Give your kitchen a healthy makeover

How to Give Your Kitchen a Healthy Makeover

When you stock your kitchen with healthy and nutritious choices, you will be more inclined to make healthy choices consistently! So give your kitchen a makeover!

Where to Start:

  • Identify foods in your kitchen that support and don't support your goals. Identify foods that should stay, go and need modification.

Red Light Foods: Foods that can go:

  • Identify trigger foods, or any other type of unwanted foods.
  • Remove foods that don't support your goals and/or are expired.
  • Ask the following questions to help you make informed choices. If the answer is "yes", you may want to consider how frequently you incorporate those foods into your diet.
  • Does the food come in a bag, box or package?
  • Does it have more than a few ingredients on the label?
  • Is it hard to pronounce most of the ingredients?
  • Is the food product very far removed from what it started as? Example: Tomato sauce started as tomatoes. But what did Doritos start as? If you're not sure, decide if you want it in your kitchen.
  • Does the food have a long shelf-life? Many things that are good for you go bad quickly.

Yellow Light Foods: Foods you're unsure of or can be modified:

  • Is there a way to "upgrade" certain foods, such as making salad dressing from scratch instead of using store bought?
  • Do certain foods in small amounts make it easier to eat green light foods? Example: If a few croutons or a splash of store bought dressing make it easier to eat salad, keep it.

Green Light Foods: Foods You want to keep & add

  • Keep the foods already in your kitchen that support your goals, and stock any of these foods you're missing!
  • This is also an opportunity to buy kitchen gadgets that would be helpful such as knives, cutting boards, a slowcooker/Instant Pot, a blender, or food containers.

Having Trouble Identifying Trigger Foods?

  • If you need help identifying foods that should stay and go, use a food journal to help you see how your immediate environment shapes your eating habits.
  • Example: If you find yourself snacking on chips late in the evening, would it be easier to just remove them from your home?

Where Does Alcohol Fit In?

  • Keeping or removing alcohol from your home is your choice.
  • If you're hesitant to throw alcohol away, consider donating it to a friend!

Food Waste:

  • You'll most likely be getting rid of food in your kitchen. If you want to minimize food waste:
  • Take items you're removing to a food bank if possible.
  • Compost plant-based items.
  • If it's junk, it's not food. Toss it. No harm, no foul.

When You Share a Kitchen with Others Be collaborative! This is a great opportunity to:

  • Get kids involved in discussing healthy habits and to act as "kitchen helpers".
  • Get family/housemates on board with your goals
  • Find newer and healthier recipes to utilize
  • Check out these Recipes for simple & delicious ideas!

To help guide you we offer Nutrition coaching that starts with building sustainable habits then dials in your macros.

 

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