I've recently been saying some of these "commandments" to myself, to help me change some of the poor habits I have when it comes to food. I figured I'd write them here (for fun, I guess) and to share my 10 Commandments.

1. I shall NOT finish the food on my plate simply because it is there! I will stop eating when I am satisfied. (This has been the most important one for me and is taking the most work to follow)

2. I shall NOT eat until I am stuffed. I will stop when I am satisfied. If I "can't take one more bite" then I've eaten too much. My thought is I CAN take another bite (actually several more), but I'm not going to

3. Hunger is a feeling I can deal with until my lunch/ dinner is ready. There is no need to have a snack right before meal time because I am "starving". I can wait.

4. Eat only delicious foods worth every bite and have high standards. I'm amazed how much mindless eating I've eliminated by not eating foods unless they are truly delicious foods. I used to have low standards, I'd eat anything that was edible just because I loved eating. Now I asked myself, is it really something I enjoy? Do I really love the taste? If not, I don't eat it.

5. I will not fuel my body before it rests! (This has been hard too) Sometimes I realize while I'm in bed to go to sleep that I'm hungry, but I ask myself Do I really need to fuel my body before bed?

6. I do NOT need to drop everything to eat. This kind of goes with #3. When I'm in the middle of something, say cleaning and I get hungry, I used to feel like I had to drop everything and go eat. I must admit, part of this comes from a family that associated not eating the minute you are hungry with starving yourself, and "having a problem". But I've realized other people don't have to feed themselves the minute they are hungry.

I can't think of anymore right now. These are the main ones I tell myself many times a day. THis is so silly, but sometimes I have to say #1 out loud to myself (as long as I'm not in public! lol) I have to talk myself to the garbage, and assure myself its ok the throw out what I don't want. I know that sounds crazy!

If you have anymore, Please feel free to add!!

Wow, nice list of commandments -- of which I follow every single one myself too! I especially relate to #1. I was out to dinner last night with a girlfriend and got a pasta chicken bowl at Applebee's. (It was my weekly cheat meal). It was so delicious and the portion size was HUGE for what I am used to. But I started with the grilled chicken first and then started on the cheesy pasta. I stopped when I felt full and then I poured some soda over the rest. It's imperative to my mental state to sabatoge the left over food because 1) I will be inclined to graze on it again until it is taken away and 2) I don't want to bring it home to graze on later.....before bedtime..... which would put me into danger of breaking #5!

I can't think of anything right now to add to your awesome list but if I do, I'll come back!

Oh wait, here's one.

PREPARE! If you accept an invitation to go out to eat, check to see if there is a nutritional menu online. Print it out and highlight all the one's that are within your plan. Plan your breakfast and lunch menu ahead of time to make sure you leave enough "excess" to eat that meal out. Or if you accept an invite to do something like go bowling, movies or pool, make sure you eat immediately before you leave house. This will decrease your desire to munch on buttery popcorn or get those bar appetizers!

Honor your fruits and vegetables, that your days may be long in the land...

I try to have both (but at least one) at each meal. It helps fill me up, but more important, I feel healthy. It is also a reminder that I am eating in a healthy manner so the simple carb monster stays away. I'm not a great cook but I can put a colorful plate together!

Those were great!! Thanks for sharing!!! =)

I really agree with the "do I really need to fuel my body before bed?". That is my biggest problem with eating. I will go all day eating my good protein meals and in the night, that is when I will find myself eating bad things.

I think I will ask myself that. Do I need to fuel my body before sleep? Will it make me happy? Thanks!

One of the best lessons I've learned from this journey is to not fear hunger. It's not an awful monster that needs to be taken care of (IMO).

It's OK to be hungry. Actually, I like feeling hunger, especially at night, because it means I'm due for a loss in the morning. lol!

If the list of ingrediants are longer then my arm..it's out! but being serious, I try to eat more naturally. I try to pre-make alot of meals and snacks to have them ready for work.
Lots of raw veggies & chewable fiber = I feel more full.

If I feel hungry I chug water first. Sometime's that what I need.

If I feel hungry before bed, I drink a cup of skim or soy milk.

Skipping meals & snacks = no. Cause I know I'll over eat.

Ladies there is a book call "why french women are not fat" its really good it explains how in france the woman are brought up with a different attitude to food and that they eat what they like in little amounts.
I asked my friend who is french and very skinny and she said its all true just eat alittle its about understanding what you need and what you want then finding a happy medium

To further comment on #6. Today, when I got hungry for lunch, I knew that there was nothing healthy in the house. We just got back from vacation, and I hadn't bought any fresh veggies yet. I really wanted a salad, but I was hungry NOW! I told myself its OK to be hungry while I go to the store (with a list, of course so as not to impulse buy) come home and make a salad. That the wait is ok, and normal.

The old me would have needed to feed myself NOW. So I would have ended up with a peanut butter sandwich (which is fine, but I wanted a salad, and I also try to eat lower carb!) So I went and bought all my veggies and came home, cut everything up then ate. And I was glad I waited.

I really love #4... I don't want to appear to others to be a food snob, but I think it's important to my health that I actually am! Only good food for me!

Thank you so much for sharing these commandments with all of us. I also do each of these. #3 is the one I struggle the most with. When I am hungry, I still have the urge to want to eat immediately. I keep absolutely no junk food at home, which has been so helpful with this one, but I many times still end up eating too many calories. I just keep plugging along because compared to the way I ate a year ago, I am pretty close to perfect. LOL

ShanIAm's "PREPARE" is my golden rule, and I strive to adhere to it in various ways. Keeping up on the grocery shopping so that I always have something healthy to eat in the mornings, to pack for lunch, to make for dinner. Planning and tracking the foods I make so that I know exactly what I'm getting when I eat it (in terms of calories, fat, fiber, protein, and more recently carbs), and I know exactly how much I can and should eat. When I'm planning to eat out at a restaurant, I also look for nutritional information to plan ahead, and prepare by moderating my eating ahead of time to consume less and have more "room" for the higher calorie restaurant meal.

If I know what I have available in the house, track the nutritional info for my meals as I'm making them (I jot down everything on a note card as I'm cooking), know what I'm eating, and know when I need to build in greater flexibility, then it's very easy to stay within my planned calorie range each day. When I fall down on my preparation, I find it's much, much tougher for me to stay on track.

I love these! I follow all of them except for #5. I'll eat something before I go to bed if and only if I feel hungry, because sometimes the structuring of my day means I have to eat later. I absolutely agree with #1 though. I'll put smaller portions on my plate (portion sizes that immediately make me think "I'm definitely going back for more") and then realize once I've finished that I don't need more. I also struggle with #3.. I snack while I'm cooking a meal, but it's usually whatever it is I'm cooking. I take it as a sign that I didn't start cooking soon enough, which is something I'm adjusting as I get to know my body's hunger signals.