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The Skinny Kitchen: How Your Kitchen Can Help You Lose Weight!

If you are struggling with a few pesky pounds, you might want to consider transforming your kitchen into a skinny kitchen. What exactly is a skinny kitchen? It’s your home’s healthy eating haven, your go-to resource for keeping your entire family healthy (and happy).

If your attempts at healthy eating aren’t going as well as they could, your first plan of attack should be to do a quick kitchen & pantry overhaul. Celebrities like Sheryl Crow, Bethenney Frankel, and Alison Sweeney are known for keeping their kitchens stocked with healthy options and meals, allowing them to maintain their weight and live healthfully. By keeping filling foods and fresh snacks on hand, your need for sugary, over-processed snacks will decrease and soon your cravings will disappear. Not to mention that fresh options carry less calories, meaning you are more likely to lose weight!

How do you know if your kitchen needs a makeover? Well, if your refrigerator hasn’t seen produce for quite some time and your pantry is filled with Pop-Tarts and sugary cereals, chances are your kitchen needs some help. Another sign that your kitchen needs help is if you have more pre-packaged frozen meals than your local grocery store. Those meals, while convenient, contain a dangerously high amount of sodium, which will leave you bloated later in your day.

We assembled a “Keep & Toss” list that will make your kitchen makeover much easier. We also like to keep this list on our kitchen bulletin board so that when we run low on supplies, we know exactly what to get.

Fridge & Pantry Keepers:

- Array of vegetables including broccoli, spinach, kale, arugula, carrots, green beans, red peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant.
- Fruits like strawberries, blueberries, apples, oranges, and bananas.
- Organic eggs
- Skinless chicken breast
- Wild salmon fillets
- Nonfat/ lowfat plain yogurt or 0% Greek yogurt
- Light tofu (firm for sautés or silken for smoothies)
- Quick-cooking oatmeal
- Raw, unsalted nuts almonds
- All natural peanut butter
- Whole Wheat pasta
- Whole wheat grains like couscous, Quinoa, and brown rice
- Low-sodium beans like black beans, red beans, garbanzo, and kidney beans.
- Low-sodium broths like chicken or vegetable
- Black and green tea
- Frozen fruits (to be used for smoothies or yogurt toppings)
- Frozen veggie patties (we like Trader Joes natural veggie burger which doesn’t have any preservatives or artificial ingredients.)

Items to Toss:

- High fat dairy like whole milk or yogurt
- Fatty meats
- Soda or juices high in sugar
- Full fat ice creams or frozen yogurts
- Pre-packaged snacks like cookies or crackers.
- Sugary granola bars (buy granola bars that use whole grains and contain a low amount of sugar)
- Candy

Do you have any shopping or pantry suggestions? We love to hear your feedback and are looking for more healthy eating options!