6 Simple Ways To Lose Weight (Even If You Love To Cook)
By Albert Hong
Producer’s note: Someone on Quora asked: How can I lose weight when I love cooking? Here is one of the best answers that’s been pulled from the thread.
They say ounces are lost at the gym, but pounds are lost in the kitchen.
Unfortunately, unlike the gym, as you have discovered, it works the opposite way in the kitchen as well and pounds can easily be gained.
Since your problem revolves around the fact that it is very hard to cook a single person’s portion and you end up with more food than needed for yourself, which then subsequently tempts you to eat more than you should, here are some obvious actions that will help you with your situation:
- Start inviting friends or offer to cook for both you and your roommates if you have them. It’s easier to cook for 2 or 3 people than it is for 1.
- As soon as you are finished cooking, portion it out immediately into tupperware and put everything in the fridge except for the one portion you plan on eating. It’ll make you feel guiltier about reaching for another portion and discourage overeating since it’s pretty annoying to have to walk over to the fridge, pull out another tupperware container, reheat it, eat it and then wash an extra container afterwards. Sounds painful just typing this.
- As others have mentioned, do the obvious: watch the calories, use less simple sugars and carbs, etc. Also de-emphasize spicier foods in your diet as you tend to be able to eat more than you would with bland dishes.
- Use smaller bowls and plates for the same portion size. It will optically look like you are eating more and — believe it or not — has been proven to have a significant psychological effect on your perception of how much you have eaten.
- Eat less.
- Drink 3 glasses of water before every meal. It will take up a lot of preliminary room in your stomach and make you feel fuller, much faster. Besides, you probably need it anyway, even if you weren’t trying to lose weight as most people do not drink enough water.
Good luck!