How to weight-proof your home!

Lets weight proof our home!!!

Youve heard me mention this before, the importance of weight proofing your home, but what does that really mean exectaly? It means setting you up for success on your diet plan by making sure your kitchen is set up to prepare healthy meals and snacks at a moments notice! It involves organizing, getting rid of the junk, and making sure you have the right tools in place and ready to rock n' roll! Lets gets started....

Lets start with kitchen tools...
Make sure you have the right tools to prepare and measure your food and then keep them handy where you can easily access them! Heres a list of the very basics I keep in my kitchen at all times!

• Paring knife
• Vegetable peeler
• Measuring cup
• Food Scale
• Snack size plastic bags/ 1 oz plastic containers
• Plastic 1 cup size reusable containers and 1/2 cup reusable containers

Warning: as my coach says....  Open bags can lead to saddlebags.  

You know that moment when you reach your hand in a bag to grab one quick bite....and then you repeat, you know- just once more....and well...whats once more going to hurt...next thing we know, we've had 2-3 portions more than we need! Yikes! To avoid this- make a rule for yourself that you NEVER eat out of a bag! And then take it a step further and repackage bulk snacks like almonds, into their appropriate portion! (12 almonds is a portion, by the way!) I always try to do this AS SOON as I get home from the grocery store so that way there is no excuse later.

Another HUGE step to weight proofing your home is to rid your home of anything NOT part of your diet! toss it out or donate it to your local food pantry. If its not there, you can't eat it. And no excuses that "you only keep the cheetos and soda pop in the house for the kids"....NOPE! that excuse does NOT fly with this dietitian! whats healthy for you is also healthy for the rest of your family, so have a talk with everyone and say hey- guess what- were ALL getting healthy, and nobody will starve...promise. But soda, chips, cookies etc have NO place in your home!!!

ORGANIZE YOUR CABINETS! 
Did you know that grocery stores are organized VERY strategically down the isles? Next time your grocery shopping, pay attention! I teach a nutrition for weight loss class and when we do our grocery store tour, it NEVER fails! The shelves are organized in a way in which the name brand foods are right at eye level and often the not-so-healthy ones, the sugary coated versions with cartoon characters are lower to the bottom (eye level for kids), and the plain healthier versions are at the very top shelf. When we went with our last group through the grocery store, the perfect example was the snack isle- the cracker jacks were on the bottom- the individual higher priced nuts with dried fruit were at eye level and the top shelf was where we found the plain unsalted raw almonds.

So lets flip this around in our home! Take those healthy foods that you have prepped and put them RIGHT at eye level in your cabinets and fridge. This will help you to make better food choices when your at home! The more fresh and healthy ingredients and snacks you have visible in the fridge, the more likely you are to grab those first!

Keeping quick protein sources on hand is just as important, especially when you are working at building lean muscle!

When you are building muscle, hard-cooked egg whites are a great source of lean protein, and they're easy to prep so they're ready to go!  Boil a dozen eggs on Sunday night (we actually do them in the oven to save time- 325 F for 30 min and DONE) , then peel and place them in a large storage bag.  Now, all you have to do is remove the yolk, dice up your egg whites, dump some salsa in there and BAM!  Or you can just eat your egg whites on the go whole!

Other fast protein sources to be stored at eye level include prepackaged tuna packets.  Though they store well in the pantry, I keep them in the refrigerator.  Who wants a warm tuna sandwich?

Now when you find yourself staring mindlessly into your fridge, you'll see the stuff you should be eating!  It's washed, cut, enticing and ready to go!!

Now lets head the the pantry!
Most of the good stuff gets stored in the pantry, and by good stuff, I mean terribly unhealthy stuff, like chips, surgary cereals, candies, etc etc etc. I say- ditch them. If you cant ditch them for whatever reason (maybe you live with others and they arent yours to be ditching), then put them in the very very top where you wont see them- even better, designate a shelf specifically for that stuff in a cabinet which you will not open. And even a step further- make a note on the inside of that cabinet with a motivational reminder of why you don't eat that stuff! 

Then, load up the other shelves at eye level with the healthy stuff...
So here is what you can find on my shelves:

• Brown Rice 
• Unsalted Raw Almonds, Cashews, Peanuts
• Oldfasion rolled Oats
• Protein Powder
• Shakeology
• Canned Low Sodium black beans
• Canned low sodium diced tomatos
• quinoa
• High quality protein bars

Will you be able to find cake mix and cookies in my house?  NOPE. because if I know it is there, I will eat it. Bottom line.

Lastly, put things where people know to look for them.  I basically stock the same stuff all the time.  I maintain a list and check off what i need.  But there is no mystery.  No one is opening the pantry and expecting a sudden influx of cookies or chips.  Boring?  YES!!!!  Intentionally!!!  You see, if you never knew what you might get when you opened the pantry, you'd go there first!!!  I don't want my family to eat from the pantry.  The pantry is where emergency foods live.  Let's face it, with few exceptions, just about everything in your pantry is processed!  The healthy stuff is in the fridge!!!

So there you have it! all the info to properly and effectively weight proof your home!

Here is a quick start list: 

1. Remove high fat, high sugar temptations- outa sight, outa mind! 
2. Stock up on small plastic food bags, snack containers, and clear plastic fruit bowls for display.
3. Arrange prep tools in an easy to reach place.  The fewer steps, the better!
4. Spring clean your fridge, make room for the fresh stuff.
5. Divide snacks into individual servings and arrange in the front and center of the pantry!

As always, feel free to message me if you have any questions! Till next time!