We have all had decades at our hands to understand exactly what foods we like to eat. So, keeping Pooh’s point in mind, it should be easy to choose to eat less of what we don’t like.
“Pooh always liked a little something at 11 o’clock in the morning, and when Rabbit said, ‘Honey or condensed milk with your bread?’ he was so excited that he said, ‘Both,’ and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, ‘But don’t bother about the bread, please.’”
—A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
For instance, Leslie enjoys a pasta dinner, but the sauce is the best part. Taking a smaller portion of noodles and using a little more sauce reduces the calories she consumes by one-third or more.
Pat likes the texture and flavor of bread and mayonnaise in a sandwich, but what’s in the middle is less important. A low-calorie option is to substitute a stack of lettuce and a slice of tomato for the calorie-rich meats or cheeses.
Making your sandwich topless – even PB&J – is a good tactic if you don’t care about the bread. Cutting out a slice of bread will save you some calories.
Identifying what you really want is an opportunity to introduce mindful awareness into your meal planning process. It’s a strategy that pay...