Treat Your Food Like A Date - You Want Them To Come Dressed Up And You Give Them Your Undivided Attention.

When you start keeping a food diary, you might notice something annoying.  While you were busy preparing your dietetic, possibly gourmet dinner, your snacking accumulated to almost as many (hopefully not more!) calories as your dinner - with more of those calories coming from sugar and fat.  You ask yourself - How was I able to sit down and eat an entire meal?  Why was I still so hungry?

For me, part of feeling satisfied is psychological.  My mind has to acknowledge and process the fact that I'm eating in order for it to know that I've had my fill.  Therefore mindless, absentminded eating will accomplish nothing but extra pounds on the scale.

The more attention I give to my food when I eat, the faster I feel satisfied, and the longer I feel full.  This means no reading the paper or checking my e-mails, no food on the go.

I sit down - even if I only have five minutes, and I really try to enjoy my food.  Part of the enjoyment for me is the food presentation (thanks to you Dad), as well.  A nicely set plate (china over plastic any day), filled with an appetizing meal can take me a long way.

And if I need some mindless snacking?  Plan ahead.  The night I made the dinner shown in the photo, I put some extra string beans in a bowl on the counter to crunch on while I finished up with the cous cous and tuna steaks.

I crunched away, my mind registered nothing, but I registered in my food diary with no guilt or disappointment.