muching while you cook

thust377

I like to watch shows like Hell’s Kitchen or Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals. Everyone samples their food before they send it out, just to make sure it tastes the way it should. Watching them do that and wanting to be a good cook myself, I am able to convince myself that snacking while I cook is the thing I should be doing if I want to be successful. There is difference between me and the people on TV, I tend to sample my dinner 4 to 5 times. Then, on top of that, I do sit down and eat the meal, causing me to eat about two dinner’s worth of food. I had to make myself aware that snacking while I cooked was leading me to gain weight. Many people feel a strong desire to snack while they cook, the smell of the food, or the hunger pains while you wait for the meal are why we munch while we cook. There are ways around snacking while you cook and at the same time saving your waistline from surprised expansion.
Before you even begin to start cooking have a glass of water. This will convince your stomach that you are full and discourage you from snacking too much. When you are hungry being in the kitchen is a very dangerous place, the entire pantry is at your mercy. Take all the things you need for the meal out of the pantry at the same time, and don’t turn back. This will help your temptation of seeing those unhealthy snacks over and over again. When snacking, leaving an open bag on counter while you cook is a bad idea; it will cause you to snack mindlessly handful after handful.
Instead of having the bag of chips or candy open on the counter, snack on food that will make you feel good. Pick fresh crunchy carrot sticks or some other type of fresh produce. Often times when I’m starving and I know dinner will take a while, I’ll munch on grapes, blueberries, or sugar snap peas. These low calorie snacks help ease my hunger and then also prevents me from over eating when my meal is finally ready.
Make sure that you eliminate other temptations while you are cooking. Don’t let a friend or family member stand next to you while you cook and enjoy a large bag of chips or candy, give them a couple blueberries and tell them to go away. Eliminating your temptations will help you stay on track and avoid the pre-dinner munching bug.
Snacking while you cook can be dangerous or beneficial. It can prevent you from over eating at dinner if you keep your snacking in check, or it will lead you to consume more calories than you should. It all depends on what you are snacking on and how much of it. I will continue to aspire as a good cook and sample my food, but in small amounts, so far its worked. If you need to snack while you cook, snack healthy, snack light, and be aware of how much you are eating.

BunnybeeJG

thanks! ya i do that sometimes too... but i've been good lately I snack on the red peppers or veggies instead of sampling a lot of the food itself or i use someone else as my guinea pig so if it tastes horrible haha lol water is a good suggestion tho...

audjrey

I used to sample all my meals before serving them AND then sit down and eat a full meal. I don't do that anymore. Instead, I find that if and when I've over-sampled, I'm simply not hungry anymore so skip whatever meal it is I'm serving. Of course it helps that I don't eat all the same foods as my husband and daughter - I'm almost 100% positive this has helped! My daughter eats meat. My husband is vegetarian and I'm vegan. I prepare three different meals and now when I nibble while preparing foods, it's usually my own dishes I'm cutting into so what does it matter if I eat it standing while preparing it or sitting down with others? I seldom ever make more (for myself) than one portion size anyway - this has also really helped!

I don't buy into the drinking water or chewing gum because it never worked for me. However, that's not to take away from those it does work for. Kudo's to them. I think the key is to find what works for you. You've given some good guidelines but I still think each person needs to find his or her own unique way of doing things.

Thanks for the post!

BunnybeeJG

oddly enough i find myself not really too hungry the more i cook and sometimes its due to snacking I guess but mostly I dont' do that anymore... I love cooking!