You have to be strong enough to say “No, thanks, Grandma, I don’t want any more lasagna,” even if you’re afraid she’ll take it personally. At times, you’ll have to say “No, sweetie, I’d rather eat at home tonight,” when your partner wants to go out to a restaurant. If you normally go out with friends on Friday night, you might have to decide to stay home alone. While you’re learning to eat normally, you have to say “no” to people and situations that trigger emotional eating behavior or overeating. You won’t always have to say “no” to everything, but while you are trying to change your eating habits and stay in control of what and how much you eat, you must be firm when it comes to destructive situations or you’ll never reach your goals. You know just how easy it is to fall back into old eating habits or fool yourself into thinking “just this once.”