Is it normal for someone to eat chocolate at night, in bed?
My wife is a chocolate freak. She admits that it's her favorite snack; specifically, Nestle Treasures. The problem is, as I see it, that she doesn't see her zeal for it as a problem.
1. There ALWAYS has to be a bag or two of it in the pantry. If there isn't she insists I go get one for her, or she will do it herself. And not just any bag, either: she prefers the 38 ounce bag (it's cheaper in bulk).
2. She always takes a handful of them to bed. She won't willingly go to bed without them. She likes to watch TV in bed until she gets sleepy, during which time she continually eats her chocolate.
3. Often she will fall asleep with a chocolate in her mouth, where it will remain for hours until she wakes up enough to realize it's still there.
4. Sometimes I find chocolate stains on the sheets, or if I'm lucky I find an unopened, squashed chocolate in bed.
5. During those times when we both momentarily awaken in the middle of the night, I've heard the sound of her unwrapping a chocolate and eating it. In the middle of the night.
6. There is a pile of empty chocolate wrappers underneath the bed: she tosses them toward the headboard where they fall onto the floor. She rarely cleans out the pile, which can range anywhere from 1-3 Walmart sacks worth.
7. The first time I found chocolate stains on the bed sheets, I confronted her about it and she promised not to eat chocolate in bed again. That lasted about a week.
8. She insists that she isn't addicted and can stop anytime she wants, but that she doesn't want to, and doesn't see a problem. She refuses to prove that she can control herself by, at my suggestion, going without chocolate for a period of time. ANY period of time.
My wife used to weigh 300 lbs; she lost that weight only by having a gastric bypass. Diet and exercise didn't work for her (for the obvious reason). She weighed about 160 lbs at her lowest after the surgery, but within a year of that low point she'd put on another 35 lbs. She doesn't exercise at all. 195 lbs is much better than 300, but she admits she'd like to lose weight.
Her chocolate habit pretty much assures me that she won't get back down to 165 lbs anytime soon, if at all. Her refusal to discipline herself re: chocolate is about on par for her overall attitude toward self-discipline (it's quite lacking).
I hate finding chocolate stains on the sheets, and the paper monster under the bed is always there. Not to mention the wadded-up empty wrappers in virtually every room of the house.
I've tried to lead by example and I think I've done a fairly good job, but she's crap at following my lead.
So, I ask again: is it normal for her to eat as much chocolate as she does, as often as she does?