I pretty much avoid this whole problem by saying things along the lines of (and sometimes all together in this order): "I am dreaming"; "This is what it feels like to be dreaming."; "This is what a dream feels like."; "This is a dream."

The purpose of this is to be conscious and mindful of the present moment. If you think about it, even when we are "conscious" throughout the day, we rarely seem to be mindful of the present moment - we are always caught up in the past or the future. So when we mindfully say things like, "This is what it feels like to be dreaming," it forces us to be conscious and mindful of the present.

And the idea is that when you replay this in a dream, if you do it in waking life being conscious and mindful of the present, you will become conscious and mindful of the present in the dream (lucid).

This is something of a Buddhist methodology. (ok it is a Buddhist methodology; being mindful (of the present) is an important point to Buddhist teachings) It has worked fairly well for me when I have practiced it.