Out of curiosity what's your "reality-check"? I get to a state half-in-half-out where I can sort've feel my body and everything is black then I just sort of fall into 'unconsciousness' if I so choose - at which point I'm lucid-dreaming.
I bite my hand. If there is no pain, then I am dreaming.
My mom had once told me that she had a bad dream where someone grabbed her, and she bit the person's hand and it was like biting through dough. One night, during a dream, I remembered this and bit the area between my thumb and my index finger and there was no feeling.
Also, food has no taste when I am dreaming. It doesn't even really have texture.
