A key pillar of the Weight Loss Mindset is dealing with the “I deserve some nice food” script. People I work with seem to be able to cleverly come up with this rationale when things in their life are equally either going well or going badly! (And then when things are so-so, a treat seems to make an enormous amount of sense to make life more interesting!)

For people with this problem we need to come up with ‘non-caloric’ ways to treat ourselves when this script kicks in. A patient of mine and I recently came up with this list –  a great starting point for anyone who has this problem. The trick is to print it off and keep it in your purse/wallet and refer to it as needed – the human mind has a strange habit of getting us to forget these strategies at the critical points when they are most needed. Here are some thoughts – as you can see they vary from what can be done at home in a few minutes (the time it takes to prepare and eat a bowl of ice cream) to larger rewards:

• Buy your favourite trashy magazine and then read a few pages
• Buy some luscious teas from the tea speciality shop and enjoy a cup
• Buy yourself a bunch of flowers from supermarket
• Paint nails or toenails (guys are generally less keen on this one)
• Go to movies
• Call a friend (very powerful if loneliness is the emotional driver)
• Shop for costume jewellery and other inexpensive stuff
• Watch favourite recorded TV show
• Internet surfing for fun (great way to allow cravings to pass)

Everyone needs their own, personalised list, so if this is an issue for you (or the people you work with) get writing!