Smile! You're on camera.

I while back I was having serious trouble financially. I was spending way beyond my means and "robbing Peter to pay Paul" so to speak. I would swipe my debit card without even looking at the total. If you were to ask me how much I had just spent on a pair of shoes and miscellaneous jewelery I would have had no idea. I paid no mind to price tags and my card never declined, thanks to my good credit. What a slippery slope that is! After receiving a few hints from some friends who know how to budget their money, I decided to switch only to cash. I started paying all my bills with my checking account and paying for everything else in cash. This helped me immensely. If I really wanted something and I didn't have the money for it I would have to drive to an ATM to get the cash for it. Oftentimes by the time I got to the ATM I would have decided that what I wanted wasn't worth the money or that I couldn't really afford it. Not only did I have to see my balance every time I made a withdrawal but I also paid attention to what everything was costing me. Seeing the money actually coming out of my wallet gave me more of a reality on the state of my finances. Okay, so let me get to my point of how I've translated this into dieting. I started taking pictures of everything I eat. Disclaimer: this was not my idea. I took this from a book I'm reading called The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss. I thought this idea was so similar to my cash switcharoo I wanted to share the success I've had with it so far. I've only altered my diet slightly but now I don't eat anything without snapping a shot of it with my BlackBerry first. The biggest changes I have noticed are that I am more aware of the things I snack on and I am more hesitant to eat something I know I shouldn't. I'll grab a treat and remember that I need to take a picture of it and think, "Oh man! I don't want to take a picture of this!". Likewise I have found that when I eat something bad I happen to "forget" to take a picture. Almost all of my dessert pictures are of half-eaten foods! I'm a firm believer in the idea that all changes start small and this is just one thing I am experimenting with on my road to a healthier diet. I hope it helps some of you on your way too!

-Whitney