tip: cheat snack

Tip: have a cheat snack ready. I did not come up with this one, but it is something I have adapted to my needs. My cheat snack is fruit. (My ONLY acceptable snack is fruit.) I keep 1 small apple or tangerine or sliced pear or what-have-you in my bag when I go to work. Usually, I'm cool. I don't need it. So, it becomes my breakfast fruit for the next morning. If I'm faced with a surprise seemingly insurmountable temptation, something that smells or looks so good that my hunger gets churning (see here), then my safe snack is ready to save me with a low-calorie indulgence. Then, no breakfast fruit the next day. No harm done. But most times, just knowing it's there saves me. It's a psychological trick. If your caveman brain knows you have food with you, it won't go seeking food elsewhere. So far, I average eating about one cheat snack a week. That's only 60 calories, instead of whatever high calorie pastry/junk food/crap I was having, like, every other day.

You can make your subconscious your friend instead of your enemy, as long as you know it's dirty tricks.