Kitchen Makeover

If you look into your pantry or fridge what do you see?  Potato Chips? Cookies? Oatmeal pies?  Ice Cream?

If the food is there, you will eat it.  Some days you may not fall to the temptation, but other days, you might eat an entire bag of Cheetos. When trying to make a lifestyle change with food, you can’t keep bad foods in the house and expect to not eat it per Dr. Oz. 

So, let’s look at reorganizing your kitchen for weight loss success. 

My suggestion is to start in the pantry and fridge.  Go through and dump or donate any items that are not consistent with clean eating.  “Biology will always trump willpower, so you want to make sure you don’t set yourself up to fail,” says Dr. Oz. “In my home, we go by the 80/20 Rule. Eighty percent of what’s in the refrigerator and pantry are good wholesome foods, and 20 percent are treats that my family and I eat once in a while.”  Now is the perfect time to throw out any expired food and clean the pantry and fridge as well to make room for the fresh stuff.  By removing any food that is a temptation will only help you on your weight loss journey. 

Examples of food to DUMP:

• Fried chicken
• Fried fish
• Pulled pork
• Butter
• Margarine
• Whole milk
• Any vegetables that are fried, breaded, or covered in cheese
• White bread, rice and pastas made with white flour, and sugar-coated cereals. 
• Chips, crackers, pretzels, cookies, pastries, and cakes
• Soda
• Fruit drinks that are not 100-percent juice
• Diet drinks
• Most commercially-made frozen family style dinners, pizzas, desserts and snacks

STOCK up on the following:

• Skinless chicken breast
• Lean ground turkey
• Fish or shellfish
• Grass fed beef
• Olive oil or canola oil
• Coconut oil
• Any fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables
• Brown rice,
• Steel cut oats
• Dark Chocolate or mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Walnuts and almonds
• Naturally flavored water
• Sparkling water
• Coffee and tea
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Fresh garlic
• Other low-sodium seasoning

A few other suggestions:

• Stock up on small plastic food bags, snack containers, and clear plastic fruit bowls for display.
• Arrange prep tools in an easy to reach place. The fewer steps, the better!
• Divide snacks into individual servings and arrange in the front and center of the pantry!

Also, look at the placement of food in the fridge, we tend to gravitate to the food that is easy to access and takes the least amount of time to prepare.  A lot of the time the healthy food, like fruit and vegetables are place in the bottom drawer, out of sight and out of mind.  So I want you to instead place the berries and raw vegetables at eye level.    Apply the same concept to the pantry, place healthy food at eye and chest level. 

Then try the “Replace this with that” approach – ask yourself if you are willing to try a healthier alternative.  Use Agave Nectar in place of sugar.  How about substituting sour cream with greek yogurt?

Making over your kitchen is a quick and easy step towards making a healthy lifestyle change.

Don’t hesitate to message me for additional information and tips on helping you with your own kitchen makeover!!!

Have a great day!!