Not having my favorite "guilty pleasure" foods on hand drives me bonkers. I'm an "all things in moderation" kind of gal. (Especially when "all things" means not getting rid of that brand new Hershey's bar I just hid under the can of raisins.)
Every time I've done one of those food cop style clean outs, I end up feeling deprived. Then I head to the store and buy everything I've been missing. And then I eat it all. At once. Not a good thing.
RULE 2: SKINNY CLOTHES ARE A GOOD MOTIVATOR.
I once had a range of four sizes of clothing in my closet. Every single size was a milestone weight. I'd tell myself, "If only you could lose this much, you'd fit into this skirt." and so on.
In time I realized it was the sentimental attachment I had to those particular items that made me want to go back in time and fit into them again. It had nothing to do with the clothes or their size.
Ridding myself of them was the best motivator ever -- no more pressure to be or look -- seventeen again. Weight loss was finally only about feeling better and being healthy, reasons that kept me better-focused than that little black skirt ever could.
RULE THREE: SWITCH TO DIET SODA
Diet soda makes me yearn for sweets. And you know what? It's not just in my mind: Studies have shown that artificial sweeteners may actually increase the appetite, making diet soda an oxymoron.
RULE 4: GO COLD TURKEY.
I'm unhappy when completely I swear of my trigger foods. And grumpy. Nobody likes me much when I can't entertain the thought of diving into a nice bowl -- I mean, helping myself to a controlled portion -- of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk. So I always keep some on hand. I call it my "pinch pint" and I just feel sort of warm and fuzzy knowing it's there.
RULE 5: WEIGH IN REGULARLY.
Weight fluctuations used to drive me crazy. Sometimes I'd weigh myself too often and obsess about the slightest gain; or I'd have three different scales and three different weights. I decided to quit weighing in every week. You might want to give this a whirl, too. In time, you learn to pay attention to other signs you are losing weight -- being less breathless when climbing a staircase; clothes fitting more loosely; rings fitting a different finger. These days, the only numbers I'm a slave to are my credit card limits.
