My Boyfriend Snacks and I'm gonna be in Trouble

Its hard to stay on a good diet plan when you are in love - every night becomes date night. And it becomes even harder when you move in together. What was once an evening treat has just become a sweet fourth meal.

When I first moved in with Ben, I was on a strict diet of no meat or dairy and low sugar, low starch. But now, I'm a chip dipping, gelato devouring, ice tea drinking little piglet.

I have heard the same from countless girlfriends of mine. Unless you are lucky enough to hit it off with a crunchy granola type, its so easy to slip into bad habits. Its kind of like the freshmen fifteen. The common-law ten? Doesn't have the same ring to it. And while Ben will deny this to the death, when we first met, he was pretty much a meat and potatoes guy (we have even argued over if potatoes are vegetables).

So recently, I decided that enough was enough. I was going to kick it off with a cleanse and get back to the real me. So for those of you in the same situation, I found the following steps have helped immensely:

1. Put your foot down - my therapist says in every healthy relationship the woman (or feminine energy) dictates its direction. He says in all of his years of practice, he has observed that the most functional relationships have occurred in the ones in which the female is clear and reasonable about her requests while the male complies. You know why I like this therapist eh? So I made it known: All shared meals had to follow my diet's guidelines or at least have options that would.

2. Give them a drawer. Or in my case, a three-shelf cupboard - Now, I couldn't strip Ben of all his treats just because I have, so I gave him a snack space to call his own. Somewhere he could stash his Oatmeal Cookies and Miss Vickies, and I don't go into...ever.

3. Keep tabs on yourself - My uber-healthy co-worker gave me this tip of keeping a food journal. Many Naturopaths have made me do this as well to track my eating habits. It is an excellent tool which can provide many insights like: I overeat when I eat too late, or Gee, I really don't drink much water. It is also best for your body to eat at the same times everyday to regulate digestion, so this also helps you keep track of if you have eaten at the right times.

4. Buddy up - It is so much more motivating when you have a friend who is doing the same thing you are, and feels less bad when you cheat together... When Kat and I did our cleanse together, it was not only great to swap recipes, but also more fun. We made an activity of lamenting about our cravings together as well as discovered purple quinoa together.

5. Send them to your Naturopath/ Eastern Medicine Doctor - I paid for a consultation with Dr Sharma and it was the best $90 I spent this year. I have been telling Ben to lay off the bread for years (not for his weight - those who know him know he's a strip of paint, but for his dehydration), but when it came from Dr Sharma, something new resonated with him. He has completely cut out drying breads and opted for Oatmeal in the morning instead of toast as well as hydrating, nutritious soups instead of sandwiches. Its also way easier for me to cut out bread because we no longer have delicious ciabatta buns around the kitchen.