Wouldn’t it be great if the day you started a diet, you stopped craving any other foods? The reality, however, is that we all have food temptations that ride right alongside our best intentions for weight loss. So, minimizing access to those temptations is often the best way to make healthy eating more likely to happen.

If It's There, You Can Eat It
 

Always have plenty of HMR shakes, cereal, and entrees along with fruits and vegetables and make sure they are available to you wherever you go. It takes some extra planning, but the closer you are to healthy foods, the more successful you’ll be at eating healthy.
 

• Set up a blender for your HMR shakes at home and at work.

• Keep your shakes, entrees, bars, fruits and vegetables within easy reach. (HMR entrees don’t require refrigeration so you can bring them anywhere.)

• Purchase a large cup (20 oz. or larger) so you can make high volume, filling shakes.

• Buy a thermos to keep blended shakes colder, or entrees and cereal warmer, for longer and when you’re on the go. 

• Designate a special cabinet in the kitchen or a drawer in the fridge just for your weight-loss foods.

• Shop frequently for fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, and canned). 

• Keep a wide variety of non-caloric beverages, add-in flavorings, and low-calorie condiments to add more variety to mealtime.

• Enlist your friends and family to help support you and keep you on track.

If It's Not There, You Can't Eat It

Don’t rely on willpower! Research shows that willpower decreases over time and runs out. So, do yourself a favor and get rid of temptations whenever possible.
 

• Identify your “trigger foods” and don’t buy them.

• Consider taking a break from social activities that revolve around food and drinks.

• Avoid your favorite fast-food restaurants or coffee shops, even if it means taking a different route.  

• If you have to go to a restaurant, make sure you’re full before you go and consider bringing your weight-loss foods with you. You can also go online and check out the menu beforehand so you have a game plan around what to order.

• If other people have tempting foods in your environment (kids, spouse, roommate, coworker), ask them to make these foods less accessible by keeping them out sight.