Tis the season

With all the goodies around (many of them baked by me), I've decided to go back on my should-be-patented "toothpaste diet".

Here's how the "toothpaste diet" works: basically you eat whatever you really want, but you have to go brush your teeth after each eating episode.

This accomplishes several things:

• Brushing your teeth helps kill the taste of the previous goodie, and makes it less likely that you'll grab another cookie when walking by.



• Any joy you get from eating that hunk of chocolate will only last as long as you are chewing it. This makes it a bit easier decide that the calories from ingesting said chocolate might not be worth the enjoyment you'll get while chewing. Or, it could make you chew slower which will let you enjoy the food for longer without getting any extra calories!


• Having to go do something (like brushing your teeth) also helps break the cycle of sitting there munching away. You actually have to get up and walk away for a few seconds. (I guess it's no fair keeping cookies in the bathroom next to your tooth brush)



• Toothpaste doesn't really taste good (to me, anyway), so it also serves as a kind of dis-incentive. Do I really want that cookie badly enough to make dealing with toothpaste again worth it? Even if you really like the taste of your toothpaste, the whole "now I have to go brush my teeth again" is a bit of a dis-incentive.


• Watching yourself go through lots more toothpaste in a couple of days than you normally do in a couple of weeks is also something that helps curb your appetite.

I hate obsessing about food, counting calories, eating only things on a particular list. That's all great if you need to worry about nutrition for some reason, but for just losing (or not gaining) weight, it's just not something that I want to deal with. One of the good things about the "toothpaste diet" is that you are responsible for your own weight loss. If you decide to eat even less, you'll lose more weight. But, if you just "break the cycle" of eating when you really wanted to stop, that will help you lose weight (or not gain weight). The other thing I like about it is that the only thing that is an explicit negative is spending more money on toothpaste. There isn't any counting points & feeling bad when going over. You can keep this up for a lifetime and it won't hurt you (I think, not sure about the effects of ingesting too much toothpaste).

[EDIT: If you want even more benefit, drink a glass of water after you brush your teeth. Most people don't drink enough water, so this will help you get more water. The water will also help make you feel more full.]

[Note that I have no direct financial relationship with any toothpaste manufacturer, and do not receive any kickbacks from stores that sell toothpaste. But I really should, you know?]