Ever had an insane attack of the munchies at 10pm and those chips that weren’t tempting at 5pm are SCREAMING your name now?
Or how about the staff room/co-worker’s candy bowl that distracts you all. day. long. because you know your favorite treats are in there?
You’re not alone. We’ve all been there. If food is around us we tend to get hungry. If it’s food we really enjoy it can become all consuming on stressful days or magically pull us in at the same time every day.
If any of these situations are sounding too familiar, there are a few easy tweaks you can make to lessen the siren call of those treats.
- Get Rid Of The Food. Seriously. Get rid of it! I’m frugal and I HATE wasting food because it represents time my husband spent working to take care of us, but sometimes I have to admit that I brought a food-like substance into the house that’s not great for us. Either throw it away or at least share it so you’re not eating all of it. And then don’t bring it back into your house/office.
- If you aren’t able to get rid of it, get it out of sight! You already know this…now DO it! 🙂 Keep the chips/candy/whatever out of sight on a top cabinet or in the deep freeze in the garage. Somewhere that’s inconvenient to get to and not in view.
- Buy the food in exact quantities. If you have small kids, you’ll relate to this. You have 4 kids and 3 snacks…and World War III. No mama wants to go there! If you are going to bring something tempting into the house make sure there’s only enough servings for the number of people who will be eating it. Sneaking extra for yourself will result in a fight. If you’re afraid you’ll eat all of it, let your family know you’ve bought it. They’ll keep you accountable! 🙂
- Change up your routine. If certain foods are getting to you only at specific times/situations, change up the routine! If Oreos happen to be in the house at 10pm and you know you’ll cave if you see them…don’t get near them. Commit to staying out of the kitchen after dinner, going to bed, brushing your teeth or popping some gum in your mouth. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it changes the normal routine that leads to the pantry.
- Be accountable. Everyone struggles and there’s no need to be a lone ranger here. Be a part of a group at work, in your family or on line where you can ask for accountability. Research has shown that we tend to follow through on what we’ve said we’ll do, even if we know others can’t check up on us, just because we said we’d do it. Need a group? We have a pretty wonderful one on Facebook and it’s free to join! Contact me and I’ll get you hooked up!
