This isn’t a blog post about why you should eat healthier. If you haven’t realized that by now after the years of being bombarded by messages about the subject, nothing can teach you at this point.
This article is about how you’re going to eat healthier, or rather, how you can make it easier for yourself to cook healthy food without falling into old habits. Not all these tips may work for you, as your situation or even kitchen design may vary, but try out what you can and see what difference a few simple changes can make.
1. Leave The Kitchen
Let’s start with a bang: Use kitchens for cooking only. Don’t loiter, because when you do you’re more liable to start snacking. Cook, serve, get out. You have other rooms to eat in, so go there. You’ll find you’re eating less and losing weight without any effort. And effortless dieting is what we want.
You’ll lose weight without the anguish of being near food and not being allowed to have it. It’s a win-win all around, especially if you factor in the quality time you’ll have with friends and family if you all sit down for a proper meal rather than a rushed bite in the kitchen.
2. Don’t Serve At The Table
We grew up with it. Everyone sits around the table and the food is in front of us on platters and serving trays and such. It looks great and it feels very homey, but it’s also making you fat. You have a tendency to help yourself to seconds more often if you serve that way.
Serve from the counter or stovetop instead and you’ll find yourself overeating a lot less. Again, effortless dieting is the best dieting.
3. Use Smaller Tableware
This is a weird one, but by serving food on smaller plates, you’ll feel fuller sooner. Restaurants have been doing it for years and it seems to work just fine for them. You can go the whole hog and make your serving and baking trays smaller, as well as getting smaller pans, but just the plates should do as well.
Having smaller cups is also a great way to cut down on coffee consumption, if you ever feel like you’re getting tetchy from overdosing on caffeine. Give it a shot. Fooling your brain this way really works.
4. Display Healthy Food
As the last example showed, your brain is crazy and is very easy to trick. By displaying the healthy food you have in your house, you will be more prone to eating it as you build up an appetite for things you can see rather than those you don’t.
By seeing food you’ll want to eat it; you can’t help it, it’s the way we evolved. Make sure what you see is stuff that won’t make you balloon and you’re already winning the battle.
5. Hide Unhealthy Food
In extension of the last tip, make sure you hide junk food at the same time as displaying the healthy stuff, as you’ll find yourself more inclined to eat the food on display rather than go rummaging around your cupboards looking for unhealthy snacks.
Besides the main reason outlined above, if you do go looking for stuff you put away on purpose, you’ll probably feel a bit foolish while doing so, making it less likely you’ll actually eat it. Try it. It really works!
Hopefully by following these tips, you’re on your way to a happier and healthier you without too much fuss or anguish; good luck and keep up the good work!
