Your food journey begins in your kitchen and your weight loss regime depends not only how you make your food but also on how and when you eat it. A lot of factors in your kitchen contribute to your eating habits – the size of your plates, the food stock in your pantry or refrigerator, your choice of foods on the counter, etc.
Keep in mind the below listed pointers so as to make slight changes to your kitchen and watch yourself clearing your diet goals with ease.
1. Use Smaller Plates
Keep a check on the size of your plates and try to use a smaller plate when you eat. This can reduce your portion sizes, thus helping you eat a lesser quantity of food. By putting adequate portions of food in small serving bowls on your plate along with the main course, you reduce your main course and increase the portion size of your soups and salads. This enables you to reduce quite a bit of your calorie intake and eat healthy too.
2. Use Dim Lights
Bright lighting can elevate stress levels and stimulate appetite, making you eat faster and more than usual. Use a bright light when you cook, but do not forget to dim the lights when you eat. Call it mood lighting if you wish! The idea is to reduce your intake in all possible ways.
3. Keep It Clutter-Free
It is tough to function effectively in a messy kitchen. We tend to grab whatever we set our sight on in order to satisfy our hunger pangs. A clutter-free kitchen makes it easier to plan a healthy meal and not indulge in ready-to-eat junk food. The trick is to organize your kitchen efficiently and allocate a proper working space, storage space and a space to eat too if possible. This, in turn, shall not only help you grab your desired ingredients easily, but give you more time to plan healthy meals too. The idea is to keep healthy snacks in easily accessible places.1
4. Stock Up Healthy Foods Only
Instead of stocking your kitchen to the brim, it is always better to watch what you are buying. You might end up purchasing unnecessary stuffs! The more food you have in stock, the more difficult it shall be to resist temptation! Make sure you buy and stock healthy food and that too only in desired quantities.2
5. Arrange To Showcase Fresh Produce
Studies show that just seeing tempting food makes people feel hungrier. It also causes the release of dopamine, a brain chemical that produces a feel-good sensation and may intensify a particular craving.3 Make it a point to cook and buy healthy food. Your kitchen might be well-stocked with all that you need, but why not arrange it better? Keep healthy stuffs such as fresh fruits, nuts and low cal snacks in easy-to-spot locations. Remember not to overstock as we all know that food is healthier and tastier when fresh.4
6. Keep Gadgets At Bay
At any cost, do not have your meals with your phone or tab on the kitchen table. Catching up the latest flick or your favorite television show during your meals are a strict no-no. The reason being, you are bound to lose track of how much you have eaten and might end up eating more most of the time. In order to pay attention to what you eat, it is advisable to keep away from all your gadgets and entertainment while you finish your meals.5
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