In the beginning, at first diet, when I was flailing around on WW, trying to figure out how NOT to eat all my daily points by 9:00 a.m., I used to PUSH thoughts of food out of my head. Block them! Ban them! Food BAAAAADDD... HUNGER.... GOOOOODDD.

Then once on low carb - enjoying the success of it all, I would have the occasional evening craving for something...

....and my mind would start to run through the possibilities. I started having those usual diet thoughts, you know the ones: "hmmm, there's cream cheese, and butter - I have some splenda - .... I could melt a batch together and pour it over pork rinds and then blob salsa on it...." (wow I feel sorry for low fat dieters )

Anyway initially when I had these urges, I fell into old habits of pushing those thoughts out of my head.

Then I had an idea. Instead of trying NOT to think about a snack, I did think about it. I envisioned making it and eating it. I thought about how it would taste. I actually *experienced* it in a virtual way. Then I thought about making it and not eating it. Then I thought about not eating it. And then I drank 8 ounces of water. And the urge went away.

BUT !!!!!! What a feeling of empowerment it left in its wake. Try it sometime. Its a wonderful motivator when the pounds aren't dripping off like you wish they would. You end up saying to yourself - "Wow, so I haven't lost this week, who cares - I'm one POWERFUL individual!" (you can insert BABE or HUNK instead of *individual*, I'm trying to be politically correct)