Cheat Sheet

Even though these shows usually present chefs cooking in their home kitchens and making recipes that the audience can copy in their own kitchen, the end results for the hosts are almost always highly polished and look beautiful. Even the more down-to-earth shows like Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals that are aimed at audiences with less time and cooking resources show very aesthetically pleasing food that might not match what viewers make at home. Food styling is the practice of manipulating food to make it look especially good for an audience, and food stylists are dedicated to making a plate of food look amazing. Like any piece of art, your plate shouldn’t be too sparse or too busy, and you want to think about the colors on your plate (yet another good reason to eat fresh fruits and vegetables!)

“Affirmation-type meditations can help increase confidence because they pull you toward what you’re wanting to create in life,” says Elsie Storm, M. A., transformational life coach and spiritual psychologist. The goal of any mindfulness technique is to achieve a state of alert focused relaxation by deliberately paying attention to thoughts and sensations without judgment, and [by] allowing your mind to focus on the present moment,” Kosh says. As you get to the end of the week, notice what’s changed in your speech, and pay attention to how you’re feeling and the kinds of responses you’re now getting from others around you. The point of the practice is to become more efficient at noticing what’s happening in your own body moment-to-moment without any judging going on,” Kosh says.