Last week we did an article about things people wanted to control, and right up at the top of that list was none other than our weight. Even more than relationships, most of us would rather be able to control our weight.

One thing that most diet counselors tell us is that when it comes to matters of weight, there are a few things we must do. The first one is the big one. We must control our caloric intake. In other words, take in fewer calories then we expend. And one of the best ways to do that is to eat smaller meals more often. Bill Phillips, in his book "Body for Life," recommends that we eat six smaller meals a day, and that we stay away from those midnight snacks. He also suggests that when we get hungry, and we find we're eating for emotional reasons, that we distract ourselves. And that's where our How To comes in. Our How To is structured to help you distract yourself, and keep you out of the refrigerator when you don't need to be there.

Some ways of distracting ourselves would be to drink a large glass of water as fast as we can when we feel like snacking. They say that water may cause us to feel full, and therefore lessen the need for those potato chips. You could also listen to some music for twenty minutes or so. Maybe you could even do a little dancing. You could write a letter to someone you trust and outline your feelings at that moment (even though you probably won't mail it to them), or whatever it takes to break that pattern of snacking.

One thing we know for certain is that it helps to have our family, friends and significant others involved in our efforts. That helps empower us, and gives us the strength we need from others in the event that we may not have that strength ourselves.

So here's a How To that will help you bring in your partners when it comes to those late nights, or that bored feeling you get in front of the television, and you're just dying to head over to the fridge, or into the cupboards.

For this How To, you'll need the HawkEye Motion Sensor and a Transceiver. We'll also experiment with some other things you can try that may help too. The point here is to make it fun, and maybe silly. One option you can try is setting up your motion sensor to trigger a mariachi band, or a wave file that you find particularly funny and/or poignant. The point here is to interrupt the pattern, and make that interruption more fun. Before you know it, you'll be shedding those pounds like dead leaves off a tree in September.

1. The first thing you'll do is set up your motion sensor near the refrigerator and the cupboards where you store your food. Place it where the opening of the door will trigger it.
2. Set the HawkEye to detect motion anytime, day or night (by default, the HawkEye is set to detect motion at all times).
3. Plug the transceiver in to an outlet.

   For the next step, there are several things you can plug into the transceiver. You could plug in a tape deck with "play" pressed down and the power on. Then when the motion sensor detects motion, it will play the tape. We recommend you choose fun music; maybe some dance music so you feel more like dancing rather than munching.

   Another thing that might be fun here would be the RoboDog. Every time you open the refrigerator, RoboDog would go off and bark at you to let you know he knows you're there. Or you could use a simple chime, just to alert other household members that you're on the prowl, and that their loving support is needed in the kitchen.

4. Whatever you have decided to use as an alert, plug that into your transceiver. Make sure that you have the right address on both the motion sensor and the transceiver so that everything will work as it's supposed to.

You can do this with macros in ActiveHome and XRay Vision as well. You can be as elaborate or as simple as you feel you need to be, the choice is up to you.

Once again, keep this fun. After all, you're not giving up food; you're just pursuing that glorious body you've always dreamed up. Have fun with it.

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