What is your favorite dish? The truth is thatYou don’t have to lose interest in your favorite foods to lose weight. What you really need is to change your attitude to food. Start with the pleasant: take a piece of paper and write down all the foods you find delicious. Estimate the damage these foods will do to your diet. Then, instead of giving up on the entire list, realize that you should include all these little pleasures in your life. But include them wisely. Less, less often… From the entire list, choose what you simply cannot resist, and then plan when you will give in to these little temptations. For example, you usually eat a large bowl of ice cream every night. In your plan, reduce the bowl to the size of one glass or a cone from the store. Then choose a time for ice cream. Let it be one day of the week, not every day. But when that day comes, you can go beyond the low-fat variety and grab your favorite. The same trick works for your favorite wine, cookies, or French fries. Knowing that your favorite food is waiting for you on a certain day will make you look forward to it all week. Knowing that you'll get yours eventually will make you less likely to crave the "forbidden fruit" the rest of the time.
Fight unconsciousness!Have you ever eaten a chocolate bar and then wondered where it went? Or looked down at your empty plate, not noticing how its contents had disappeared? It’s not a matter of a bad memory or not enjoying your food. You just weren’t aware of what you were eating. To overcome the habit of unconsciously eating, stop often while eating and concentrate on the taste. This way, you eat little, but feel not only the taste of the dish, but also every bite in your mouth. Force yourself to take no more than half a teaspoon of food in your mouth and chew it for a long time, feeling the taste, smell, texture and even temperature. With each bite, convince yourself that food and even the very possibility of eating is a pleasure. The next time you order yourself an amazing dessert, savor it and notice every detail of the taste and every bite you eat.
The Two-Bite Rule You may neverhave you noticed this, but the first two bites you eat taste the best? If you continue eating after you've eaten these best bites, you're just "feeding yourself." Of course, if you haven't eaten in a while and really need a boost, then eat - it's justified. But if you're eating for pleasure now, remember: the food won't be any better or tastier than it was at the start. Instead of extra calories, why not take advantage of those moments when your taste buds are really working? If you're eating a favorite dish, eat the first few bites slowly, trying to savor the flavor as fully as possible. Notice details of flavor, like spices or crispiness. Close your eyes and give yourself over to the taste entirely. This way, you really learn to love the most delicious first bites, and then stop and refuse the rest without hesitation. A Test for Love You love all these dishes so much... Or is this "love" just a result of self-hypnosis? After all, often in search of a source of pleasure, we choose food as something easily achievable and relatively safe (unlike smoking and alcohol, for example). For this exercise, order your favorite dish in a restaurant or the most delicious cake in a pastry shop. Eat a piece, and then rate it according to each of the proposed criteria:
•Taste.How did you find the dish? Mind-blowing? Wonderful? Just okay? •Temperature. Is the temperature appropriate for the type of food? Or was the hot dish lukewarm, and the ice-cold treat closer to room temperature? •Consistency. Is the chocolate cake moist and rich? Is the steak soft and juicy? Are the mashed potatoes flavorful and tender? Because sometimes the cake is dry, the steak is overcooked, and the mashed potatoes taste like pancake batter. Is it what you wanted? Try again and see how you feel. Are you disappointed? What didn’t taste good at first won’t taste any better by the end of the plate. Is the food worth eating? This is a question every food lover should ask themselves. If a dish is truly amazingly prepared, feel free to eat it all and enjoy it. But never waste your holiday calories on something you don't enjoy.
