It’s summer. We want to keep our weight down, but that constant parade of food in the office makes craving a dessert a little harder to resist. Or maybe you are taking dessert to that summer picnic. All that baking is not helping. Whatever the occasion, I discuss a few press pause strategies in my book, Press Pause Before You Eat. Here are a few tips to get us past those cravings and feeling in control again.

1) Press pause: This is a sure fire strategy to help you be more intentional with eating. The food is in front of you. PAUSE. Pause. Attend to the moment. Understand why you are wanting this right now. Strategize–skip it for the calories, indulge and cut back later. Execute your decision. This momentary analysis creates an opportunity for you to think before you eat.

2) What you resist, will persist. The more you tell yourself you can’t have it, the more you will want. Reverse this. Do I want it? Yes. I can have it. But do I choose to eat this? Not at this time.

3) Substitute: Something sweet sounds good. Go for a piece o fruit or a low cal smoothie. You crave something crunchy. Go for kale chips, baked vs. fried or vegetable chips. After a period of time, your brain will adjust and the craving will diminish.

4) Use your imagination. I blogged on this before. Simply imagining yourself eating the food. Studies show that visualizing yourself eating something helps you eat less of it.

5) Eat and drink. Water and an apple that is! You will feel full and the craving may diminish.

6) Distract yourself. Cravings go away when we focus on something other than the food because cravings are not based on real hunger.

7) Eat only at a table. You will cut down on cravings and calories if you eat at a table. Every time you crave a little something, tell yourself to save it for meal time. You will be surprised at the number of calories saved and the ability to lose the craving.

The key: the PAUSE principle. Being intentional helps fight those cravings.