Doughnuts, chips, cookies and fried chicken are tempting, especially when they are lying in wait on your kitchen table or countertop. Create a nutritious, healthy food environment so you do not blow your diet, stay on track with your training program and move closer to your weight-loss and fitness goals. Leave the junk food at the grocery store, buying or making such treats once in a while. Cooking your foods at home promotes and enhances a healthy eating environment because you can use nutrient-rich whole grains and lean meats instead of unhealthier options.
Step 1
Clean up your kitchen and spruce it up with pretty colors, creating a welcoming cooking and eating environment. Decorate and organize this health-essential part of your home so you actually want to prepare your food and sit down to eat it. Throw the trash away, wipe your countertops, and move your paperwork and junk mail to another room.
Step 2
Tackle your pantry and your cabinets. Donate the snacks to your local food bank, church or nearest relative. Get rid of easily accessible sources of added sugar, salt, saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. Commercially packaged foods generally have plenty of trans fats, which raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol, according to a 2007 article by registered dietitian Janet Brill published in "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal."
Step 3
Revamp your refrigerator. Trade your full-fat dairy for skim milk and low-fat cheese. Nix the butter for cholesterol-lowering margarine. Fill your drawers with apples and oranges, which keep well for a month and travel easily. Stock your freezer with packaged chicken breast and salmon you can thaw and cook as needed, without the mess of a whole chicken or fish.
Step 4
Wash and chop your weekly veggies during the weekend. Store them in green veggie-saver containers so you can easily cook them throughout the week. Getting much of your chopping done and out of the way makes it easier to create healthy food when you are short on time, especially when it is easy to swing through a drive-through.
Step 5
Invite your family and friends over, serving healthful foods instead of dining out. This healthy eating environment avoids social undermining of your attempts to eat better. Gatherings with family and friends who do not share your health interests decrease your chances of reaching your weight-loss goals and increase the likelihood you will regain weight you have lost, according to a 2009 article by Dixie Stanforth, and Michael Mackert, Ph.D., published in "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal."
Tips and Warnings
- Place a banana hanger on your kitchen counter to keep your bananas from ripening too fast. Use measuring utensils to accurately portion your foods.
Things You'll Need
- Green veggie-saver containers
References
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.; September/October 2007
- Mayo Clinic: Heart-healthy Diet: 8 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Social Undermining of Healthy Eat and Exercise Behaviors; Dixie Stanforth, and Michael Mackert, Ph.D., May/June 2009
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