6 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen for Weight Loss

How you set up your kitchen can make a substantial difference when it comes to losing weight.

You don’t need an entire kitchen overhaul to make a difference. Many revamps take just a minute. Here are 6 simple ways to start:

Make It Easy to Reach for Healthy Foods:
We tend to eat more of what’s staring us in the face—and a container of M&Ms on your counter will just wear down your willpower until you give in and take a handful. Make healthy snacks like nuts, pre-cut veggies, fruit, and Greek yogurt easy to grab when you’re hungry.

Hide the Junk Food:
If you must keep treats in the house, stash them where you don’t see them all the time. Chocolate candies can go in the freezer, for example, and place other candies or unhealthy foods on hard-to-reach shelves.

Stock Your Spice Rack:
Spices and herbs are bursting with flavor. That’s why research shows getting creative in the kitchen and adding them to foods can help replace some fat in your cooking.

Buy Bigger Flatware and Smaller Plates:
Sounds strange, but a study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that using a big fork may help you eat less, possibly because larger bites provide a visual cue that you’re making progress on your plate (and are getting full). Couple that with a smaller plate and you’ll find that your brain might trick you into feeling full faster on less.

Keep Cookbooks Visible:
One of the secrets of slim people is that they cook at home often. It’s the best way to control what goes into your food, and it allows you avoid those massive restaurant portions. To encourage the habit, don’t keep your cookbooks hidden in a pantry. Display them on your counter as a reminder to try a new recipe tonight.

Stay Organized
You have a pile of pots and pans that practically falls on you when you open the cupboard. Eliminate those you don’t need (particularly old, scratched non-stick pans) and keep the rest tidy. When healthy habits are made easier, we’re more likely to do them—and that includes keeping the tools we need for a nutritious meal organized.

Are you Hungry??

I hear this SO many times, challengers saying they ate their dinner and could eat another meal because they still feel hungry! Many times it takes your body a little bit longer to recognise that it is full. However you also may be doing certain things that are causing you to feel hungry.

You Skipped Breakfast:
If you skipped breakfast, or didn't have enough of it, your blood sugar levels have probably spiked a few times throughout the day - leaving you feeling hungry and craving food. The trick is to make sure you are eating a big breakfast, filled with fiber and protein. My breakfast of choice Shakeology.  It's full of nutrients and a quick on the go options. This keeps me feeling full throughout the WHOLE day!


Drinking Soft Drinks:
Drinking sodas, juices and other drinks that are high in sugar can reduce blood flow to and activity of the part of the brain that regulates our appetite. Fructose, in particular, can trick your brain into thinking that your body needs more food, when you have already eaten. It does this by slowing down the body's ability to use leptin, a hormone that let's us know when we are full. So skip the soft drinks, especially at meal times, as they are essentially empty calories and provide you with no nutritional benefit.

You Are Dehydrated:
Sometimes we may be dehydrated and not even know it. If you are slightly dehydrated you will feel the same way as when you are hungry, and most of the time it is hard to tell between the two. If you are still feeling hungry after dinner, try drinking a glass of water and see how you feel in 15 minutes.

You Didn't Eat Your Greens:
Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, collard greens and swiss chard are rich in folate which helps to protect against weight gain and fatigue. They are also high in Vitamin K which helps to banish food cravings by regulating blood sugar levels. Making sure to eat your greens will fill you up and also provide your body with tons of nutrients it needs. Make sure to load your plate up with these!

Boredom:
Sometimes you are not really hungry, just bored. If you have eaten a satisfying dinner consisting of whole grains, protein and salad then you should be feeling pretty satisfied. However if you are bored you may feel "hungry" because you are looking for a distraction and something to do. My tip is to go for a short walk after dinner, it will help encourage digestion and get you out of the house!
 

Detoxing Debunked

There are many different types of detoxes, some of the most popular ones being juice cleanses and herbal tea detoxes. With juice cleanses, most of the time you are required to only drink either home made juices or expensive pre-packaged ones, such as cold pressed juices. The trouble with this is that juice cleanses don’t encourage you to eat real food, they work on the idea that drinking enough water alongside the juice will “cleanse” you and help you to lose weight. Yes, you may lose weight, but probably not the way you were wanting to. Been there done that!!

If you are depriving your body of essential amino acids (protein) and fatty acids, and important minerals. Sometime your body can compensate by getting these nutrients from your body’s own stores, such as muscle tissue for protein. Protein is a vital nutrient and your body cannot survive without it. Losing muscle tissue can slow down your metabolism, meaning you burn fewer calories. So once you finish your cleanse, you may be at risk of gaining all the weight back, if not more.

It is important to remember that different food groups provide you with different nutrients that your body needs, so cutting out entire food groups isn’t always healthy. For some, this may cause you to feel tired and unable to think clearly, amongst other symptoms. Cutting out several food groups as part of a detox is certainly not an effective long term solution to weight loss, as you will often be losing water weight and muscle, rather than fat.

At the end of the day, what I want you to realize is that there are no quick fixes. Even if your goal isn't weight loss but you just want to make sure your body is running at 100%, here is the best solution for you.  The 3 Day Refresh! 

The 3 Day Refresh is a 3-day program of specially formulated shakes, easy-to-prepare clean meals, and healthy snacks that have been scientifically designed to help you break the cycle of bad eating habits, lose weight, detoxify your body, and dramatically improve the way you feel—without starving! So yes, you actually EAT on this program.

I have done the 3 Day Refresh about three times now.  Each time I feel debloated and have lost 4 pounds each and every time.  With continued healthy eating and 30 minute exercise after the cleanse, I have been able to maintain that weight loss every single time.

For more information, watch this quick 3 Day Refresh Video!