Daily Mail Online featured an article last month which mentioned a few changes that you can make in your kitchen to control your eating habit.
According to the article, entitled “How your kitchen could be the key to weight loss success: Diet experts reveal five ways Feng Shui can help your waistline”, studies have shown that the room where food is stored, prepared and cooked can make or break a diet.
Because of our hectic work life, people tend to overload their kitchen with supplies of food and drinks. When they shop, they will pick up items from the grocer that they do not require, especially junk food. And when they bring home the items, they are stocked in the pantry, or left on the counter space, sometimes for weeks or months until they expire.
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese way of looking at our homes and the placement of items within the home that works along with us to maximise our own life force and energy.
Constantly walking into a dirty, messy kitchen and not having space to prepare and make food can be stressful.
Even if your kitchen is small, organise it the best you can. Keep the room sparkling clean because it symbolises wealth.
Keep your freezer, fridge and pantry well stocked with healthy food. A well-stocked fridge and cupboard symbolise abundance. An empty fridge will cause you to feel angry and grumpy as you think of what next to do. If the fridge has food or fruits that are spoilt/rotten, discard them immediately. Wipe the inner parts of the fridge and re-stock again with items that you are most likely to consume everyday.
Tips shared by experts with Daily Mail Online on how people can turn their kitchen into a gut-busting tool.
1. Have a calorie guide on the fridge
Hanging up visuals that display the calorie content of people’s favourite comfort foods of a muffin could encourage people to stick to their weight loss goals.
Colourful graphics that reveal how much calories are in high-fat, low-fibre products could deter people from consuming them. This means a chart hanging on the fridge displaying the sugar, fat and calorie content of a piece of cake will make someone think twice about getting a second slice.
2. Plenty of counter space
A tidy and spacious food prep area will make eating healthier second nature.
“Lack of food preparation space people get turned off by cooking healthy meals,” said registered dietitian Paul Salter.
And there’s science to back this up. A 2016 study published in the journal Environment and Behaviour revealed that being in a messy kitchen could double a person’s calorie intake.
3. Keep spices next to stove
Many people are hesitant about swapping their burger and fries for a quinoa-based meal because they think it’s bland, said Salter.
Having herbs or spices within arms reach could help with that.
Registered dietitian-nutritionist Wendy Kaplan said that in addition to “upping the ante” of a dish, spices can also substitute sugar and salt.
Furthermore, many spices have been proven to help people lose weight.
4. See-through containers
Storing fruits and vegetables in glass jars or food storage containers is a weight loss tactic.
“When you see what you have, you’re more likely to use it,” said Kaplan.
5. Keep stirrers near stove
Spoons and stirrers located in the kitchen makes cooking more appealing.
Salter says doing this enhance efficiency and makes cooking at home seem like less of a hassle.
