It is very useful to tell yourself before you eat:

I can have that if I want it, because I do not deprive myself, however do I feel that eating that?

Depriving yourself of food will pull you towards the food you try to push away. You will eventually crack and end up eating it. The best way to avoid this is to never deprive your self of anything.

Depriving yourself from something will also leave the feeling that you are missing out, in turn can cause you to obsess about further.

Actually granting yourself permission to eat what was normally forbidden food can create liberation, but also fear.

This fear is generated from the belief that is they allow these forbidden foods they may gorge and not be able to stop. This may happen, but it will pass.

For example if you have been depriving yourself from cookies for years, then your first initial reaction is to eat as many cookies available. This will not continue day in and day out, what will happen is the urge will really fade. You will end up 'cookies out', it wont take long before you can’t look at another cookie. You may even only want a cookie when you actually feel like one.

Another example is a new employee to a biscuit factory. This new team member has been given permission to all the biscuits she can eat. This is great at the start, day one she might eat a whole load. However come to day five the biscuits are starting to really lose there appeal and by the end of the month the employee does not eat anymore biscuits, or maybe one every so often.

'I can eat it if I want because I am not depriving myself
But do I really feel like it at this moment'?

Asking yourself if you really feel like eating at this moment can increase your awareness around food, this awareness may have been forgotten by many people.

It gets you back in touch with your body to what it is your body is asking for. You can use your hunger tracker to help you along the way.

If you ask yourself 'do I really feel like it' and you do not feel like something and go ahead and eat anyway - this is fine once in a while and perfectly normal.

However it helps to create an awareness and understanding as to why you went ahead and ate when you where not hungry, you can ask yourself if it was because it looks to good, you just wanted to taste it or was because you where angry.