Most diet programs do not work because they are based on the concept of food deprivation. That’s why if you’re interested in losing weight in a healthy way, you should embark on a diet that rewards you with foods that you enjoy. 

Treating yourself to a food you like after dieting all day, is like rewarding yourself for a job well done. The snack can be the treat you get for running five miles, or going all day without eating a bag of crisps.

The idea is to eat any snack that is less than 100 calories.  Here is a list of foods that meet that requirement –

* One of the new 100 calorie yogurts on the market
* One of the new 100 calories puddings on the market
* One of the new 100 calorie chocolate bars on the market
* Eight dried apricot halves
* ¼ cup blueberries with one ounce of canned whipped cream
* ¼ cup fresh peaches with one ounce of canned whipped cream
* ¼ cup fresh strawberries
* 1 medium sized tangerine
* 2 smaller plums
* 2 tablespoons raisons
* 1 fig newton
* 17  medium sized grapes
* ½ cup Jello with a shot of whipped cream
* ¾ cup diet Jello with a shot of whipped cream
* 8 animal crackers
* 3 cups plain popcorn with salt only
* 8 baked tortilla chips with three tablespoons of salsa
* frozen juice bar
* one large dill pickle
* twenty peanuts
* I piece of string cheese
* 1 small baked potato with a small dab of sour cream

Rewarding yourself with a treat works for most people. However this approach does not always work if your weight gain is due to emotional issues. Sometimes it backfires, and you end up eating too many calories in that day and sabotaging an entire week’s worth of weight loss.

A similar way to reward yourself is to take one day off from your diet, and then just splurge on what you want to eat for 24 hours.  Just make sure it is the same day every week, so that you have that occasion to look forward to. This helps lessen the pain of self-denial which sabotages so many diets.

John McNally