How I did it: 1)  I recorded the number of snacks I ate for a week and found the largest number.
2)  I took this largest number, mine was six and subtracted one a day.  The first day I began building this habit I ate only 5 snacks.  The second, 4 and so on until zero.  This is important, I made sure to eat that number of snacks.  For example, even if I did not want to eat a 5th snack I would eat it anyway.  This helps in the long run.
3)  I noted my obstacles and prepared solutions for them.  My obstacles were the amount of yummy snacks, emotional dips and lack of sleep.  I plan the snacks I want to eat the day before.  I used my somewhat Daoist philosophy to help with the emotional dips.  I tried to get 8 hours of sleep every night or as close as possible.
4)  If I relapsed I would not minus a snack the next day.  On one day when I was only supposed to eat 2 snacks I ate 3.  The next day I ate 2 snacks rather than moving directly to one.  I intend to use this plan again if I ever relapse.
5)  I recorded my progress on my blog and 43 things. ^^

Lessons & tips:

1. A religion or, for those of us who cannot find a religion, a spiritual core help for emotional eaters.
2. If you relapse, don't go on an all-out binge.  Think of it like this- The more you eat, the longer it will take you to complete the goal.  The longer it takes you to complete the goal, the longer you will have to wait before you can pursue new more exciting goals.  This kind of logic helped me out greatly.
3. Do not take on too many goals at a time.  This goal was my only goal at the time.  You may not have to strip your list to one but stripping it down will help.
4. A glass of water can help curve cravings.
5. Be patient.  Having to start out with only one less snack may seem too slow but it will work better in the long run.

Resources: 43 things
Blogger
Zen Habits

Sep 18, 2008, 08:03PM PDT | 2 comments