When it comes to weight loss, it is affected by several important factors. From a balanced diet, regular exercise to a strong will. It is the last mentioned factor that can destroy the intentions the most. If you have a strong will, proper eating will be easier for you and the appetite for exercise will be stronger. So how do you strengthen your will to eat properly? For example, with the right organization of the kitchen!
How to organize your kitchen for successful weight loss
Kitchen organization is really important for success in losing weight. Food selection in your refrigerator will affect your tastes. Their correct alignment also plays an important role. How to do it? Check out 10 tips for proper kitchen reorganization for weight loss!
Place the food at the right place
Placing healthy foods in the places that are most visible is guaranteed to be the most important point in organizing your kitchen. Many people tend to store the food they consume most often on the shelves at eye level. If you are a fan of unhealthy treats, and these shelves are full of chips, sweets and junk food, you are doing wrong. According to studies, our diet is affected by what our eyes see and what foods we have within reach. Even another study showed that women, who had to walk 2 meters for a piece of chocolate, ate only half the chocolate bar. On the contrary, women who had chocolate in front of them and did not make any effort to get it consumed it in its entirety. [1] [2] [3] [9]
Fortunately, healthy food have the same effect. If you place fruit in a shelf or bowl in front of you, you will consume it more often than if you had it stored somewhere in a higher shelf. Therefore, consider moving less nutritious foods to the highest and lowest shelves, and place healthier foods such as nuts, fruits, nut butters and whole grain crackers or snacks with lower sugars and fats in the best available shelves. By rearranging your kitchen, you can eliminate the temptation to reach for unhealthy snacks and prevent overeating.
This principle also works with regard to storing food in the refrigerator. However, transparent containers designed for storing fruits and vegetables are often out of our view and our view in the refrigerator first falls on the middle shelves. Therefore, try to store fresh food in these shelves, and store the remaining less used food in boxes at the bottom of the refrigerator. If you want the vegetables to stay fresh longer, you can put them in closable containers, preferably with air supply. You then store them on the middle shelf and not only save space, but also stimulate your appetite for healthy food. [1] [2]
Do not store food on the kitchen counter
Are you one of those people who prefer to leave food on the kitchen counter instead of putting it aside? We often say that “I will use these foods again soon anyway”, so it can easily happen that chips, caloric sauces, sweet treats or cooking ingredients are left on the counter. It was in the first point that we explained that the foods that are within reach of the eyes are the most consumed. According to a study in the journal Health Education and Behavior, women who regularly kept calorie drinks on the kitchen counter tended to enjoy them more than those who stored drinks on shelves. [2] [3] [4]
This is also true for healthy foods. They also contain calories, for example sugars in the case of fruit and fats in the case of nuts. If you overdo it, and every time you eat a piece of them as you walk around, it will have the same effect as eating junk food. Everything needs to be eaten in moderation, so put in the effort and put the food in the shelf or refrigerator where it belongs.
Choose the right kitchen utensils
According to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, careful selection of kitchen utensils leads to more lenient dietary decisions. A typical example is an ordinary ice cream scoop. In the mentioned study, the participants who took ice cream with a colored and decorated spoon, ate 22% more ice cream than those who used a regular scoop. [3] [5]
This is because attractive products that are not only useful but also pleasing to the eye stimulate our minds to reward. In the case of kitchen utensils, it is a reward in the form of food. Therefore, reach for ordinary but effective kitchen utensils. [3]
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Check portion sizes
A healthy and nutritionally balanced diet is the basis for weight maintenance or even weight loss, but it should not be exaggerated even with it. As with all meals, you should keep track of the portions you eat. Too much a portion contributes to overeating and unwanted weight gain. But why is portion control so important? [1] [2] [3] [6]
Benefits of portion size control
- it ensures better digestion – too large a portion contributes to improper digestion. The digestive system works best when it is not overloaded with too much food. The right portion will also help eliminate bloating after a meal.
- it maintains a balanced blood sugar level – overeating can lead to blood sugar imbalance as the body is overloaded with glucose. This can eventually lead to insulin resistance insulin resistance.
- it satisfies physical hunger – physical hunger satisfies your basic needs for the optimal functioning of the body. The right portion size will ensure that it is satisfied, and you will avoid overeating.
- it helps with weight loss – the main benefit of consuming smaller portions is their impact on weight loss. If you choose balanced meals in the right portion, you will consume fewer calories and get rid of unwanted kilograms. [6]
But how to control the portion size? Many fitness applications for counting calories or food weights are guaranteed to help you with this, but kitchen scales and measuring cups are also an effective tool. Keep them on the counter so that you can see them every day. The most common reason why we stop counting calories and weighing or measuring portions is the fact that we are bored of weighing food all the time. However, if the weight is in a visible place, in many cases we will overcome our laziness. [2] [3]
Choose the right kitchenware
You already know that portion size on a plate is a handy step to follow a weight loss or diet. However, if you do not have a kitchen scale at home, or you simply do not use it, you probably determine the size of the portion of food by looking or “by eye”. However, we definitely do not recommend this in the beginning of weight loss. Therefore, buy plates and bowls that can determine the amount of food. In specialized stores, you will find kitchenware, thanks to which you can determine exactly how big your side dish should be and how much meat is suitable to eat in one serving. You can also reach for smaller plates than their usual size. Studies have confirmed that people who used plates with a diameter of about 17 cm ate much less than participants who ate food from plates with a diameter of 25 centimeters. It has also been shown that if you eat ice cream from a larger bowl, you tend to eat more of it than if you ate it from a smaller bowl. [7]
Choose the right spices and seasonings
Most people have the spices that they commonly use when cooking at their fingertips. In the kitchen, they hold a place of honor somewhere by the stove or on the kitchen counter. But do you know how many calories they contain? In the following table, we have looked at the most common seasonings, spices and sauces, and their calorie content per 50 g: [2] [8]
| Salt | 0 kcal |
| Chilli grounded | 141 kcal |
| Curry | 162,5 kcal |
| Basil | 11 kcal |
| Ketchup | 56 kcal |
| Mustard | 33 kcal |
| Mayonnaise | 340 kcal |
| Calorie-free sauce GymBeam | 0 kcal |
For maximum weight loss success, try replacing these ingredients with low-calorie and calorie-free seasonings and sauces.
Regulate the number of unhealthy snacks
When buying groceries, we often do not avoid unhealthy foods and snacks ending up in our basket. If you really have to have them, try to limit yourself to buying only one unhealthy snack at a time. Therefore, instead of a combination of chips, popcorn and salty sticks, choose only one variant. When entering the kitchen in order to satisfy your tastes, you avoid the possibility of choosing and overeating. [1] [2]
Buy a Teflon pan
One teaspoon of olive oil already holds about 120 calories. Now think about how much oil you actually use to prepare meals. Are you scared? The solution to this problem can also be to replace conventional pans with those in which it is not necessary to use oil and the food does not bake. Such can be Teflon or ceramic pans and pots made of quality materials. Your food will still remain juicy and supple. [1] [2]
Don’t buy XXL food packages
Buying a large pack of chips at a good price may seem like a good idea, but it can ruin your weight loss efforts. If you are not going to a party, you should choose smaller food packages. You can also avoid a situation where you say to yourself: “I just have to get there, it was for a good price and I don’t want it to go wrong!”.
Keep a reference in the kitchen
Despite all the advice we’ve outlined above, is your appetite for unhealthy food stronger than you? As we mentioned in the introduction, a strong will is the basis for adhering to all fitness goals, and weight loss is no exception. All you need is a little motivation. Write your goals on a piece of colored paper label and place it on a refrigerator or shelf where you hide snacks. Whenever you see your goal written “black on white”, it reminds you that you must not slow down in your efforts. [1] [2]
There are really many tips on how to organize your kitchen for weight loss success. We have selected for you exactly the 10 most efficient and the least physically or financially demanding. We believe that they will help you on your path to a better Self. If you want to help your other friends lose weight, don’t forget to share this article with them.
[1] Julia Malacoff – 10 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen For Weight-loss Success – https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/10-ways-to-organize-your-kitchen-for-weight-loss-success/
[2] Julia Malacoff – 15 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen For Weight-Loss Success – https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/15-ways-to-organize-your-kitchen-for-weight-loss-success/
[3] Nicole Yorio Jurick – How to Organize Your Kitchen for Weight Loss – https://www.shape.com/weight-loss/tips-plans/how-organize-your-kitchen-weight-loss
[4] Brian Wansink, PhD. – Slim by Design: Kitchen Counter Correlates of Obesity – https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1090198115610571
[5] Journal of Consumer Research – https://www.jcr-admin.org/index.php
[6] B J Rolls – What is the role of portion control in weight management? – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4105579/
[7] M. Peng – How does plate size affect estimated satiation and intake for individuals in normal‐weight and overweight groups? – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5598018/
[8] USDA – https://www.usda.gov/topics/food-and-nutrition
[9] Noriko Sudo, Dennis Degeneffe, Houa Vue, Koel Ghosh and Marla Reicksc – Relationship between needs driving eating occasions and eating behavior in midlife women – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2637563/
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