Make food fun!

If you've ever been around a little child you know sometimes you have to trick them into eating what they need to eat and not just what tastes good. Well sometimes you need to trick yourself into doing the same thing. Let's face it, there are days when a healthy salad just is not as appetizing as a huge pizza with extra cheese. And sometimes Alfredo sauce sounds better than marinara. And sometimes even frozen grapes won't cut it when you're craving ice cream.

The thing is, your mind is your own, and you can make it think whatever you want. It sounds backwards, but even tricking yourself works as long as you go through the motions of what you really want to do. You can make your mind think that it's getting whatever food it's craving, without the numerous calories of the craving itself.

For example: feel like sitting down with a bag of pretzels? Try chopping up apples into strips and stick them in a plastic bag before you park it on the couch. (This will probably work best if you have the bags pre-cut and portioned out so that it feels like you're getting a whole serving.) The crunch can be just as satisfying and you won't feel guilty for the constant hand-to-mouth motion (which let's face it, is the root of many of our cravings to snack). Or, if you're like me and like to have huge portions so that you don't feel limited, get a small bowl and fill it so it's overflowing. Your mind will think you have a giant serving in front of you and so you won't feel deprived because you have to keep your calorie count down. Or make a frozen fruit smoothie and have a special bowel to put it in rather than sitting down with a carton of ice cream. Feel like sitting down with some comfort food? Make whole wheat pasta with lots of veggies and spices in a marinara sauce, plus toast a whole wheat roll with garlic and spray butter. Use a huge ladle full of sauce for every hand full of pasta. This will taste decadent because of the many flavors, and you can complete your ritual of sopping up the sauce with your bread, but you're cutting down on the fat and calories and tricking yourself into eating veggies at the same time!

Whatever your craving is, figure out what the underlying reason for it is, (boredom, salty, sweet, comfort) and make your mind believe you're satisfying the craving without feeling packed full of unhealthy food, and guilty that your craving got the best of you...again. You can change your mind, just don't let it in on the secret!