12:56:27 Ever find yourself staring into the pantry, grabbing whatever is easiest? Usually not the healthiest choice, not something that you think you'd lose weight eating.
12:56:36 You're not alone. Today we're talking about how a clutter-free, well-stocked pantry can make healthy eating so much easier.
12:56:44 And help you lose weight without feeling restricted. The truth. You can eat anything, but some food combinations will help your body feel better and keep you moving toward your goals.
12:56:56 That is a key truth I want you to know. I want to know, what's your biggest struggle? Pantry clutter, too many tempting snacks, not knowing what to stock up on? Let me know. I want to help for sure.
12:57:07 So let's talk about this. Step one, I want you to make your pantry work for you.
12:57:12 This isn't about banning foods or throwing everything away. It's about setting up your kitchen so it's easier to make your choices that help you feel good. The good, better, best approach. You might have heard me talk about this with specific foods.
12:57:26 Let's talk about this with your pantry. Good, it might be just turning to whatever is available or eating out. It could be pizza or it could be the frozen pizza. It could be the bag of chips, whatever the easiest thing is, right?
12:57:39 Better, it might be making a simple swap, something that might increase protein. Maybe instead of chips, you have popcorn.
12:57:46 You have something higher in fiber, something that gives you some satisfaction.
12:57:51 Best, it could be stocking your kitchen with foods that help you feel full, energized, track and even like on track with your goals. It might be fruits, it might be vegetables or a beef stick. I don't know, but it's something that's going to leave you feeling your absolute best and able to lose weight.
12:58:06 So ask yourself, does my pantry make healthy choices easy Or am I constantly tempted by foods that make it harder?
12:58:16 What's one food you find hard to resist when it's in your house? Let me know for sure.
12:58:22 Mine, Girl Scout cookies. It's that time of the year right so We sometimes order them. We haven't ordered them the last couple of years. And if my husband is, he hasn't brought them home.
12:58:34 But yeah, it's one of those that's harder for me to just have a couple because you only get them once a year. So you've got that FOMO going on, right? Your fear of missing out if you didn't get some.
12:58:44 But yeah, Girl Scout cookies would probably be one of mine. And mine would be like the thin mints. I love those thin mints. Ice cold, put them in the freezer, cold, cold. I don't even like milk, but a cold glass of milk with frozen thin mints.
12:58:56 All right, step two, creating a supportive pantry. Sometimes the best gift you can give yourself is not having certain foods in the house. And it's not because you can't have them.
12:59:07 Sometimes we just don't have them for now. That doesn't mean you can never have them, but maybe they become foods that you enjoy at a restaurant or a special event.
12:59:17 Or when you truly want them instead of being a daily temptation.
12:59:22 So the declutter process. The first thing I want you to do, just check expiration dates. Is anything old or stale? Just throw it away. No guilt. We don't need to eat old or stale food.
12:59:33 The next one, move temptation out of sight. If you want to keep them, put them on a higher shelf or in the back or maybe in an opaque container that you're not able to see. I've done pretty much all of these things. And so my husband came home one day and all of his favorite foods, all of the snack foods that felt too tempting to me.
12:59:53 Got moved so that when you open the pantry door, they were on the bottom shelf behind the door.
12:59:58 And I had to, I knew they were there. I'm the one who moved them, but I didn't have to see them every time. So it was a decision I didn't have to make every single time.
13:00:07 The other thing I did was I put some of the small candies and the snacks and things like that in a plastic container and it is, it's kind of white.
13:00:15 I know what they are. And I put a note on there for myself. Are you really hungry? Did you plan this?
13:00:21 Is there something else you want? And then that note he thinks is hilarious. But every time I would even like be tempted, it would give me just enough pause To be like, is this really what I want?
13:00:31 All right. The other thing, make healthy swaps. Instead of fully removing things, upgrade to a version that fits your goals better.
13:00:39 So over time, as you build confidence around food, confidence, not control.
13:00:45 Confidence around food, you may find that you can keep more variety in the house without feeling like it controls you. Yeah, as you build confidence, you do have that ability to build control.
13:00:59 So answer me this. What's one food you've learned you prefer to keep as let's call it a restaurant or an event only type food.
13:01:08 Is there something that you'd add to that list? A lot of times the desserts are mine. I don't really want a bunch of desserts in the house. I feel like I need to finish them. Where if I go out somewhere, I need a little bit and it's delicious and I don't usually even bring it home with me. If I do.
13:01:22 I know it's one piece that's going to be gone. Some people I've heard of, they do the candy bars. Like if they go to the store and get a candy bar, they enjoy that one candy bar, but they don't have a
13:01:34 A bowl or a drawer full of them anymore. All right, step three. Ready? Stock up on the better and best choices so that it makes easy meals.
13:01:44 That makes it so much easier, right? So life happens. Plans change. Time is short. Let's make sure that you have easy, realistic options on hand.
13:01:54 That support your goals. So some great grab and go staples.
13:01:58 Protein, maybe some precooked chicken, canned tuna, Greek yogurt, protein shakes.
13:02:02 If we're looking for things with fiber or whole grains, maybe we're looking for oats or like the whole grain swaps like for your bread.
13:02:10 Brown rice, quinoa packs. I love those ones that are already, they're microwavable and you just heat them up. It's already all the work's done for me. I just add something to it or serve something over it.
13:02:21 Healthy fats, stuff like nuts and nut butter, hummus, avocado cups.
13:02:26 Let's think about convenient snacks because those are a lot of times are the ones that we want to grab at, right? So maybe a cheese stick or some air popped popcorn. Air popped popcorn brings me back to my childhood. Of course, I think my parents covered it in melted butter, but like air popped popcorn was my favorite thing to watch all the little kernels pop up and overflow through the
13:02:47 Container. So another one are some flavored roasted chickpeas. I know some people who roast the chickpeas and they put like a powdered flavor packet on it, whether it's a ranch dressing or something maybe spicy or savory.
13:03:01 All right, so this is how we're going to talk about better, best swaps. So we probably all know what a good is, right? Good is anything that we enjoy eating.
13:03:11 Maybe if we're looking at a good being like a sugary cereal in our pantry.
13:03:16 Better might be a high protein granola. Or best even could be oats with cinnamon and nuts.
13:03:24 Let's think about white bread. White bread might be a good option, right? It's in our good category. Better could be whole wheat. Best could be maybe a One of those sprouted grain breads, or maybe we don't even have the bread and we decide we're going to use
13:03:39 Lettuce wraps instead. And then my favorite, buttered popcorn, right? So maybe better would be a light.
13:03:46 Popcorn, light butter. Maybe the best would be the air popped with the seasonings we talked about. So which of these better best swaps would you try first? Is there something I didn't think of? I would love to hear what you're thinking.
13:03:58 Step four, make healthy choices easy. The easier it is to grab something healthy, the more likely you'll do it.
13:04:06 Use clear containers for your healthy stuff. Store those healthy snacks where you can see them.
13:04:10 Create a go-to shelf. Keep quick protein packed snacks at eye level.
13:04:16 Have a backup plan. When plans change, keep a frozen meal or something easy proteins to add to foods on hand.
13:04:24 So what's one pantry hack that has helped you eat healthier? I'm always looking for new hacks, so send me all of your information there, any of your ideas.
13:04:34 All right, you ready for your pantry challenge? Your mission, if you choose to accept it. Clear out three items that don't support your goals.
13:04:42 These could be easy and be expired foods and stale foods. It could be things that you're like, I just I don't want to eat this. I love to take a lot of that stuff and just donate it. If it's not been opened yet, it's an easy donate.
13:04:55 Restock with three things. That could be easy for you. So easy to lose weight, easy for you to be a grab and go, things that you're going to feel proud of having instead of the things that you're getting rid of.
13:05:09 Organize, this is your third step, organize one pantry shelf to make healthy choices easier. Just make it so it's easier. It's more upfront. The other things are farther away, whatever it's going to look like. So clear out three items that don't support your goals.
13:05:23 Pick three items that will make make eating easier for you and do support your goals and then organize one pantry shelf.
13:05:31 Three quick, easy things. And those will be your pantry challenge.
13:05:35 You should do that. It would be fun. You could probably do it in 15 minutes. I imagine you'd feel really great sitting down tonight knowing that you already did that.
13:05:43 Snap a picture and tag me. Let's celebrate those small wins together for sure.
13:05:48 All right, let's work together, okay? Weight loss doesn't have to be about willpower. It's about making your environment work for you.
13:05:56 If you want more simple, sustainable weight loss strategies, let's talk.
13:06:00 You could grab my free webinar. Coachingkara.com forward slash sign up.
13:06:05 Or let's just jump on a call and talk, coachingara.com forward slash free call. I would love to talk with you. Let's figure this out.
13:06:14 Drop me a comment if you're ready to declutter for success. Isn't that funny?
13:06:20 All right. I will talk to you later. Bye.
