We’ve all been there, we’re watching a movie, popcorn in our lap and before we know it, we’re grasping at the bottom of the bowl! Where the heck did all our popcorn go? I’ll tell you where it went, your kids stole it!! Just kidding, but they really can be sneaky. Honestly you just had yourself an episode of mindless eating. We weren’t focused on what was going in our mouths at all! If only we were like that with fruits and vegetables, right?
This brings us to Moderators and Abstainers. Moderators are people who can self limit, they can have foods that are tempting to most in the house but still only have the serving size or less to be satisfied. They could also get a bit panicky at the thought of never getting or doing something again. (I am not a Moderator.) On the other side there are abstainers. Abstainers are people who find it easier to give something up entirely than do it just a little. They need to keep all tempting foods out of their house. No matter how hard we try it just takes one bad day and that bag of chips doesn’t stand a chance against us!
So what can we do to help ourselves? The first step would be to make a list, this list will be labeled with three columns: Red Light Foods, Yellow Light Foods, and Green Light Foods. Yep, just like a street light red for no go, yellow for sometimes and green for no worries. For me chips and baked goods would be in the red light column. Ice cream, most candy, and lattes would be in the yellow light column. Then, my green light column would be everything I know that is healthy for my body, all the stuff that helps me thrive and feel great inside and out.
Know wherever you fall, nothing is ever completely off limits, when it comes with food. When I go out for special dinners, like our anniversary or birthday, I ALWAYS order a dessert! ALWAYS! (Sometimes I even share!) But for me that is a controlled setting. There will be no whole cake in my house tempting me. I know this is what works for me by trial and error. You will figure out works for you too!