Jenn J

Day 25: Smaller amounts, less often

Contrary to what you might think, you don't need to stop eating all of your favorite foods in order to manage your weight. Instead of avoiding yummy treats such as ice cream or chocolate-chip cookies, plan them into your program. But do it with this special guideline:

Smaller amounts, less often

Think about a favorite food, such as ice cream, that gets you into trouble. First, decide how much is a smaller amount. If you typically eat a large bowl of ice cream every night, you might decrease the amount to one-half cup, or a small cone at the ice cream shop. Then determine how often you'll eat ice cream, perhaps every Friday instead of nightly.

Avoid feeling deprived

Once you've planned a favorite food such as ice cream into your diet, you can look forward to it all week. Because you know you eventually get to have it, you won't be as likely to feel deprived or left out.

Sandra loved barbecued ribs. But every time she started a new diet, she figured she wouldn't get to eat them again for months. So she'd go to her favorite restaurant and eat a pound of ribs. Of course, as soon as her diet floundered, she'd reward herself by eating ribs again.

Using the principle of smaller amounts, less often, Sandra decided to eat her favorite ribs only once a month and limit her serving to one-fourth pound.

At the end of the first month, she went to the restaurant, ate the ribs and really loved her dinner. The next month, Sandra again looked forward to her special night, but this time she noticed the ribs didn't taste quite as good as they had before. By the third month, she didn't seem to crave them anymore, so she decided to eat chicken instead.

You're in charge

Because you love your favorite foods so much, it's easy to give them a lot of power. But this allows food to control your diet, and sometimes, your life. When you plan specific times and amounts for eating what you love, you get back to you being in charge of the food, not the other way around.

By using the guideline of smaller amounts, less often, you can actually look forward to eating wonderful foods. Knowing you'll get to enjoy them again in the future will also help you manage the amounts of these foods instead of overeating.


TODAY'S TASKS:

Write a list of your favorite foods. Put as many on the list as you want.

Choose three of the best ones and write a plan for eating these foods in smaller amounts, less often. Be specific about when and how much you'll eat.

If you wish, record the days and amounts on a calendar. For example, you might decide you'll eat bacon every Saturday, but limit it to two strips.