It’s not your fault you fell off your diet. Your excuse is “I just love to eat!” Of course you do. And because food is such an important part of life, you are entitled to love it. But like any amorous relationship, if your lover is causing you pain, it may be time to re-evaluate the picture.

The truth is you don’t have to stop loving food in order to manage your weight. You just need to alter the ways you view it. Start by making a list of the foods you generally find irresistible. Evaluate the damage level from each of these foods in relation to your weight-loss goals. Then, instead of assuming you have to stop enjoying all of your favorites, consider how you can budget them into your life.

Smaller amounts, less often

Narrow your list down to the foods you love most, then plan them into your life by applying the principle of smaller amounts, less often. Suppose you typically eat a large bowl of ice cream every night. In your budget plan, you might decrease the amount to one-half cup or a small cone at the ice cream shop. Once you’ve set the amount, determine how often you will eat ice cream, perhaps having it every Friday instead of nightly.

Use this same approach with your favorite wines, chocolate-chip cookies or fried clams. Once you budget a special food such as ice cream into your diet, you can look forward to it all week. And because you know you get to have it eventually, you won’t be as likely to crave it the rest of the time.

Savoring

Have you ever eaten a candy bar, then wondered where it went? Or looked down at your plate and had no memory of eating your meal? It’s not that you didn’t enjoy the food, you just don’t remember the experience of eating it.

To break this habit of unconscious eating, practice slowing down and savoring your food. With this technique, you eat a very small amount of food while paying full attention to how it tastes and feels in your mouth. Force yourself to take tiny bites, about the size of a fourth of a teaspoon, and pay total attention to all the details of flavor, texture and even the temperature of the food.

With each bite, allow yourself to feel contented and satisfied by the tastes as well as the sensations of eating. Next time you eat a fabulous dessert such as chocolate mousse cake, savor it and notice every detail.

| Continued >>