Did you eat and ENJOY what you ate today?  I mean so many times we are in a hurry and we wolf down our food or watch it in front of the television and just eat without even tasting it.

When you are on a controlled diet you need to think about learning to enjoy your food.  Enjoy the taste, let it roll around on your tongue, smell it, enjoy it.  Hey, we aren't getting to eat a lot here, so we have to appreciate what we are eating.

On that note, my Mom and I just bought a new dinner set of dishes.  Okay, that doesn't sound very exciting, but we want to enjoy the presentation of our food.   We are on Nutrisystem, mostly, and it comes frozen and in little black cartons. UGH.  I can't stand that.  I have to cook them and then take them out of the ugly black cartons and put them on pretty plates.  I want to enjoy looking at my food.  Part of eating is VISUAL so I want to start there.  A big pile of low calorie "things" just piled up on a plate are not appetizing.  Even if they taste good, why don't we start with trying to make them look pretty?  I know that probably sounds silly, but if you can look forward to a meal and enjoy what you are looking at you are going to come away with a more fulfilled attitude.

So, how about turning off the TV, turn off the whatever else is taking your attention and sit there and first of all LOOK AT YOUR PLATE.  Is is attractive, does it make you want to eat it or is it something just thrown together because you were hungry?  Okay, so it is attractive, now is it GOOD for you?  Nachos (one of my favorites) can be attractive, but are they good for me..well, maybe some of the concoction is, certainly not all of it.  So, now we have a certain amount of calories.  Are the calories on your plate you are looking at WORTH the calories they are going to put on your hips?  If yes, then you moved on to number 3.  The third thing is that once you have decided that you have an attractive plate, the calories are good, you want to take the time to taste the food.  Taste it, don't just shovel it.  If you really taste it, you will learn to appreciate it more.  One time I was sick for a month and had only liquids.  Well, one day I was allowed mashed potatoes and they tasted like the best mashed potatoes ever made.  So, I really tasted them, I appreciated them, I even liked the looks of them.

Quit shoveling it in and start enjoying it.  Food is not our enemy.  It is a necessity and can be something we enjoy if we put our minds to it.  Otherwise, you are on a diet and then as soon as you go off it you start grabbing for things you shouldn't have.  You didn't learn to appreciate your food.

Later, Denise