For a lot of us, the biggest danger time is after dinner, when we are tired, have had enough of the day, and we find ourselves browsing the pantry, fridge, freezer for something sweet.

And because our willpower is at its lowest at the end of the day, the chances of us displaying superhuman powers of portion control when we have a tub of ice cream in our hands is probably not going to go well.

There is a trick that can help us to overcome this barrier to our weight loss, and that is to make it very, very difficult to satisfy your craving with anything other than healthy foods. How do we do this? By doing our grocery shopping off a list.

Now before you roll your eyes, say to yourself that you’ve heard this before, or decide to jump over to watching cute cat videos on YouTube, there are 5 very good reasons why shopping from a list will make you less frustrated, improve your energy levels, and help you lose weight. So here they are:

You consciously choose your treats

Say no to depriving yourself, and say yes to giving in… in moderation. Choose your favourite treat in the world, anything you like. Work out what portion would fit into your balanced healthy diet plan, and buy just enough so that you get a little treat every day. You don’t feel deprived, you have something to look forward to, and it’s totally guilt free.

If you are worried you might lose control and eat all seven portions in one go (lets not pretend either of us has never done that) why not keep your treats at the office and have one at morning tea each day so you aren’t tempted by seeing them at night in the “danger zone.”

You don’t need to waste brain energy trying to figure out what to make for dinner

 If you shop off a list, you would first need to have a plan for what meals you are going to make, which means when you get home, you have it all there, autopilot kicks in, and you don’t decide that deciding itself is too hard and go get takeaway instead.

You can plan for leftovers- the lazy way to be healthier

 If your meals are healthy, why not have them for lunch the next day? Two meals for the price of one. Factor extra portions into your meal plan, and it’s a breeze to freeze leftovers for another night, or take to work the next day.

You won’t be sucked into impulse buys

The food industry is really, really good at packaging things so that they catch your eye and make you want to buy them. And it’s rarely a bowl of salad with flashy bright packaging. Use your list, don’t deviate, and you won’t end up with a pantry full of junk food there to tempt you at night.

You can buy new shoes

 Did you know that if you shop off a list, you spend less money, which is more money for spending on things you want for yourself? Suddenly a little extra prep doesn’t seem so hard does it?

Do you find that emotional eating is the thing you struggle with the most? You aren’t alone.

This is the exact reason our retreats offer mindset seminars, where we teach you how to overcome emotional eating, self sabotage, and change excuses into positive actions. Check out what else we offer in our weight loss program, and why our expert Devon Weight Loss & Fitness Retreat is so popular.