Lidia Bastianich Quotes

How you eat is as important as what you eat. If I eat mindlessly while watching television, I get all of the calories and none of the pleasure. Instead, if I eat mindfully, paying attention and savoring what I'm eating, smaller portions of food can be exquisitely satisfying.

Never eat while doing something else, because you won't get the satisfaction from your food and you'll be more likely to overeat.

Don't even wait until you've lost a pound. The minute you can push the plate away with food still on it, give yourself a pat on the back.

Since the pleasure of most foods is in the first few bites, eat one thing on your plate at a time, at least at the start of the meal when you can concentrate and enjoy the full flavors.

If I eat mindlessly while watching television, reading, or talking with someone else, I can go through an entire meal without tasting the food, without even noticing that I've been eating. The plate is empty but I didn't enjoy the food - I had all of the calories and little of the pleasure.

Thin people release the fork, and they chew the food with the fork on the table. They chew their food slowly. They look around at each other or the wall or a picture. They listen to the music. They sit back and take a breath. They do something other than concentrate on shoving the food into their body.

When you realize the real pleasure in food comes in the first couple bites, and it diminishes thereafter, that's a kind of reminder to focus on the experience, enjoy those first bites, and as you get into the 20th bite, you're talking calories and not pleasure.

When I have dinner, I get off my phone, smell my food, and chew it well.

You have to watch what you eat.

I watch what I eat every day. I mean, who actually eats with their eyes closed?

Do not skip meals. Eat three meals a day and eat until you feel satisfied and comfortably full.

Eating a high-nutrient diet actually makes you more satisfied with less food, and actually gives the ability to enjoy food more without overeating.

When it comes to eating, you can sometimes help yourself more by helping yourself less.

I am vegetarian. I have a sweet tooth, so I try and avoid desserts. I binge maybe once a month. I eat every two hours, whether it is a Marie biscuit or just a slice of apple. As a result, my metabolism has improved, and this is a huge contributor to weight loss.

As an athlete, you're brought up with that mentality that you finish everything you start. If you're going to start a meal, you're going to finish it until the plate is clean. I had to change that mentality to one of where, 'I eat until I'm full and leave the rest.'

Reminded of what a diet really is, I began eating more slowly, being more conscious of when I was full. I started to enjoy my buckwheat bread with goat cheese and pureed butternut-squash soup as a response to real hunger.

If you slow it down, eat in courses, your body, mind, stomach will catch up with this full feeling and you won't eat as much.

I find the less attention I pay to food, the healthier I am.

When I ate slowly and deliberately, giving myself time to consider whether I actually wanted that next bite, I often discovered that I didn't.

I used to eat because food tastes so good. I love food, it's one of the best things on this planet. But I changed the way I was thinking. I started asking myself, 'Hey, am I eating because it tastes good? Or because I really need some more? Am I really still hungry?'

I never pile a plate to the point where it overflows. I'd rather have a small plate with small portions and then get up for more if I'm still hungry.

We need to eat and enjoy it but control it. That's what I do now.

I don't snack a lot, because I didn't grow up snacking.

You can have intense food experience with less food. Europeans have intense food experiences but eat less food.

When you eat mindfully, by paying attention to what you eat, you get more pleasure with fewer calories.