Psych Yourself Skinny

Weight loss is challenging, even for people with loads of nutrition knowledge. Simply put, eating right requires behavioral control; it isn’t enough to know what’s good for you. You have to DO what’s good for you. Consistently.

In honor of Thinner Thursdays, hosted by Laura at Mommy Miracles and Courtney at The Mommy Matters, I offer a few tips on how to psych yourself skinny. These ideas will help you do more than think thin. They’ll help you achieve it.

1. Keep a food diary. The act of writing down what you eat forces you to confront calories as you consume them and diminishes the possibility you’ll overlook small indulgences (like that piece of chocolate you ate before breakfast). You can also use your log to uncover eating patterns and places you can cut back. Frankly, after a few days of writing down what you eat, you’ll likely find yourself thinking “I don’t want that doughnut bad enough to write it in my food log.”

2. Start small. Use a small bowl or a salad plate, even for lunches and dinner. Smaller plates mean smaller portions, and studies show people eat 34% more when they ate from a jumbo container than from a normal-sized one. When you start with a smaller plate, you’ll feel full eating less. While you’re at it, get in the habit of ordering small when you eat out. When you think about portion size, think about body size. Smaller fries = smaller thighs. Right?

3. Play hard to get. You’ve probably heard that humans used to work for their food. All that hunting and gathering took energy. If you’re “working for food” by walking from the couch to the cupboard, you’re not expending much energy to get eats. Keep treats out of the house and force yourself to go out and get them; or, store treats in the freezer to slow your next snack attack. If you have to wait while treats defrost, it’s harder to nibble your cares away.

Hope these tips help you psych yourself skinnier this week. In the spirit of accountability, here are my stats for this week:

Weight: 133

Goal: 128

Now it’s your turn. What are your best get-skinny mind-control tricks?

12 Responses to Psych Yourself Skinny

Misty says:

August 11, 2011 at 10:07 am

I think your advice is good. I have a tough time keeping a food diary because once I start eating things that are too many calories or above my range for the day, I tend to just leave it out, and after a few days of that, I figure I should just ditch the diary because it's doing me no good. I need to get past that!!
My recent post Thinner Thursdays: I suck at this fitness thing

- heidiluedtke says:
  
  August 17, 2011 at 11:27 am
  
  I'm going to post about the best ways to maximize the benefits of a food diary tomorrow. Looking forward to the link up.
  My recent post Five Pitfalls of Punishment
  
Courtney K. says:

August 12, 2011 at 1:16 am

I think keeping a food diary is one of the easiest ways to keep your weight in check. I use MyFitnessPal.com to track diet and exercise. It's a real eye opener to see those calories add up!! Thanks so much for joining in this week! Looking forward to watching your journey and your progress!!
My recent post Stronger through the Pain

- heidiluedtke says:
  
  August 17, 2011 at 11:23 am
  
  I haven't used MyFitnessPal but I keep a paper-and-pencil diary when I really want to be conscious of what I am eating. Tomorrow I'm going to include some tips on getting the most effect for your efforts in the diet-diary department. Hope you're well, Courtney.
  
- afriendtoyourself says:
  
  September 7, 2011 at 10:56 pm
  
  i like myfitnesspal.com too but i luv sparkpeople.com – both great tools. …i should use more? :0
  
jen says:

August 13, 2011 at 10:34 pm

What a timely post for my life at this point; and a great idea. I was looking for some ways to promote healthier life style choices and a food diary is a really great idea.
My recent post i hate when that happens

- heidiluedtke says:
  
  August 17, 2011 at 11:11 am
  
  I'm going to follow up on the food diary tip tomorrow: it really is worthwhile. The challenge is forcing yourself to keep track, even when it seems time consuming or you'd rather "cheat."
  
MommyMiracles says:

August 15, 2011 at 10:09 am

This is AWESOME! It is interesting to see then I have been doing a lot of these things already. I just recently started to do the third tip. I now try to walk to the market every Saturday to get my fresh fruits and vegetables and meats. It become a lovely Saturday morning family outing and the food tastes even better!

Thanks so much for linking up, and I can't wait to see what you have to share next week!
My recent post The Crappy Parts

- heidiluedtke says:
  
  August 17, 2011 at 11:26 am
  
  I love the produce market. We have lovely produce here in central NJ, but it can be quite a drive to get to the market, so I tend to go when I'm on the way somewhere else. Wish i could just make it a weekly event, but that would feel like one more to-do to do. 😉
  
  - MommyMiracles says:
    
    August 17, 2011 at 11:28 am
    
    I understand. Our community market is just a 4 minute walk from my house, so it makes for a lovely Saturday morning stroll – especially on sunny days!
    My recent post The Crappy Parts
    
afriendtoyourself says:

September 7, 2011 at 10:54 pm

totally

angel says:

July 16, 2012 at 10:14 am

http://www.psychyourselfskinny.com/ Read the book… I think you will enjoy!! "Psych Yourself Skinny" by Sharon Geisen Hayes… written in 2007

Psych Yourself Skinny

12 Responses to Psych Yourself Skinny

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