Sink Your Teeth Into This Dental Weight-Loss Plan: Brush Away Sweets Cravings
Cheryl McDonald
| 2 min read
October is National Dental Hygiene Month, so I want to share one of my best weight-loss tips.
What’s the connection, you ask?
Two years ago, when I decided to lose an extra 10 pounds I’d been carrying around for years, I became aware of the fact that I did my worst eating after dinner. That’s when my own personal “cookie monster” would get a powerful grip on my will power and derail an entire day’s worth of good efforts.
Cookie monster had many friends — brownie monster, for example. And brownie monster occasionally enjoyed a date night with ice cream monster.
One night after dinner, an old friend called just as we finished putting the dishes into the dishwasher. That phone call interrupted my usual smooth transition from dishes to dessert.
By the time I got off the phone, the clock indicated it was time for the tooth-brushing phase of the evening (which usually follows the dessert phase by about an hour). And, by the time I remembered cookie monster still owed me one, I had no desire to sully my just-brushed teeth with more food.
“Eureka!” I had found the secret to killing my after-dinner sweet cravings — and could practice good dental health at the same time. So now, my after-dinner routine is to brush and floss before dessert. It might work for you, too. Why not try it and see?
When I told my dental hygienist, Angie, about my plan for pairing dental hygiene with dieting, she agreed it was a win-win idea.
Does it work every time? No, but it works about four nights out of five, because I’m too lazy to brush and floss a second time — and because the taste of toothpaste usually satisfies my sweet cravings.
Now, if someone would just invent chocolate-flavored toothpaste!
How do you beat your sweet tooth cravings?
Photo credit: strawblue
