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Shedding the Weight and
Keeping It Off
Key secrets and kitchen utensils to maintain your New Year’s resolution by ch ef h a r d e t t e h a r r i s
Congratulations, you kept your promise to lose those extra pounds for the New Year. As the pounds continue to melt away, continue to think about affordable and time-saving ways to keep it off. If you are a busy mom or your schedule doesn’t allow you to put a lot of thought into what you eat, it’s easy to grab an unhealthy snack or meal. Before you know it, the pounds start to creep back on and all of your discipline and hard work has been in vain. Planning ahead, organizing your kitchen and stocking your kitchen with the right items will help you maintain your weight loss. Schedule a time to prepare your meals. It only takes 30 minutes to an hour to prepare your snacks, lunch or dinner. The best time is in the evenings while preparing dinner or after dinner. You’re already in the kitchen and this would be the ideal time to prepare your breakfast, snacks, lunch or dinner for the next day. If you don’t have the time to do all of them, choose the meal that you find is the hardest to remain consistent with in your eating plan. By preparing your meals in your kitchen, you are able to control the calories, fat, salt and sugar content of each meal. For example, dinner time may be hectic and focused on what the kids like. This would definitely be one of the meals prepared in advance. After serving the kids pizza, or fried chicken and mashed potatoes, you can open the refrigerator and pull out a low-calorie meal you prepared in advance for yourself.
Organize your pantry AMake room in the pantry for the items you use on your diet plan. Put those items together in the very front of the pantry so you aren’t tempted to use unhealthy items just because you see them first. Prepare your meals using only those items. 42 hope | q2 2014
Kitchen supplies for a healthy kitchen There are kitchen supplies and appliances that, when used properly, will make it easy and convenient to prepare a healthy dish every time they are used. Keep them clean and stored where they are easily accessible when you are preparing your healthy dishes. Silpat: From baking cookies to chicken breast, a Silpat baking liner forever eliminates the need for using oil, butter or non-stick sprays on your baking sheets. http://silpat.com/ Fat Separator: A fat separator quickly and easily removes all of the fat from your soups, stews and broths. http://www.oxo.com/p499-4-cup-fat-separator.aspx Cutting board for fruits and vegetables only: If the cutting board is always clean and accessible, it takes only minutes to prepare a fresh fruit bowl for a healthy snack or dessert. Sharp Chef ’s Knife: Keeping a sharp knife handy encourages eating more fruits and vegetables. When your knife is sharp, you can cut and slice in half the time it takes when it is dull.