Boost diet willpower without charts or gimmicks

This method reduces the chance of failure and related remorse by harnessing your desire for treats and snacks. By making some "goodies" available on condition of dropping others from your diet you are always incentivised. There is also ample flexibility: you're not obliged to cut out any particular treat so you are always in the game (unless you reach the end of the day without a eliminating a single weak spot).  More importantly you won't feel like you are suffering when you do deny yourself a treat - because it's set you up for guilt-free chocolate cake later in the day!

Set your diet goals

These need to be general like "lose weight and cut down on salt intake" not ultra-specific like "lose 5 lbs in 7 weeks". Your goal is a permanent change in dietary habits not a quick blitz followed by a return to old ways.

Example: I set a goal of maintaining or reducing my weight and consuming less sugar.

Identify your "weak spots"

During the course of an average day or week, when do you eat in a way which undermines your goals? We are all creatures of habit and a little thought will allow you to pinpoint where the damage is done.

To continue with my example, my daily weak points were:
- sugar on breakfast cereal or eating cereal with stuff like honey and chocolate larded on (who decided to start making breakfast cereal with chunks of chocolate in?)
- biscuits (cookies) with mid-morning coffee
- bag of crisps (chips) with lunchtime sandwich
- sweets (candies) mid-afternoon
- chocolate cake, pie or other dessert in the evening

My weekly "weak points" were:
- Saturday morning "fry up" of bacon, sausage and eggs
- Indian curry takeout once a week

Eliminate a "weak spot"

As we are seeking permanent changes in habits there is no hurry. Start with quitting just one weak spot and it doesn't have to be the same one every day.

Example: I eat healthy cereal for breakfast I'm free to carry on as before for the rest of the day. If I do pour choc-o-fat into my breakfast bowl then I still have 4 more chances to strike out one weak spot during the rest of the day.

Eliminate a second "weak spot"

Obviously you are not going to stop at one dietary improvement. But don't rush to a second elimination - let the first one "bed down". Remember time is on your side (the rest of your life). Human nature works for you with this method. Humans naturally take the easy way out, so after a few days you will settle on a particular weak spot to eliminate almost every day - the indulgence you care about least. In my case I found I could easily do without biscuits (cookies) with my mid-morning coffee. I was just eating them out of habit and by quitting them I could relax for the day. Only when I had decided the change was permanent did I move onto a second elimination.

Eliminate weak spots until you hit "a wall"

Keep gradually working on your list including those bad habits which are not built into your daily routine but which are say weekly like a pizza take-out after the ball-game. The progress you can make with this simple method is naturally limited - you can never eliminate all weak points because it relies on playing off your desires against each other. I am comfortable with one treat a day (normally the after-dinner sweet but it swaps around) and a weekly take-out.

NOTES AND TIPS

Diet goals can be about more than just weight. Cutting high salt and sugar intake can be worthy targets. Maybe eating more home-cooked and less processed, manufactured food can help you feel better. Perhaps a focus on cancer-prevention (more fibre, less preserved meat) can help you worry less.

• If you're finding a weak point hard to quit substitute it with something you like that doesn't conflict with your goals (e.g. unsalted nuts instead of a salty snack)
• Don't try and tackle more than 2 or 3 dietary goals at once.
• Consult a medical professional if you are really worried about your health and before making radical changes to your diet.
• You might want to extend the scope of the method to bring in exercise or other health goals (like reducing drinking) but be careful not to make it all too big and complicated