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Day 30: Postpone eating
Once you start eating snack foods, it can be really hard to stop. Maybe you actually believe the advertising line, "You can't eat just one." With appetizers, snack-type foods, and even cookies or desserts, both the taste and the texture trick your mouth into wanting more.
To change the way you manage these foods, decide that you will postpone eating them. Tell yourself you can always have some of the food, but that you'll wait a while before taking the first taste. Sometimes you'll wait ten minutes; other times you might hold off for a couple of hours.
Remind yourself to wait
Picture a card party or other social gathering where there's always snack bowls of honey-roasted cashews, almond bark, and chocolate-covered pretzels sitting right at your elbow.
When you first arrive, look carefully at all the great-looking snacks or other foods. But don't eat anything until the very end of the event. Anytime you're tempted to give in and start nibbling, just remind yourself you can eat anything you want, but you'll wait until later.
When the games are finished and it's almost time to go home, decide if you still want some of the snacks. If you do, go ahead and eat them.
But at this point, you'll only have time for one or two pieces instead of half a pound. And by not eating until the last ten minutes of the gathering, you'll do a lot less damage than if you nibbled all evening.
Minimize the amount
This system will also help you pace yourself at restaurants. Just postpone eating the foods that arrive early. Instead of reaching into the bread basket or the bowl of tortilla chips, promise yourself that you'll have some, but you'll hold off for a while.
When your meal arrives, go ahead and add one roll or a few of the chips to your plate. This way, you still get to enjoy the flavor, but you prevent yourself from gobbling down several rolls or an entire bowl of chips.
This technique also works great for avoiding taking seconds or eating dessert. Assure yourself the fun is still coming and you can always have the food if you want it. Then postpone eating it until the very last minute, right before people leave the table or pay the bill. By then, you'll only have time to eat a small amount. You might even decide you no longer want any and you'll just skip the extra calories.
TODAY'S TASKS:
Watch for places where you can postpone eating. Hold off as long as possible, especially with snack foods or sweets.
Record each of the foods you postponed, and then note how much you ate compared to your usual amount.
Notice whether by postponing eating, you're able to skip some foods entirely.
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