Friday, May 27, 2011

Lose Weight Just by Rearranging Your Kitchen by iVillage

Top Shelf of the Fridge: Store Healthy Sips Here

Research shows that simply shifting around the groceries in your kitchen can actually retrain your brain, helping you crave healthy foods instead of junk, says Larrian Gillespie, M.D., author of The Goddess Diet. The top shelf of your fridge is a good place to start. This eye-level area is prime refrigerator real estate. Stock it with healthy and low-cal beverages: skim milk, 100% fruit and veggie juices (no sugar added) and calorie-free soft drinks. Why? "Opting for low-cal beverages is a simple way to shave calories out of your diet," says Dr. Gillespie. "Plus, staying well hydrated naturally helps curb appetite." Use these slimming thirst-quenchers to cut just two sugary sodas out of your daily diet and University of Minnesota researchers say you can shed up to 33 pounds this year.

Second Shelf: Place Fresh Produce in this Spot

USDA researchers say fresh produce is what people are most likely to forget buying when they’re frazzled or tired--yet they say eating two to three cups daily is the key to shedding two pounds weekly, struggle-free. All of this science makes shelf #2 the ideal spot for fresh fruits and veggies, because it keeps these slimming foods close, says Dr. Gillespie. “For a double duty benefit, keep ready-to-eat, pre-cut pieces right at the front, and you’ll double your produce intake!”

Third shelf: Ply it with Protein

This is a great spot for healthy sources of protein--hard-boiled eggs, precooked, skinless lean meats, nuts and reduced-fat dairy (such as yogurt and cheese). Why? Women who add at least two ounces of protein to every meal eat 31 percent fewer calories daily, say Yale University researchers (since protein stimulates the intestines to release cholecystokinin--a hormone that travels to the brain and shuts down hunger pangs).

Crispers: Tuck Tempting Items Here

Inconvenient to crack open, crispers are a smart place to stash calorie-laden fare, like leftover fast food and sweet treats. Plus, tucking diet-busting temptations out of sight can cut snacking by more than half, according to Cornell University studies. The reason: “Your brain and your eyes are so intricately connected, that what you see when you open the fridge is often what your brain then craves and wants you to eat,” explains cognitive behavioral weight management specialist Michelle May, M.D, author of amihungry.com. “So, when it comes to junk food, out of sight can truly mean out of mind!”

Refrigerator Door: Fill it with Flavor

Fill this space with spicy mustards, hot sauces, salsas, vinegars, marinades, flavored oils and zesty dressings. Why? Jazzing up the flavor of meals helps people feel genuinely full on 200 fewer calories daily--and can help them shed up to 18 pounds per year, according to research at Chicago’s Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.

Your Freezer: Chock with Healthy Conveniences

Stocking the freezer with healthful things that will make dinner prep a breeze--like individually-wrapped fish fillets, lean chicken breasts and frozen mixed veggies—can help people dodge at least one takeout meal weekly (enough to shed 2 pounds every month), according to UCLA researchers. And don’t forget low-cal, guilt-free treats, like fruit bars and chilled berries for smoothies, which can soothe a sweet tooth without derailing your diet plans, adds weight-loss specialist Howard Shapiro, M.D., author of Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss.
 
Your Cupboards: Sub in Smaller Dishes

Keep your tallest, most narrow glasses--and your smaller salad plates—upfront at eye level, and stash your larger items higher, where you’re less likely to reach. The reason: Cornell University studies suggest that people sip 25 percent less soda and other high-cal drinks when they use taller, slimmer glasses--and eat 33 percent less food when they serve themselves on salad plates--yet they feel just as satisfied as if they’d munched a whole lot more.


Your Pantry: Put High-Cal Packaged Snacks Here


Store diet-sabotaging dry goods like chips and snack cakes in hard-to-reach spots (like that annoying cupboard over the refrigerator), or in opaque containers so you can’t see the contents, and you’ll cut your mindless munching 40 percent or more, say Cornell University researchers. Their studies show having pantry treats tucked in inconvenient places--or hidden in plain containers--made it just bothersome enough that people stopped eating when they were full.


Your Counter: Add a Radio So You Don’t Stray



Turn on some soothing tunes while you’re whipping up dinner and leave them on when you’re eating. In Johns Hopkins studies, people who listened to relaxing music ate 40 percent less food without even realizing it. “Stress, anxiety and other negative emotions often make people eat more food, more quickly,” explains Norman Rosenthal, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C. “But relaxing music can counteract that problem by calming the central nervous system, making it easier to eat at a leisurely pace.”

I hope you enjoyed reading these tips from iVillage: http://www.ivillage.com 

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