MAKING YOUR DINNER INTO A FINE DINING EXPERIENCE.

Make your dinner into a fine dining experience that is just not focused on food. Do NOT just fix you or your family's meal, then head off to watch TV. Use your meal as quality communication time with your spouse, partner, or family. Enjoy the food you ARE eating. Take time to taste each bite rather than hurrying to get done. Your body will appreciate the time to process the food, PLUS, your brain will catch up and shut down the hunger pangs. If you eat too fast, your brain will still send out signals that your still hungry. So SLOW DOWN! Savor each bite. Shut the TV OFF! So try having at least four or five days a week with a meal at a table. Make it a special event. If it is just between you and your spouse or partner, add a candle or flowers. How about that special place setting? Don't store your good dishes, use them! When you go out to a restaurant, you want that special presentation, so why wait to go out? Do it at home! Stop having an all you can eat buffet, and make your meal special and savor your every morsel.

If you don't know portion size, you might want to get a food scale and weigh out your items at first so you can familiarize yourself with portion size. You'll be surprised at the amount that you have been eating! Again, ordering prepared and prepackaged meals from online is certainly an advantage when it comes to portion size, monitoring calories and quantities of food. They are especially helpful for those binge eaters and chronic over-eaters who do not know how to portion their meals. It helps make you conscious of what you are eating. If you don't have children, it might be a good habit to make the kitchen off-limits for a couple hours before bed time.