Resist Temptation by Changing Your Environment!

If you're having a hard time resisting those treats, maybe it's time to try another strategy. Is there something in your pantry, on your desk, or even on the drive home that you repeatedly indulge in, only to beat yourself up about it later? "Why did I drive thru and get fries again?"; "Why do I keep going eating the chocolate kisses on my desk?"
If your willpower or common sense isn't working, take a stab at changing your environment. Do what you can to avoid those tempting treats and see how this works for you. Here are a few suggestions:
1) Find another route home. You know your favorite QuickMart has that cappuccino drink you can't resist, so find another route home and stick to it. Out of sight, out of mind (not right away, of course, but soon enough!)
2) Buy treats for the office that YOU don't like! If you have candies or cookies around 'for everyone else' but you keep eating them, make an effort to bring in some type that you don't like. Fill in the blank: "I would never eat _____". Hate licorice? Fig Newtons? Bring these in for your coworkers and you won't be tempted!
3) Buy snacks for home that aren't your favorite. Keeping chips around for the rest of the family? Buy a flavor you don't like! I happen to enjoy Kettle chips, fritos, baked lays and anything sour-cream-and-onion flavored. But I don't like barbeque chips. What kind do I buy when I don't want to be snacking on chips all week? Maybe you guessed it--barbeque flavor!
4) Keep fattening snacks out of sight. Yes, sometimes we know they're there anyway, and they're even calling our name! But when you open the pantry door and the first thing you see are the Little Debbie cakes you adore, you are going to be much more likely to eat them! Move the snacks to a higher (or lower) shelf where they won't be the first thing you see. Keep rice and pasta and high fiber cereals within view--not things you'll be most tempted to grab and eat before you can think twice.
5) Hide, don't seek. Put ice cream, Halloween candy, and other temptations behind other foods in the freezer or cupboard. Yes, you might go for them anyway, but you may be less likely to eat them as often when you don't view them every time you open the door.

Try a new strategy. Keep tempting foods that are high in calories and low in nutrition as out of sight and out of reach as possible. Making them ultra convenient for you makes it more likely you will eat them more often. See if keeping them out of the house, out of reach, out of sight, or out of the office will save you from indulging even just a time or two this week!