Too many minutes in the kitchen can spoil the diet.

Of all places in my home, the most baby-proofed is the kitchen. And that is just SO bad for staying on the meal plan . . .

In the last few weeks it seems like I’ve been giving a few tips on cardio and getting your brain to get in tune with the rest of your body. Today I reveal a mental trick to help you stick to your meal plan. I learned it in our first Body-for-LIFE challenge back in 2000. Since it just came back to help me out, I thought that you might find it helpful, too.

When first adjusting to an entirely new way of eating, I discovered that immediately after eating one of my six meals each day, sometimes I didn’t feel full. My stomach hadn’t yet adjusted back to the proper way of eating. But, like many American families, we used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We would finish eating, then hang out in the kitchen for a while. Maybe you do that, too?

The longer I would hang out in the kitchen, the closer I remained to the food. It was all around me. As the temptation grew, and grew, and grew, finally I knew what I had to do. I would either eat every morsel of tempting, non-authorized food, or I would get out of the kitchen.

Once again, as Dominic gets more mobile, I’ve found that we spend more time in our baby-proofed kitchen. And slowly, the temptation to nibble at the goodies in our “free meal” drawer began to creep in. For a few nights, I gave in and indulged in the yummy treats, justifying it with how good I had done with my cardio all week, and how well I had stuck to the meal plan for the last several weeks.

Then I realized it. When I spend too many minutes in the kitchen, it can really spoil my meal plan.

Quicker than you can say Myoplex, I baby-proofed the family room. Now Dominic and I spend quality time together in the kitchen . . . while we are preparing and eating meals. But once he gives me the baby-sign for “I’m finished,” we leave the kitchen, and in doing so, leave temptation behind.

So one way to stick to the meal plan is to avoid temptation. As soon as you are doing eating, get out of the kitchen.

Now I once again get the satisfaction of remaining true to myself and my goals. During the week, I stick to my meal plan. And boy do I ENJOY a well-earned Free Day!