(Carrick Pharmacy News) The fridge is where the food is. So, if you’re trying to eat healthier, take a hard look at your fridge.
With a few simple strategies, you can reorganize your fridge to turn it into a tool to help you eat a healthier diet. Here are the strategies to try:
Keep the Healthy Stuff at Eye Level
If your fridge contains carrots, apples and chocolate cake, put the carrots and apples on the shelves that are at eye level, where they will be most visible. It’s simple human psychology: If you see it, you’re more likely to eat it.
Put the Sweets in the Back
Using the same psychological guidance we discussed in the previous tip, put all the sweet, salty and generally less healthy foods as far away from your line of sight as possible. Usually, that will mean placing them toward the back of the fridge and on the very low or very high shelves.
Stock Up on Healthy Condiments
Salsa, hot sauce, spicy mustard and similar condiments can add a lot of flavor to your food without making it much more caloric. If you have lots of options when it comes to tasty condiments, you’ll have plenty of ways to spice up healthy food that might otherwise bore you. That makes you less likely to reach for the tastier but less healthy foods in the fridge.
Pack Your Freezer with Pre-Made Foods
One of the biggest barriers to healthy eating is cooking. To make a complete meal with whole grains and veggies requires a lot of preparation and cooking time, and most of us are short on time in general. The unfortunate result of that is that we tend to reach for pre-made foods that are almost always less healthy than foods cooked from scratch.
So, try this: Next time you’re making quinoa, beans, brown rice, sautéed vegetables or something similar, make more than you need. Then, freeze the extra. That way, the next time you’re ready to eat, you can reach right for the frozen healthy foods in your freezer and simply warm them up.
Refrigerate Soda Replacements
Sugary sodas can quickly wreck your efforts to eat a healthy diet. But sometimes, it’s tough to quit sodas cold turkey. The nice thing is that you can replace soda with carbonated water, low-sugar sports drinks, iced tea or a similar healthy replacement.
Encourage yourself to reach for the healthy soda replacement by making sure your fridge always has a cold drink ready for you to grab. Be thoughtful about refrigerating your soda replacement of choice, and leave any sodas out of the fridge if possible.
Talk to your health care provider before making any major changes to your diet.
