Tips for a Healthy “See-Food” Diet

by

Hi there, Mamas!  I recently came across this article in one of my professional newsletters.   It details the results of a study which looked at a correlation between women’s weights and the type(s) of foods/drinks sitting on their kitchen counters.  Kind of an interesting premise, no?

The researchers spoke with women about their weight and what they have on their counters, including: soda (regular and diet), cookies, breakfast cereal, and fruit.  Their findings are concisely detailed in the drawing below:

RDN Mama’s Easy Breakfast Trick to Slash Calories and Boost Nutrition

The researchers concluded that having food on the counter, where it is seen throughout the day and easily accessible, is what people in the house would turn to for a snack.  What was surprising to me is that the women in houses with cookies on the counter were only 8 pounds heavier, while women with breakfast cereal on their counters were 20 pounds heavier!  That seems like it should be reversed.

My thought (and completely speculative explanation) is that people are typically aware that cookies aren’t the healthiest food, so even though they may snack on them, hopefully, their portion is limited, at least somewhat.  Breakfast cereal, on the other hand, gets a reputation for being part of the “healthiest meal of the day”.  What’s wrong with snacking on that?  Well, nothing, in theory.  But a little here and a little there can really add up over time.

RDN Mama’s Treats vs Snacks: What’s the Difference?

No where in the article did it say that people with fruit on their counters NEVER ate cereal or cookies or NEVER drank soda.  However, if those foods weren’t on the counter, they were likely selected less than, perhaps, a piece of fruit.  As these researchers concluded, a simple swap of where certain foods are stored may aid in weight loss, even if shopping habits don’t change.

Here are my tips for a healthy “see-food” diet:

• Put out a fruit bowl.  This is clearly borrowed from the study, but there is certainly nothing wrong with placing a bowl of fruit on the counter.  It’s bright and colorful (why do you think most grocery stores open with produce?  It’s visually appealing!), not to mention tasty and healthy!  Just make sure it’s fruit you actually like.
• Make refrigerated produce picks accessible.  How often has the dog in this picture been you?  So often we have plenty of choices, but it seems like work, instead of enjoyment.  Try cutting up apple slices (before bagging, place in lemon juice to prevent browning), bell pepper strips, cucumbers, or whatever other produce you like to munch and put them in individual baggies.  If you have kids in the house, try adding stickers of their favorite characters to make them even more appealing.  This can even apply to onions, or vegetables you might not eat alone, but could add to a salad (goodness knows it takes me FOREVER to make a simple salad if I haven’t pre-cut… and makes me more prone to choose something easier and typically less-healthy) or other healthy dinner, like whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce.
• Put healthy foods in plain view.  Delving a little deeper than the fruit bowl, or even having the ready-to-go fruits and veggies: Rearrange your fridge.  Use the “Produce” bins to store less-healthy items and put your ready-to-use healthy snacks on the middle shelves, where your eye hits first.
• Keep junk out of sight.  Put snack cakes, cookies, chips, or whatever your nutritional “vice” may be in the very back of the cabinet.  Better yet, keep it in a different room (like the laundry room – or another room to which you rarely venture when hungry).  Is candy what has your scale creeping up?  Try storing it in the freezer.  It makes it harder to binge since it’s, well, frozen… that is, if you even remember it’s in there.
• Focus on portion size.  Even calories from healthier snack foods, like whole wheat crackers or trail mix, can add up if we eat mindlessly out of the bag or box.  Use weekends to portion out single servings of your favorite snacks.  This can help prevent mindless eating because 1) it has a stopping point and 2) you have to physically get up to get more.  This gives you a lot of time to realize what you’re doing: I am getting up.  I am opening the cabinet.  I am reaching for another bag.  I am sitting down.  I am opening the second bag.  I am eating the food from the second bag.  Possibly more important than recognizing what you’re doing, it gives you a lot of chances to stop if you’re not actually hungry.
• Declutter your kitchen.  Clutter can wreak havoc on our waistlines in more ways than one.  First, it takes up the room we would use to cook or eat in the kitchen, which makes it so much easier to justify ordering pizza and eating in the living room (a big no-no, like we discussed here, here, and especially here).  It can also increase our stress hormones, which can trigger us to eat even more!

What tips have you used to cut back on junk, keep healthy foods handy, or stop mindless munching?

by