How Food Preparation Can Affect Your Weight Loss Efforts

When trying to lose weight, you need all the help you can get! Start at the beginning, before you even bring food into your home and plan every step thereafter; not only will this reduce the number of calories you are likely to consume, it will help ingratiate healthy habits into your subconsciousness. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Make meal planning a regular event. Knowing exactly what you're going to have for dinner should eliminate a lot of the normal temptations involved; sit down once a week and carefully schedule what foods you will be enjoying each night. Use this time to plan portions and account for calories, and you have taken a big part of the weight loss battle by the horns before you ever sit down to eat!
2. Change how you shop. Have a well-thought out list consisting of beneficial foods that don't contain a lot of fat, calories, sodium or sugar. Make sure you know how you're going to use the foods too; don't just buy because it says "low-cal" on the label. Limit the time you spend shopping to avoid impulse decisions in the more indulgent food aisles and never, ever go grocery shopping when you are hungry!
3. Start preparing foods using better methods. Baking and steaming foods can save you an abundance of calories over fried in oil or butter and are much better for you too. Use a non-stick spray if you do decide to break out the frying pan, instead of something unhealthy, and try adding zing and flavor with interesting spices. Serve vegetables raw with a low-fat dip and you've got a fast and healthy replacement for traditional calorie-laden side dishes that use cheese and butter.
4. Invest in a new and smaller set of dishes. Over the past few decades, plate sizes in America have grown considerably and that can deceive us into eating more than we should. A smaller plate will look fuller with less food on it and help you to automatically control your portion sizes. Garnish with healthy parsley to make it pretty, take up space and aid in digestion too.
5. Make dinner a time of conversation. Setting out a big meal and letting everyone just dive right in leads to eating too quickly and long after becoming adequately full. Add candles and conversation to set the pace and take some of the focus off of rapid face-stuffing. This can be a great time to learn more about what's going on in your children's lives or catch up on the romance with your significant other.
Changing your entire approach to food can help you lose weight more effectively and develop very healthy habits. Try to re-think the things you are neglecting in the process of food preparation, and you will probably find quite a few habits that add up to extra calories and a lot of room for improvement. Use these tips to make positive changes and hopefully, attain success in your weight loss efforts!