Hi folks. With the summer cookout season fully upon us (at least where I am, in North America), I see a lot of posts where people are worried about how to stay on plan through all of that temptation.
Here's a trick I used last winter during the interminable holiday-party season. I hope some of you find it helpful.
If your plan is to have a small amount of your favorite treats - say, one cookie, or one scoop of Aunt Matilda's famous potato salad, or whatever it is - try not having ANY of it until you are just about to leave the party. Then, when you are minutes away from going, enjoy your one taste of whatever it was you were pining for.
This works for me for two reasons. First, it's a LOT easier for me to eat none of something wonderful than to have a little of it. Once I get the taste in my mouth, it's very hard to resist tasting a little more and a little more. By saving that first taste until I'm just about to leave the party, by the time I'm ready for more I am physically removing myself from the temptation. Can't have more if I'm not there!
The second reason is that if you wait, the treats might be completely gone by the time you step up to the table - eaten by others. That may not sound great but it really is a good thing, to keep in mind that you can have a good time at a party even if you don't get a taste of Aunt Matilda's famous potato salad. For so many of us, eating treats is accompanied by an almost compulsive feeling that to forgo them is to miss an opportunity - and part of the process of getting trim is learning that "oh well, not today" is a perfectly acceptable way to approach treats.
So. It's worked for me in the past, and I thought I'd throw it out there to think about. I hope it works for you, as well.