A couple of weeks ago I went to Nevada to visit my family. A few days before my visit, my mom called to say she had made two batches of chocolate chip cookies for me. Now I was in trouble. Growing up, homemade chocolate chip cookies were one of my main food groups. No wonder I shopped for clothes in the “husky” section at Sears.

Now I had a dilemma on my hands — a week at my parent’s house with two batches of cookies. Luckily, I had recently read research showing that after eating three bites of food, taste buds become bored. In other words, the sweet tooth is satisfied. Now I had an opportunity to put this new knowledge into practice to battle the sweet tooth I’ve had since childhood. During my visit, I enjoyed one (or two!) cookies a day.

Here’s how you can rein in your sugar cravings:

1. Smell your food before your first bite. This technique can help you to be more satisfied with fewer calories.

2. Slow down and swirl. Chew slowly and swirl the food in your mouth. Eating slowly and really tasting the sweetness may reduce your desire for more sugar.

3. Pull your cookie out of the bag and then put the bag away. Out of sight, hopefully out of mind.

4. Eat your cookie and then promptly go and brush your teeth.

My tips on how to say good bye to your sweet tooth.

Eat a high protein breakfast. Eating sweet carbohydrates in the morning like a bowl of sweet cereal or a big glass of orange juice will just drive your body to crave more sugar all day long. My favorite high protein breakfast is a bowl of high protein cereal, such as Kashi, with 1% milk and an ounce of nuts. Or one or two eggs on whole grain toast.

Stay hydrated. I find that if I get dehydrated, I get tired. And when I get tired, I start to crave sweets in an effort to raise my energy levels. Solution: I drink a glass of water right when I get up in the morning, and I always have a glass on my desk throughout the day.