Food Pantry Patrol - Get Rid of the Goodies That Are Undermining Your Weight Loss

You have an enemy within. Within your kitchen that is. Open your pantry or refrigerator and you may find all sorts of landmines. Candy, chips, soda, ice cream, cookies...you must declare all of these former friends as foes when your goal is to lose weight.

Do you know how to dramatically increase your odds to lose weight? Throw out everything in your kitchen and pantry that stands in your way. Give your junk food away, burn it, toss it in the trash so fast you don't have time to change your mind. This might sound crazy but losing weight is all about access. If you have cookies available, you will eat them. Whenever there's chocolate in the house, you will find it. But if you only have fruit and vegetables on hand, guess what? You'll eat that instead and you will lose weight.

Nine weeks after I had my baby, I wasn't eating sugar except for a once a month treat. But one night, we had guests over for dessert. As long as I was going to blow it, I chose my favorite cheat...ice cream. I was very proud of the small bowl I served myself. Our friends brought over a dozen donuts. After they left, I had to hide the box in the oven so those glazed goodies would stop taunting me. The next morning, my husband gave the donuts away to a business associate. The leftover ice cream went straight to our neighbors.

That may sound silly but while you're losing weight, you are at war with foods like donuts and ice cream. You must be radical in your desire to lose weight. Health coach Rich Brennan refers to things containing white flour or sugar as poison. If you and your family are committed to weight loss, you must purge your pantry of all poisons.

Maybe you're thinking if you lived alone, this might work. But how can you throw away your husband's food, or worse, your kids? Here are a few suggestions and you can probably think of more.

1. Ask your husband and kids to eat healthy with you for a certain length of time. Try eating healthy at home for one month.

2. Put all the junk food in a big box and seal it up with shipping tape. Store it in a closet and don't open it until a certain date or until you lose a certain amount of weight. Label it clearly, "Do not open before May 1" or "Do not open until mom weighs 130 pounds."

3. If asking your family to give up their junk food is next to impossible, then label the junk food in your house. Put your husband's name on the bag of chips. Your kid's name on the soda can. These things belong to your family; they do not belong to you. They are off limits.

Today's action step: Go to your pantry. Now purge - throw away junk food, label it with your kid's names, give it away to your skinny friends. Go and do it now, before you change your mind!

Arlene Pellicane, mother of a toddler and infant, helps women lose their baby weight and thrive as wives and mothers. Her weekly podcast "Losing Weight After Baby" is full of practical ideas that work for busy moms. An everyday mom herself, you can visit Arlene's website for free articles and exercises at http://www.losingweightafterbaby.com