what is your mantra?

sometimes i have the mind set that i will eat the bar minimum to get by
meaning eat a handful of food every two or three hours and skip the frills except on special occasions.  eat protien first and drink my shakes, and water.

then sometimes the evil twin raises her head and says
"since i have a small tomach - i can eat what i want - just in small portions"  and i end up eating a handful of "whatever" every couple of hours.  i tend to eat half of an egg mcmuffin, a quarter of a hamburger, a hand ful of cookies, etc etc and i throw in some fruit - not because i'm particularly thinking straight - but, because i love fruit and i crave it.

how do i keep the evel twin at bay?

do you know her?
do you have a twin?

what does yours say?

i want to keep the original mindset -
 
do you have a "mantra" that helps keep you on track?

i meant bare minimum - i'm sure that you knew that. 
and by a hand full of food i mean,
a boiled egg
a 1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken or tuna salad
a hand full of nuts
a piece of fruit

these are the days tahat i have my "thinking cap on"

how do you KEEP your thinking cap on - instead of letting your alter ego - lets call her "lazy susan" (no offense anyone please) from taking over. 

what is your mantra?

I noticed that my "evil twin" gets control when/ if I do not eat right: not right food, not enough, etc.  bare minimum - If I ate that - then my body is going to revolt and ask for more. 
I have a control on my eating is - when I eat right, drink my water and eat enough, and in correct combination. 
If I would have 1 egg for a meal  - then follow with 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken salad, then some other- not enough qty food - then the next day - or even the same day - my body is going to revolt and ask for more. 

I also give myself "permission" to cheat - on food that may not be the best for me - but some that I like - and crave.  I do that when my scale is lower that it needs to be.  In the past - when i was still losing - I would have scheduled "bad girl days" and brake the rules.  And surprising - a lot of times that resulted in losing weight (breaking a stall)  and not gaining.  Some of those days end up in a total disaster - pain, being sick, a lot of gas the next day, etc.    So the fun of "cheating" stopped being fun.  The price was too high for me to pay. 
I found "semi-safe foods" that I can sinfully indulge on right now and have only mild consequences.   
 

do you have a "mantra" that helps keep you on track?

Mine is very simple:  Never Again

As for deciding what to eat, that is simple.  Just ask yourself: "Am I hungry or do I just want to eat?"  If you're not hungry, then don't eat.

If you don't know when you're hungry or not, then just eat at 8am, Noon, and 6pm and you can ask yourself: Is it time to eat?  No .... so don't!

Like jlmartin I think all the time "never again" but also about the mindless eating thing. It's really hard to understand if I'm really hungry or just want something. I know there are things going on when I just want something...usually that time of the month thing has a black hole effect where my mouth is (things just travel to my mouth for some reason, sucked there by some unknown or understood force) and that's when the habit comes in...I drink a 24 oz bottle of water before I give in to that urge...or at least I try.

NEVER AGAIN...is a really good mantra, though...I like it.

My mantra:
"controlled cheating"
When my weight is lower than it can be, and I was "a good girl" for a while (proteins, vitamin water)  then I allow myself to have some food that are not necessary good for me.  They are not really bad  - but not that good.

gratitude is my attitude

if I act out of gratitude for my surgery I eat right I exercise and I take my vitamins and am just damn grateful for my second chance at living........