How to stop yourself eating whilst cooking!?

[Mayzimoo]

How to stop yourself eating whilst cooking!?

Every time I cook dinner I'm so excited/hungry that I've basically eaten a portion before it's ready! Any remedies much appreciated.

[Subtle_badger]

A couple of thoughts:

* Factor into your calorie allowance a "starter" and eat that before you start cooking.

* Don't cook when you are hungry! Do most of the prep for tomorrow night's dinner the night before, after you have eaten. Eg, if you are having curry, make the curry the night before and then you are only heating the curry and cooking rice. Or prechop the stir fry ingredients.

* Or get a slow cooker, and put on dinner before you go to bed or in the morning.

[Mayzimoo 7lbs in reply to Subtle_badger]

Yes I try to get away! I think also I'm going to get my partner to do more cooking so I spend less time in the kitchen!

[Sheperdess Maintainer]

It’s so easy to nibble as you gather everything to gather to prepare meals, isn’t it? Subtle_badger has some nice ideas that I will add to: perhaps you could 1) pour out a drink (from your allowance) to sip on when you are tempted 2) walk away or go upstairs for a short distraction 3) ask one of your family to help with one of the preparation steps? Good luck 😉

[Hidden]

This has always been my problem Mayzimoo ! I have a couple of ways which work for me, and I try and ring the changes. One way is chewing gum while I prepare meals. It gives your mouth something to do, and the peppermint flavour spoils your taste buds for nibbling. Another thing I do sometimes is eat my dessert, before I start dinner! If it is a planned dessert, you aren't spoiling your calorie count or whatever plan you are on. It works if you don't mind missing out on dessert while the others are eating theirs. I always start to wash up while my husband eats his pud, if I have already eaten mine, and it doesn't bother me. Good luck!.

[SewMore Restart August 2024]

How about having a glass of water or cup of tea ready next to you, and take a drink instead of a bite? Good luck 👍

[Mayzimoo 7lbs]

You are all a wealth of help - thank you for these tips SewMore Hidden Sheperdess Subtle_badger - will try them all out - gum/mints is a great idea and also having a cup of tea is good (although often makes me want to eat biscuits). I love slow cooker meals so will do that too, I love to just bung everything in!

Thanks all! x

[Lorna2204 2 stone]

I have 2 solutions, 1 is more fun than the other.

1. You could make sure you weigh things to make the exact number of portions you require, so that anything you eat is then taken away from your portion. This is the harsh remedy. It also takes more time and planning. Less fun than solution number 2.

2. Put on some music to sing along to whilst you cook. You can't sing with your mouthful! Or listen to a fun podcast, you will be distracted by the story or chat and won't be tempted the same. I love a good podcast whilst I'm cooking.

[Mayzimoo 7lbs in reply to Lorna2204]

Love this

[Mayzimoo 7lbs]

Love this!

[Hidden]

Miso soup is great. You make it by adding boiling water to miso paste in a jar from a big supermarket (in the Asian section). It has loads of flavour, is sort of a starter, will hydrate you, and manage to have virtually no calories or nasties in it for something so nice. It’s also a fermented food & there’s a school of thought that says fermented food can help us lose weight by changing the bacteria in the gut. Not quite sure how that works, but hey.

It’s massively trendy too, so you can even be cool as you cook...

[Thecabby25]

I keep a tub of sliced mushrooms and cherry tomatoes in the fridge, both low calorie and low carb, it helps your eating without the guilt

[Doing4me]

Eat a raw carrot 🥕

They take ages to get through, are good for you and barely any calories ! 😎