Kitchen: How To Make It a Clean Healthy Eating Haven

The Kitchen

If you are looking to get fit and be healthier this coming new year, then there is one thing that people often forget about; their kitchen! You might have heard that abs are not only made in the gym but also in the kitchen. So by making a few small changes, you can make sure that your kitchen is set up for a health kick.  Little changes in the kitchen can make it easier to make healthier choices. It will help weight maintenance, as well as weight loss. Which after the holidays, we all need, right? It will help with your overall health too when your kitchen is prepared and looked after in the right way. Here are a few ideas for you. I hope they help and make a difference in your life.

Kitchen refrigerator

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Clear Out the Fridge

If there are unhealthy things in the house, then it only makes sense that you would eat them. If you go to the fridge and there are cans of soda in there, will you have the willpower to choose a glass of water instead? Think about swapping out soda, as they are full of sugar and artificial products, for green tea or sparkling water. Not only do the cans of pop lead to weight gain, but they can cause you to get bloated too. Something like an iced green tea is full of antioxidants. That can boost your metabolism, and it can even help you to burn fat. Alongside exercise, of course. So replace the things in your fridge that have no nutritional benefit to you. Replace them with ones that do, and you’ll be feeling (and looking better) in hardly any time at all.

Get a Water Dispenser or Filter

In order to make sure that you are drinking plenty of tap water. A water filter jug or a dispenser in the fridge will make it much easier to reach for a glass of water. We need to have around nine or ten glasses of pure water a day. So make your kitchen a place that makes drinking water accessible. You could always just fill your fridge with (BPA-free) bottles of water if tap water isn’t your favourite. Then there are no excuses for not drinking plenty of water. You could always have some lemon sliced up and stored in a baggie for the week. Then you could add a slice of lemon for a little lemon twist on a morning. The point is just making sure that it is easy for you to drink water. So choose what would work best for you.

Give Your Kitchen a Thorough Clean

There is nothing that stops you from your normal routine like getting sick. One way that we can get sick is from food not being prepared right, or being prepared in a contaminated environment. So in order to prevent those two things, you need to give your kitchen a thorough clean. Choose a surface cleaner that kills bacteria. Make sure that you replace the cloth that you are wiping with (disposable wipes might be the best option). Otherwise, you’ll be spreading the germs and bacteria all over the kitchen, rather than helping the situation. Make sure that the kitchen gets cleaned properly regularly too. Clean the fridge, breadboard, food cupboards, and chopping boards too. They can be breeding grounds for bacteria when they are just left to it.

When it comes to safe preparation of your food, it could be a good idea to get a new set of chopping boards. You can get some that are colour coordinated for their use. Some should only be used for meat, some only for fish, one just for bread and one just for veggies. The same goes for utensils and knives too. Then you can avoid the risk of cross-contaminated when it comes to food. If these procedures are followed, then it should make a big difference to your overall health and sickness levels. Getting sick can really throw you off your game. So keep as healthy as possible. If you need some more information about food safety, then there are lots of resources online. You could learn at Unsafe Foods how to make sure your food is prepared in a safe way, for example.

kitchen storage containers

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Weekly Preparation and Chopping

One thing that a lot of people report that stops them from choosing healthier options is that they can be awkward to prepare. How much easier is it to grab a bag of chips, rather than some carrot sticks? So if you are serious about making a change to your health, then you need to get on meal and snack prepping. It might take one hour, once a week, to prep the things that you need. It will involve some chopping and put them together in storage containers. Make a container full of hummus or a homemade guacamole or dip. Blend up smoothie and put in packs that could freeze. Then you just need to put them in a blender with coconut water or juice. There is no point prepping things that you dislike or won’t eat, though. So be realistic and prep the things that you like.

Get Some Storage Containers and/or Bags

You could also put together some lunch packs or salads. Then you can just grab them each morning. Pinterest has lots of different salads that can be stored in jars with lids or in lunch boxes. When they have been prepared ahead of time, it makes it much easier to make the choice to be healthy. One great tip is to make more than you need. Then you could freeze the rest for the following week, for example. You could make up some sugar-free energy balls and keep them in containers. Then if you need something sweet, it will be easy to just grab them and go. So take the time to prepare your food each week, and you’ll notice how much easier it is to make healthier choices.

kitchen gadgets

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Get the Gadgets

In order to make your life easier in the kitchen, you do need a few of the right kinds of gadgets. It will make meal prep much easier. When things are easier, you are more likely to stick to them. You should make sure that you have a blender in the kitchen for sure. Then you can make smoothies and even things like soups, dressings, and sauces. A food processor is a good idea too. A blender and a food processor do different things, so they both are needed really. Food processors are much better for dry ingredients and for making things like your own nut butter or energy balls, for example. A blender usually don’t have the strength or power to do all of that, as they are better with wet ingredients.

A Spiralizer or Peeler

If you are looking for healthier eating options, then a spiralizer or julienne peeler is a big help. You can make zucchini or carrot noodles with them, as well as sweet potato fries, for example. A blender and a food processor are pretty low cost. So having one of them in the house is a great idea. Then you can have low-carb pasta and spaghetti meals really easily. Other gadgets you might like could be a stick blender, to whisk up things like egg whites really quickly. Then you can have an egg white frittata in no time. It might be a good idea to get some silicone chocolate moulds. Then if you are making some raw chocolate, you can set them in moulds and eat like you would any other bar. Again, it just goes back to making things easier. When they’re easier, you’ll stick to them.

Play Music

Music has been long shown to destress. And when it comes to being healthy, it isn’t all just about physical health. Mental health is an important part of that too. So playing some of your favourite tunes in the kitchen can help you to relax and unwind. You could even dance around the kitchen while water boils up, for example. Hey, no one will be watching!

Make your kitchen a place that you will want to spend time in. Then you’ll learn to cook and eat better, as well as improving the relationship that you have with food. It will make such a difference to your overall health, and you’ll reap the benefits in no time.

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