Avoid Junk Food Until a Later Date

Call it the “someday” trick. Delaying gratification in a vague way is best.

When it comes to junk food, don’t say “no.” Just say “later”! According to research presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting, avoiding junk food and promising you’ll indulge at an unspecified date makes you consume less later. It’s different than “delayed gratification”—with this strategy, the trick is to be vague about when you’ll actually get gratified.

And, avoid restricting yourself: In one of the experiments, subjects were tempted with M&Ms and told to eat ‘em, avoid ‘em or wait until later. Those told to avoid them ate twice as many as the “later” group! So go ahead, indulge...later...

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