Binging while cooking dinner

Anyone have any suggestions on how not to ruin my day by binging while I cook dinner?  i'm in the kitchen a few minutes ago and I just pick and pick and pick.  Help!!

Was it a binge?  Really?  Or a chunk of cheese and a few biscuits?

Cut up the vegetables first and help yourself to some raw ones.  It's tough to binge on carrots or raw mushrooms.  Or plan an afternoon snack so that you're not starving hungry when you're cooking.   And make yourself a hot drink... a cup of tea, for example. 

Why don't you try chewing some gum or sucking on a cough drop while you cook? 

I too suffered with this problem, just couldn't wait to get stuck in. You notice I say suffered! My solution was a tip from someone on CC actually - I make myself a cup of sipcy or really savoury low cal instant soup (55 cals) and use a soup spoon to drink it ffrom the cup. I find that this gives me the savoury taste I long for. I also keep a stick of celery to one side and take a bit of this every now and then. I hope this helps.  Dess 

chew sugar free gum when you cook

i just started counting calories and noticed right away that cooking was posing a problem since i'm the type of cook that seasons my food "to taste".  meaning i literally had been in the habit of tasting the food until it was seasoned to my satisfaction. well, with this CC, depending on how long it would take for my food to reach my satisfaction level, i could rack up quite a number of calories before i even actually sat down to eat.

what's worse is when i'm preparing something for my family and not myself. unplanned calories, or what's worse unknown amounts of calories since i haven't counted these calories b/c i hadn't planned to eat this food!

so what i came up with to solve this dilemma is that i will season the food once myself and then have my husband season it "to taste" if necessary. problem solved.

but also, just being in the kitchen also brings unexpected temptation. i eat celery all day everyday and this really helps while cooking in the kitchen. the sugar free gum is also a good suggestion. i usually chew that while i'm driving.....to replace the sunflower seeds that used to be my snack of choice on the road.

 good luck.

Ooooh this is defiantely a problem I have too. I like the suggestions about chewing gum (too bad I hate gum) and celery sticks. My problem is I love to cook - maybe even more than I love food which is saying a lot! - and also taste as i go. And when prepping foods i love - like cheese - I tend to snack on what I am working on. ANd whatever else is lying around.

Two strategies I use to combat this: 1. As I log ALL intake, I make myself log each peice of cheese or cracker or spoonful of sauce as i eat it. It's really inconvenient so I avoid doing it in the first place. Calcualting the content of one crispy mini is a pain! 2. If I have done a lot of tasting and not logged it, I don't beat myself up - I just reduce the amount I allow myself for dinner (eg., count what I eat plus 10% for the prep).

I have found the most useful tool I have is to log everything I put in my mouth. Not only has it been really useful in showing me where there's need for improvements (I made a lovely spreadsheet for meeting daily and weekly targets of calories, fat, carbs, protein, fibre and sodium as well as charting weight loss) but also, I don't sweat the small stuff. When you record it all, it's easier to keep things in perspective and not freak out over a peice of cheese.

Thanks.  I need to get over the oh, i'm in the kitchen I need to eat mentality.