The feeling of control is so important when working on losing weight. The feeling of being out of control is really a yucky feeling to have (to use clinical terms) J. This is important to think about when you notice that you are “sneaking” food. It is hard to really enjoy something when you feel you are “cheating” or “sneaking.” It is so much more enjoyable to have something when you know that you planned for it, factored it in, worked for it and are consciously choosing the food (rather than feeling like the food is choosing you).

In my office we offer a 10-week Emotional Eating Group, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We speak so often about having a few bites of a chocolate cake (four bites to be exact), knowing you have eaten in a healthy way all day and are enjoying every one of those bites, rather than eating the whole piece really quickly, feeling guilty about every bite, and then feeling mad at yourself after. There is a huge difference between mindful eating and mindless eating. This journey should be a balancing act. And part of the balance should be allowing yourself to have some delicious higher calorie foods once in a while, when it’s worth it, and when you feel you can make the choice with a feeling of control.

Just like some people cannot have one drink without it turning to three drinks and then five drinks, many people have certain foods that are triggers. It may be chocolate, it may be bread, it may be chips. If you know that you have a particular food that triggers a response where you feel like an addict, then that is a food that you should plan to not keep in your food environment. But instead of banishing all forms of that food completely, look for a version that is less tempting and will still do the trick. So for example, if breaking off a square of chocolate never results in just the square, but instead always results in eating the whole bar, then that is not a good choice. But if instead you choose 100-calorie size chocolate pudding cups, or 50-calorie chocolate fudge pops, you may be able to quench that chocolate craving in a way that is less of a trigger. This would be a very good life-long solution; don’t make this harder than it has to be. Keep your food environment safe and keep your trigger foods as far away as possible. Instead, stock up on the foods that help you to stick with your plan.