5. Have dinner ready to eat.
That may mean putting something in the slow cooker in the morning before you leave for work or chopping vegetables and doing most of the prep work for non-slow cooker recipes in the morning so there’s very little for you to do when you get home at the end of the day. “Having dinner already prepared means not falling prey to addictive fast food on the way home or grabbing a craving food because there’s nothing else,” says Ifland. “Starting the evening with processed foods sends cravings and loss of control into overdrive.” Need inspiration? Try these slow-cooker soup recipes.
6. Plan healthy desserts.
“I’m trying not to eat sweets for dessert, so instead I eat a piece of fruit or maybe cheese to end my meal,” says Koutsky. If you’re craving something sweet, give one of these nutritionist-recommended desserts a try. “Some days we just need a little more than usual, so grabbing a piece of fruit after dinner won’t hurt you, unless it prompts you to keep grazing,” says O’Connor.