Before I _______, I will ________

Another great bit from a group I am part of...

Before I ____________, I will first ___________

I will first have a large glass of water then ask myself,"Am I really hungry? Or am I _________?" Try either chewing a piece of fruit flavored sugar free gum or drinking a 20 oz bottle of water.

I will do 10 (or as many as possible push-ups)

I will do 15 (or as many as possible) jumping jacks

I will walk for 5,10,15 minutes.

I will clean something

I will eat something that will bless my body (fruit or vegetable)

I will do one of my favorite things (read for 15minutes, internet for 15 minutes, garden, scrapbooking, chase
kids (grandkids) around, crayon or watercolor, write in my journal, sing loudly off key "Hooray for Baggy
Panties!"(ok, you get the picture)

I will"... practice the three Ds when we wanted to eat between meals....
DRINK(sound familiar?), DIVERT (do something to take your mind off food --walk or read or DO something), and DELAY (wait fifteen minutes -- if you are still hungry, you probably need some food to fuel your body)"

I will brush my teeth (When you crave a dessert or sweet treat, try brushing your teeth. Something about the act of brushing and the minty flavor of toothpaste is supposed to tell you that it's not time to eat – plus candy or chocolate or whatever it is you want to snack on won't taste half as good with that minty flavor in your mouth!)

I will change my attitude...I was scared to give up sweets because I was QUITTING something. But I turned the negative of quitting into a positive. I am ADDING the habit of having one dessert per week.

I will not buy treats (they are too tempting and my family gets enough other places without needing them at home), when I am winding my day down I will make myself a large cup of herbal tea.  It takes me a while to drink it (because it is hot), I am getting flavor in my mouth (I now have a huge stash of tea varieties), and it counts toward my water consumption.  I have found that I really look forward to sipping my tea, and I can watch some TV or read a book and not feel guilty that I am consuming mindless calories.
 
I will have a piece of paper on my refrigerator and every time I have a craving, I write it down. The deal is that on Sunday I can pick one thing from the list to eat in moderation IF I STILL WANT IT. I usually find that after a few hours the thrill is gone, and I can make a reasonable decision for a treat on Sunday. It's funny, but most of the time once I write the craving on the paper I can usually forget about it.

I will plan which days I would have a dessert. I am trying to focus on asking myself which dessert do I want to have on Saturday instead of focusing on what I am saying no to at the moment.