Sometimes when I read health studies I wonder if they are worth passing on to the rest of you, because they often seem to fall into the category of: common sense should have made this study unnecessary.

But, since some good folks in the UK, with a lot fancier degrees than the one I have, did a study to prove that walking is a good distraction from eating, who am I to be a study snob? So, I’m going to tell you about it. Especially since it relates to one of my favorite subjects: chocolate.

So, here’s good news for chocolate addicts trying to lose weight! New research has proven that a brisk walk can stave off chocolate cravings. I can hear your thoughts. What!? Exercise can take your mind off pigging out on candy? No way! Your communal gasp is deafening. I know, you’re all blown away.( I’m more blown away that people spend good money to do studies like this).

So they took chocolate eaters, put them in situations where they’d normally want chocolate, including, opening a chocolate bar, and randomly assigned them to either rest (ie. sitting on the couch with nothing to do but think of the chocolate bar they just opened) or brisk walking. Brace yourself for this surprise finding: The ones who went and walked and didn’t sit around doing nothing but think of the chocolate, had less cravings afterwards!

That’s right. After exercise, participants reported lower cravings than after rest. Cravings were reduced during the walk, and for at least 10 minutes afterwards.

I’m still working on getting a grant to do the study about what happened an hour or more after the walking. On second thought, I don’t need to do the study. I’ll just use my knowledge of myself and every other chocolate lover I know, and postulate this theory: When they were all back from the brisk walk, lounging on the couch after a hot bubble bath, watching American Idol with a glass of red wine in hand, they were engaged in a Hershey’s Kiss binge that would make Willy Wonka proud.

But hey - either way, walking is good for you and it’s hard to do it briskly while gnawing on a Milky Way, so lace up your sneaks and get out the door!