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Time for Kitchen Makeover!

Posted By: Joshua Morgan on 01/26/2012

What is a kitchen makeover and why is it important?

 Berardi’s First Law:

If a food is in your possession or located in your residence, either you, someone you love, or someone you marginally tolerate will eventually eat it.

In other words, keep only food or drinks that you should actually consume.

If a food and/or drink isn’t conducive to your goals, why would you keep it? If it isn’t helping you reach your goals, you don’t need it.

A kitchen makeover gets rid of the non-nutritious stuff and/or foods that trigger you to engage in poor eating behaviours. Then it replaces the junk with a bounty of health-promoting foods.

A kitchen makeover helps you stay in control and on track. You don’t want to be deciding between ice cream and spinach while standing in front of the fridge at T-minus 15 minutes to dinner time. Food decisions in our kitchen need to be foolproof.

A kitchen makeover helps you plan and structure healthy eating. You’ll appreciate having a safe home base after returning from the “food war-zone,” also known as modern society.

How to do it

Gather all the unhealthy foods from your fridge and pantry. Get a few big garbage bags.

If a certain food has redeeming qualities, then you can take it to a local food bank or soup kitchen. If it’s complete junk, trash it. Get it out of the house.

If you think it’s junk, it is.

Think about this: Would you dig through a dumpster for dinner? No? Why not? Because the food in there isn’t very good for you. It might be expired, rancid, full of bacteria, or at the very least covered in crud. It’s garbage.

So why would you eat foods that have no nutritional value — and which actively take away from your health? How is that different from dumpster diving?

If you are still in doubt, use these guidelines.

Here’s a general idea of what we mean. Do you have any of the following at home?

Obvious junk foods

• Chips
• Cheezies
• Chocolates or candy
• Soda/pop/sweetened drinks
• Alcohol, especially flavoured/sweetened mixed drinks (although small amounts of red wine may have health benefits)
• Instant foods like cake mixes and mashed potatoes
• Margarine and other processed fats
• Most frozen dinners
• Most take-out or restaurant leftovers
• Bowls of candy or other snacks sitting around
• Flavoured nuts (e.g. beer nuts)

Trick foods

These are foods that seem healthy but aren’t. They’ve gone from something good (whole, unprocessed food) to something that a machine barfed out, something that’s full of sugar and chemicals, and/or something that’s had all its original nutrients stripped out. (No, it’s not “healthy” because it says “fruit”. Check the label.)

• Sweetened yogurt and frozen yogurt
• Breads and bagels, unless they’re made exclusively with whole grains
• Other baked goods
• Breakfast cereals
• Crackers, even the whole grain ones
• Fruit, cereal, and/or granola bars
• Regular peanut butter
• Fruit juice

A good rule here is to check the labels. Look for forms of sugar such as high fructose corn syrup as well as hydrogenated oil, fractioned oil, and preservatives.

And if a product loudly proclaims its health benefits on its label… it’s probably not that good for you. “Organic” sugar is still sugar. A Fruit Roll-Up isn’t an actual piece of fruit any more than a cardboard box is actually a spaceship… no matter how much you pretend.

Stuff you wouldn’t even think about

This is even more challenging than the so-called “healthier” foods in the “trick food” list, because you don’t think about these things being bad for you… or think about them at all. (How much time do you spend thinking about BBQ sauce, anyway?)

Thus, most of these just pass under our radar. Until we read the labels and discover that they’re sugar and chemical bombs. Or just not “food” at all.

• Condiments such as BBQ sauce and other sweetened sauces
• Sweetened relishes, mustards, and ketchup
• Salad dressings
• Bread crumbs, croutons, and other dried bread products
• Processed meats such as hot dogs, bacon, and deli meats
• Spreads such as Cheez Whiz or sweetened cream cheeses

Another way to figure out what you don’t want

When in doubt ask yourself a few questions:

1. Does this food come in a bag, box, or plastic package?
2. Does it have more than a couple of ingredients on the label?
3. Can you pronounce all of those ingredients?
4. How far away is this food from what it used to be? (And do you even know what it used to be?)
5. Is this food perishable? Just about anything good for you goes bad quickly.

Obviously, there are exceptions, but for the most part, the above foods aren’t a good idea to consume on a regular basis. Why would you want to test your willpower with them around?

Help! My kitchen’s empty now!

Now your fridge and pantry might look desolate after getting rid of the unhealthy foods. It’s time to fill them back up with healthy replacements for the garbage you just unloaded.

A corollary of Berardi’s First Law is this:

If you wish to be healthy and lean, you must remove all foods not conducive to those goals from said residence and replace them with a variety of better, healthier choices.

In other words, this law works both ways. If the food’s available to you, you’ll eat it.

If an unhealthy food is in your possession, you’ll eat it. If a healthy food is in your possession, you’ll eat it.

All you have to do is make the available food good stuff, and nature takes care of the rest.

Thus, take the restocking process seriously. It’s just as important as the removal process. 

How to restock

Here’s how to quickly restock some nutritious foods (remember not to “over-think” it):

Pick your 3 favourite:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Lean proteins
• Nuts/seeds
• Whole grains (oats, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, sprouted grain breads, corn, amaranth, etc.)

And remember, when you are restocking healthy foods, don’t be fooled by the front of the package. Those darn labels will call out to you with claims like “low-fat,” “no added sugar,” “fat free,” “organic,” “whole grain,” and so on.

Check out how simple this restocking process can be based on the following sample shopping lists.

Note: Yes – the rest of the family (kids and spouse) can eat these foods too. Why would you feed your family something you wouldn’t eat yourself?

Veggies all ready to go

 

Remember, those are just examples. You could live well into your 90s and still not exhaust all healthy food options.

Basic Kitchen Checklist

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cookware set
• Knives
• Stainless steel tools and silicon spatula
• Indoor grill
• Wok
• Rice cooker/steamer
• Food processor
• Tea kettle
• Blender
• Cutting board
• Large bowls
• Wooden spoons
• Strainer
• Vegetable peeler
• Graters
• Baking sheets
• Casserole dishes

Summary and recommendations

Healthy eaters have healthy homes. Healthy people ensure that their environment supports their goals. Changing your surroundings is one of the best ways to start your journey to living better.

1. Part ways with non-nutritious foods and eliminate anything in your house that doesn’t support your goals.
2. Re-stock with healthy options.
3. Use a list for your next grocery store visit. Use our suggestions as a guide.
4. Also, make sure you have basic kitchen gear to prepare and store your bounty of healthy food.

Follow these steps and you’ll have your kitchen made over in less than 24 hours.

References

Ryan Andrews, June 15th, 2009

Kratt P, et al. The role of availability as a moderator of family fruit and vegetable consumption. Health Educ Behav 2000;27:471-482.

Cullen KW, et al. Availability, accessibility, and preferences for fruit, 100% fruit juice and vegetables influence children’s dietary behavior. Health Educ Behav 2003;30;615-626.

Haerens L, et al. The contribution of psychosocial and home environmental factors in explaining eating behaviors in adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 2008;62:51-59.