to celebrate the good news.

— Donna Lee Anderson  writes Hansville Happenings for the Kingston Community News. Contact her at WellToldTales@aol.com.