I feel compelled to share something I just experienced, especially after seeing some updates about "rewards / justifications" on some of my friends' pages and in the forums . My friend Denise loves the saying "You are not a dog, don't reward yourself with food".

This is so true. I've been good so I'm gonna eat "x" or haven't had this in a while so I'm gonna treat myself. REWARD.  No. You are not a dog. Stop it with food rewards.   Instead: if you want to eat it. Just eat it Because you CHOOSE to eat it. Because you can, because you make the choice to.

With that said, we all have trigger foods and foods we gravitate to ...foods that we crave and want. Foods that we often know we shouldn't eat, want to eat less of. But we think we cant cause we just gotta have them ...can't stop. ME. I was 236 pounds of walking bread carbs minus bones and vital organs. If it was bread, a cookie, a cake, a bar, a cracker ...I was eating it. Was all I wanted, grab it, eat it, no desire or room for anything else. Didnt keep me full, craved more of same.

With that in mind .... Flash to this afternoon when I was having late lunch. I steadfastly eat my protein ...is my big game changer. I eat very few grain carbs and sugary things. My cravings stopped after a few weeks of cutting back. But ...Ive still been eating some crackers with my bowl of egg or tuna salad. Today, counted out my 15 Kashi asiago cheese snack crackers. As I was eating ...I realized I really didn't want them. Just wasnt wanting them.  So ..I stopped. Only ate 7. That was a WHOA moment for me.

My point is this. If there is a food or group of foods you want to cut back on or stop entirely ....JUST DO IT. One step at.time. You must be steadfast and stick with it for a few weeks .. let your body do its thing and adjust. You WILL stop wanting it as much. Once YOU are in control, then you  can choose to have some if you want. You are in control, not your cravings.

 Mindset switch. YOU are in control. You CHOOSE.