Today’s lifestyles make it hard to savour every meal we take. We often gulp down our food without truly appreciating it, and we have little time to share a good meal with family or friends. As soon as you can find a moment, either during the week or the weekend, take a break and enjoy it.
To the Kitchen
The time you spend in the kitchen preparing a recipe that you particularly like is a real source of pleasure. Post your favourite SmartPoints-friendly recipes on your fridge and test them as you go. You will quickly find that many delicious recipes can actually help you lose weight. Even if you have never cooked in your life, now’s the time to do it. You’ll appreciate your meal even more if you prepared it yourself.
Put Colours on Your Plate
Cooking is one thing, but you also have to arrange food on the plate to make it appetizing. Combine fruits and vegetables to create new colourful and tasty recipes that will please both your eyes and your taste buds. Seasonal produce provides plenty of choices! Bonus: Colourful fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidants and many vitamins and minerals. You can also play with the colours of starchy foods, grains, legumes and proteins. Cook up a completely red or yellow meal or think up combinations for a tempting visual effect that will have you devouring the dish (well at least what’s in it).
Please Your Senses
Eating is one of the few activities that appeals to all senses, so enjoy it. While cooking, take the time to listen to your dish simmer. Lift the lid on your pot and smell its delicious odour. A delightful arrangement, like colours, is a perfect way to please the eye.
If you watch cooking shows, you already know that. So spending time on the presentation will make the meal even more enjoyable. Break some hot crusty bread in your hands or choose any other finger food. As for your taste buds, they should be content from the first bite.
Prepare a Nice Table
Eating out is fun because someone else cooks for you, while you also get to enjoy a beautiful setting. Rather than feed yourself in a hurry on the corner of a table or off a tray while watching TV, set an impressive table with your fine china and lovely cloth napkins instead of paper towels. Make it so that your meals become a time for celebration and conviviality. If you are single, remember that candle-lit dinners are not only for romantic evenings. You also deserve to pamper yourself a bit.
Take Your Time to Eat
If you took the time to cook the meal and set the table, you should also enjoy eating the food. Savour each bite, feel how the flavours develop as you chew. Take your time, put your fork down between bites, and breathe deeply. Listen to your body to learn whether it wants another bite. After you finish, you will be perfectly satisfied—you won’t be hungry anymore without feeling too full. Remember that eating should be fun.