Kickstart Your Weight Loss With Clean Out The Pantry Day – Easy, Simple Ways to Start Losing Weight Today

Hello Folks,   I hope this post finds you well and enjoying your day. Thanks for dropping in again and many thanks to those who have recently offered me their words of encouragement via email, phone and on other online forums.  You rock and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

There is so much to learn here in the world of blogging, but I must say I am enjoying this new way of interacting.  As with my own weight loss journey I can see that blogging will also be a new avenue of personal growth for me. So any advice or tips anyone has for building and growing this blog, I really appreciate. 🙂

Okay, well, on with today’s post….

The Trigger To Eat

Whether we like it or not, we are all a little impulsive with our choices and reactions.  When it comes to food however, there are a number of simple things we can do to minimise those impulsive choices and thus maximise our weight loss efforts. So let’s take a look at them….

The Pantry and The Refrigerator

First up, we need to look at our enviroment and the external cues to eat that you may be providing yourself.  This does involve a bit of a ‘personal audit’ but, it is something you can do today, right now, to make things easier for yourself in the week ahead.

The pantry and the refrigerator are the first places to start.  Do they contain too many high fat, high sugar, high calorific and thus problematic food choices?  Reducing your exposure to these foods is a big step in the right direction.  Quite simply, we can’t eat what’s not there.

Are there any other ‘cues to eat’ in your home, office, car or other enviroments?  These might be things like a jar of lollies (candy, sweets) or a bowl of nuts, perhaps kept out on benches or desks. Or what about other rooms in the house?  A friend of mine keeps her ‘chocolate stash’ in her bedside drawer – a definete cue and reminder to eat !!

Whilst it’s easy for all of us to rationalise these habits, ‘ I might just need a nibble’, it serves us better to keep in mind our goal here – reducing the availability of unhealthy choices. Therefore, anywhere that you may store food, prepare food, think about food (or sneak food) needs to be reviewed and cleaned out.  When we are looking at reducing your cues to eat and thus regaining some external control – cutting corners won’t help!

The Family and Food

Of course we aren’t the only ones in the house and yes, it’s true that some other members may not want to share your new enthusiasm for this clean out.  If so, see if you can make a compromise.  Could the kids have a separate drawer (preferably out of your normal view) for their biscuits and snacks etc.. ? Could your spouse perhaps keep his or her’s favourite food items in a different cupboard or place that is not shared by you? 

Of course it would be great if you could get them all on board, but if that is not possible, a compromise can still have enormous benefits for you. 

Much research supports the notion that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ really works, so why not give yourself every chance to break away from the old and begin anew today.

Different Choices

Replacing the items you have thrown out (or at least reduced in amount) is the next step to positive change. So try restocking with some fresh fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, lean meat and low fat dairy.  Obstinate habits disappear quickly when we replace them with new ones.

Okay so just a few quick tips from me today. I hope they are of help to you on your journey toward positive change.

Have a great day, friends….as always I would love to hear your responses or thoughts.  Feel free also to just say ‘hi’.

Ciao,

Mon 🙂