Control Your Home Environment

• Eat only while sitting down at the kitchen or dining room table.
• Do not eat while watching television, reading, cooking, talking on the phone, standing at the refrigerator, or working on the computer.
• Food is not only enjoyed with your taste buds; food should be visually enjoyed too.
• Keep tempting foods out of the house — don't buy them.
• Keep tempting foods out of sight.
• Have fun food, foods ready to eat, like nuts, and berries.
• Unless you are preparing a meal, stay out of the kitchen.

Control Your Work Environment

• If you get hungry between meals, plan healthy snacks and bring them with you to work.
• During your breaks, go for a walk instead of eating.
• If you work around food, plan in advance the one item you will eat at mealtime.
• Make it inconvenient to nibble on food by drinking water.
• Do not work through meals.
• Skipping meals slows down metabolism and may result in overeating at the next meal.

Control Your Mealtime Environment

• Serve your plate of food at the stove or kitchen counter.
• Do not put the serving dishes on the table. If you do put dishes on the table, remove them immediately when you finish eating.
• Fill half of your plate with vegetables, a quarter with protein, and a quarter with starch.

Daily Food Management

• Replace eating with another activity that you will not associate with food.
• Wait 20 minutes before eating something you are craving.
• Drink a large glass of water before eating.
• Always have a big glass or bottle of water to drink throughout the day.
• Try to avoid high-calorie add-ons such as cream with your coffee, mayonnaise, and salad dressings.

Shopping

• Do not shop when hungry or tired.
• Shop from a list and avoid buying anything that is not on your list.
• If you must have tempting foods, buy individual-sized packages
• Read food labels.
• Compare products to help you make the healthiest choices.

Preparation

• Use a quarter teaspoon if you taste test your food.
• Try only to fix what you are going to eat.
• If you have prepared more food than you need, portion it into individual containers and freeze or refrigerate it immediately.
• Don't snack while cooking meals.

Eating

• Eat slowly. Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to send a message to your brain that it is full.
• Don't let fake hunger make you think you need more.
• The ideal way to eat is to take a bite, put your utensil down, take a sip of water, cut your next bite, take a bit, put your utensil down, and so on.
• Do not cut your food all at one time. Cut only as needed.
• Take small bites and chew your food well.
• Stop eating for a minute or two at least once during a meal or snack.
• Take breaks to reflect.

Cleanup and Leftovers

• Label leftovers for a specific meal or snack.
• Freeze or refrigerate individual portions of leftovers.
• Do not clean up if you are still hungry.

Eating Out and Social Eating

• Do not arrive hungry.
• Eat something light before the meal.
• Try to fill up on fun foods.
• Eat foods that you like, but choose smaller portions.
• If you want seconds, wait at least 20 minutes after you have eaten to see if you are actually hungry or if your eyes are bigger than your stomach.
• Limit alcoholic beverages.
• Try soda water with a twist of lime or a dash of cranberry juice.
• Try not to skip other meals in the day to save room for the special event.

At Restaurants

• Order à la carte rather than buffet style.
• Order some vegetables or a salad for an appetizer instead of eating bread.
• Don't overeat because you do not want to waste food.
• Ask for a doggie bag to take extra food home.
• Ask for salad dressing, gravy, or high-fat sauces on the side.
• Try bread with olive oil.

• At Buffets and Cafeterias

• Cover most of your plate with fun food
• After eating, clear away your dishes before having coffee or tea.

Entertaining at Home

• Explore Fun Food
• Use single-serving foods like chicken breasts or hamburger patties.
• Prepare fun food appetizers and desserts.

Holidays

• Keep tempting foods out of sight.
• Have fun food and healthy beverages on hand for guests.
• Allow yourself one planned to treat a day.
• Don't skip meals to save up for the holiday feast. Eat regular, planned meals.

Exercise

• Make exercise a priority and a planned activity in the day.
• If possible, walk the entire or part of the distance to work.
• Get an exercise buddy.
• Go for a walk with a colleague during one of your breaks,
• Go to the gym,
• Run or take a walk with a friend, or walk in the mall with a shopping companion.
• Park at the end of the parking lot and walk to the store or office entrance.
• Always take the stairs all of the way or at least part of the way to your floor.
• If you have a desk job, walk around the office frequently.
• Do leg lifts while sitting at your desk.
• Do something outside on the weekends, like going for a hike or a bike ride.

Have a Healthy Attitude

• Make health your weight management priority but be realistic.
• Have a goal to achieve a healthier you, not necessarily the lowest weight or ideal weight based on calculations or tables.
• Focus on a healthy eating style, not on dieting.
• Dieting usually lasts for a short amount of time and rarely produces long-term success.
• Think long-term.
• You are developing new healthy behaviors to follow next month, in a year, and in a decade.