5 Strategies for Taming Temptations

Is junk food creeping back into your home? If your family has a taste for ice cream, chips, cookies, and other unhealthy (but tempting!) foods, it's almost impossible to prevent them from reappearing in your cupboards. So how can you ensure that your house is temptation-proof? To help you maintain your healthy lifestyle, try these suggestions for ridding your kitchen of foods that aren't South Beach Diet–friendly.

As the saying goes, if you keep things out of sight, they will be out of your mind, or in this case, out of your mouth. Make it a priority to clean out your kitchen cupboards and pantry at least once a month to remove any unhealthy foods that may have sneaked back in. If foods are still unopened, consider donating them to a food bank.

Have your kids been bringing home chips or sugary goodies from friends' houses? Did your spouse commandeer some leftover cupcakes from an office party? Make it clear to your family that certain unhealthy foods should not be brought into the house (these processed foods aren't benefiting their health either), but if this suggestion creates havoc, keep an out-of-eyesight snack drawer or cabinet where they can stash their snacks, and hopefully forget about them.

Never go food shopping when you're hungry. You'll be more likely to end up in the aisles that contain chips, cookies, and other baked goods or junk food. Have a healthy snack list in hand and shop for fresh vegetables, reduced-fat yogurt and cheeses, and nuts and seeds, for example — all good for Phase 1 dieters. On Phase 2, whole-grain crackers, air-popped popcorn, and baked whole-wheat tortilla chips are good additions to the Phase 1 options. Our South Beach Diet Meal Bars, 100-Calorie Snack Bars, and Protein Fit Cereal Bars are also healthy and convenient Phase 2 choices. Separate your snacks into single servings and store them in plastic sandwich bags to keep portions manageable.

When you're tempted to satisfy your sweet tooth the unhealthy way, skip the sugary cake and cookies and enjoy one of our South Beach Diet Sweet Treat choices instead: a couple of sugar-free hard candies, a no-sugar-added Fudgsicle, some sugar-free gelatin, or a sugar-free popsicle. Just be sure to count them toward your daily recommendation of 75-100 calories of Sweet Treats. If you're on Phase 2, enjoy a small piece of dark chocolate or try our new line of Sweet Delights, which are dark-chocolate-covered soynuts or sunflower seeds.

One way to help get your mind out of temptation mode is to give it something else to think about. When a craving for unhealthy foods occurs, immediately drink a big glass of water or brush your teeth. This seemingly random action can stop unhealthy cravings in their tracks.