Eat

Create a list of your eating habits
Highlight your bad habits
- Eating too fast, always cleaning your plate, eating when not hungry, eating while standing up, skipping meals
Identify triggers that cause you to engage in those habits
- Opening up the cabinet and seeing your favorite snack food, sitting at home watching television, before or after a stressful meeting or situation at work, feeling bored or tired and thinking food might offer a pick-me-up
Ask yourself:
- Why do I do this?
- Is there anything I can do to avoid the cue or situation?
- Am I truly hungry or just tired, anxious, or feeling an emotion besides hunger?
Plan meals ahead of time and replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones

Make a commitment
- Sign a written contract committing to the process
  - Amount of weight you want to lose
  - The date you’d like to lose the weight by
  - Dietary changes to establish healthy eating habits
  - Plan for regular physical activity
Take stock of where you are
- Writing down the reasons why you want to lose
- Post these reasons where they serve as a daily reminder
- Keep a “food diary” for a few days
  - Become more aware of what you are eating and when you are eating
- Examine your current lifestyle
Set realistic, short-term goals
- Two or three goals at a time
- Specific and realistic
  - I will walk 15 minutes, 3 days a week for the first week
- Forgiving (reward your efforts)
Identify resources for information and support
- Request family member/friend support
Monitor your progress
- When setbacks happen, get back on track as quickly as possible. Also take some time to think about what you would do differently if a similar situation happens
- If you are consistently achieving a particular goal, add a new goal to help you continue on your pathway to success
- Be proud of your progress, but use non-food rewards