Changing the things around you
  1. Most behavior is not just random. Much of what we do is prompted by environmental cues.
  2. Cues can be external, like when you go to a movie theater and order popcorn, candy, and a sugared drink because you have done this in the past. Seeing the candy bar, smelling the popcorn, and just being in the theater may cue you to behave in a certain way.
  3. Cues can also be internal, like thoughts, feelings, or moods.
  4. Sometimes there is a combination of internal/external cues.
Here are some common cues:
  1. How you are feeling
  2. What someone says
  3. What you see
  4. What you smell
  5. What you hear
  6. A certain sequence of events, like coming home from work after a long day
  7. Certain places, activities or events (for example, movies, TV, special occasions, vacations etc.)
Tips for managing cues:
  1. Stay away from, remove, or change the cue.
  2. Build a new, healthier response to the cue (rather than doing what you have done in the past in response to a cue, think about a food, physical activity, or other behavior that you can substitute; for example, drink water or eat a vegetable instead of having a sugared drink).
Conduct a tour of your home, starting at the door where you first enter.
  1. Which room are you in?
  2. Do you see any food in the room?
  3. Is there anything that might make you think about eating?
  4. If you feel like there are strong eating cues, write at least one thing on your worksheet that you could change to make it easier for you to eat less in this room.
Walk through the rest of your home, ending up where you spend most of your time. Ask these questions about each room:
  1. Do you see any food in the room?
  2. Is there anything that might make you think about eating, like a comfortable chair or a TV?
  3. Each time you feel prompted to eat, write down at least one thing on your worksheet that you could change to make it easier for you to eat less in this room.
Finally, tour your kitchen. Open each of your cabinets and your refrigerator. Sometimes seeing certain problem foods can be strong cues for overeating or over drinking. You are the boss, so take charge of your kitchen.
  1. Do you see any foods that you know are not part of a healthy diet?
  2. Are there problematic foods that you may want to give away and avoid purchasing in the future?
  3. Are there foods that you may want to replace with healthy snacks?
To become the boss of your home, set a goal to make some modifications in your home over the next few weeks and write this goal down in your Food and Activity Diary.