I’m in the kitchen making “salad kits” which I promise to show you tomorrow and tending to sick little daughter!  In the meantime, please enjoy this guest post from LFL reader, Allison Evans!

5 Ways to Slim Down Your Kitchen

Personally, looking at cookies = eating cookies. Now, I would never advocate completely ridding your kitchen of cookies, so what’s the next best thing? Hide the cookies! So often eating healthy or trying to lose is sabotaged by simple food placement or ways in which we use the kitchen.  So what better place to start lightening up than there! With these easy tips to organizing your kitchen, you’ll be much more likely to overcome those typical weight loss stumbling blocks, like grabbing junk food placed within arm’s reach (who can say no to cookies in plain sight!). With these tips, your kitchen will transform into a haven for healthy eating, with the tasty treats tucked safely out of sight – and mostly out of mind.

1. Keep fewer varieties of treats. It’s okay to have ice cream in the freezer, but stay away from the all-too-tempting buy 1, get 1 free sales. Variety is the spice of life, but it can also cause you to gain weight. Pick a few of your favorite snacks and keep them in the house, but don’t let sales and buying in bulk tempt you into buying more junk food than you really need.

2. Use smaller Plates. As simple as it sounds, simply using smaller plates, bowls, cups and silverware can be the difference between staying within your calorie range and overindulging.  Studies have shown that people eating from bigger plates or using bigger silverware eat more than those using smaller dinnerware.

3. Put produce towards the front.  Refrigerator placement can also determine whether you grab the apple or the can of soda pop. Keep the fruits and veggies front and center so that when you open the fridge to scavenge for a snack, you see the healthy item. Healthy food at the back of the fridge often goes to waste because it’s forgotten about.

4. Serve meals from the stove. Instead of placing large bowls of food on the dining table, leave them on the stove or on the kitchen countertops. This way you’ll have to get up if you want seconds. Having the leftovers sitting in front of you will increase the odds of you eating even if you’re not really hungry.

5. Prepare meals that are ready to go when you are.  If you work all day and have to come home and prepare a meal, chances are you’ll snack while waiting for dinner. To avoid this tendency, focus on creating quick and easy meals. A crock pot is one great solution! You can have your dinner ready to go the moment you walk through the door. Other strategies include buying pre-cut and pre-washed veggies or making many meals once a week and freezing them for easy preparation.

Allison Evans is a writer and editor for Fit&Fab Living, a healthy & beauty website and Running With Mascara, the Fit&Fab Living blog! Check out the site or the blog for tons of nutrition, fitness, beauty tips and more!

What’s your favorite “healthy kitchen” tip?

Hi everyone!  While I’m running around like a crazy person ( and spending lots of time in the car!), blog reader, Pam Greene offered to fill in with some great tips for keeping the car snacking at bay!

Five Solutions to the Dieter’s Driving Dilemma

The holiday season is on its way. That’s obvious. Will you also be on your way to visit family and friends? Will you be spending an extended time sitting in the car? I will! I’ve found that when on the road, I’m tempted to snack – to snack a lot. After all, it helps pass the time as we speed along the monotonous highway. Or, maybe I should say, as we poke along, slowed by holiday traffic. How frustrating traveling can be. Maybe it’s time to eat another donut. Of course, I don’t want to consume additional calories even before arriving at our family’s Christmas dinner. The roast, mashed potatoes, buttered beans and other fixings – never mind the tempting assortment of home-baked holiday cookies – will be plenty enough to worry about.

Luckily, I’ve come up with five ways to spend time in the car for hours WITHOUT excessive snacking. Here they are:

1. Bring your own low calorie snacks – Before you leave on your journey, make sure you’ve got healthy snacks for the ride. I find that fruit, especially grapes and tangerines, works well. They’re full of juice and they satisfy my sweet tooth. Popcorn is good too, as long as it’s made with minimal butter or oil. It’s low calorie and filling. I usually make a batch at home just before I leave, and pack it in a large plastic bag which I keep near me in the front seat. If you don’t have the time for preparation, try rice cakes. Just be sure you’ve chosen the healthier versions.
2. Chew gum – As soon as you start to get bored and your mind wanders to your mouth, pull out a piece of gum. You’ll get that initial burst of flavor that satisfies (do I sound like an ad??!), and your jaw will be kept busy. The Wrigley Science Institute says that it helps relieves stress (remember that traffic jam?) and that the act of chewing helps curb your appetite. You’ll want to make sure that you’ve got the sugarless kind.
3. Drink plenty of water or other low calorie drinks – Liquids fill you up while giving you that mouth feel that you crave when you’re just sitting around. Remember to check calorie counts when selecting your beverage, and not to overdue it with artificial sweeteners.
4. Take breaks – if you’re going to be chugging those liquids, you’re going to need to make a pit stop or two, and that’s a good for your diet. Getting out of the car breaks up the monotony, stimulates your body, and distracts you from its food preoccupation. But, you need to choose your pit stops wisely. You don’t want to use the bathroom at a rest stop teeming with cheap junk food as the temptations might just do you in. Best bet is to find a non-commercial rest stop where you can use the bathroom, and get a bit of exercise. I’ve jogged around rest stop parking lots (watch out for cars!), and have practiced yoga on the grassy strip beside the bathrooms.
5. Distract yourself – if you’ve had kids or were once a kid (you can’t escape that), you’ll probably remember some of the games you used to play in the car. Why don’t you resurrect them to keep your mind occupied when thoughts of eating creep up? Or, if you don’t like games, listen to books-on-tape or talking Podcasts. I find that when someone is talking to me, rather than simply listening to music, I’m more engaged and therefore distracted from other thoughts (such as those cookies I’m bringing to the family dinner) that might creep into my mind.

You may have additional ideas to keep down the calories. Just thinking about them can be a distraction in itself. In any case, I hope these tips have got you thinking and planning for an easy, low calorie drive. I wish you success as you follow the road to healthy eating and holiday cheer.

Pam Greene’s own journey to fitness started when a friend suffered through some health challenges. Realizing this was a wake up call to her to focus on her own health, she started learning about Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Weight Loss. Pam now works for BeachBody, which provides Home Fitness Programs and Work Out Dvds including the well known P90X exercise program.

Thanks, Pam!

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you have trouble with snacking in the car?  On long rides, I am always tempted to stop off at Starbucks for one of their fancier lattes!  With whip!

Another guest post for you guys today!  Say hi to Rafi…

 Rafi Bar-Lev is a fitness fanatic and founder of the community site, Passionate Fitness where he offers fitness tips. He recently wrote about weight loss exercises and compound vs. isolation exercises. Check it out!

 5 Tips to Help Reach Your Weight Loss and Fitness Goals

For many people, losing weight and getting into shape feels like this impossible, intangible goal that only some people are able to reach but that they probably won’t. But the truth is that it doesn’t have to be that way – because fitness and weight loss are not complicated and completely attainable to anyone willing to do a little bit of work.

Here are 5 tips to help you reach your weight loss and fitness goals:

1.  Don’t get lost in the details of a diet. Dieting can sound complicated with so many different kinds of diets out there. In fact, sometimes you can get completely lost in the scientific details of a diet and lose sight of the big picture – which is losing weight. When it comes down to losing weight, the only thing that really matters is taking in less calories than you expend. So no matter what diet you’re on, see how many calories you currently intake to maintain your weight and eat 500 less to lose 1 pound of fat a week.

2. Keep a journal. Keeping a journal will help put YOU in charge of your diet. When something isn’t working – you can check to see exactly what happened. When things are working – see what you’re doing right. Ultimately, the journal is what can make the difference between success and failure in succeeding at a diet.

3. Set goals with your workouts. The biggest mistake I see people make at the gym and in general is that they come without any kind of set plans or goals. In the end, they end up just wasting their time instead of making good progress. Set fitness goals for yourself, get or make some kind of program and most importantly – keep pushing yourself at the gym to start seeing results.

4. Drink less alcohol. Alcohol and dieting don’t go together, for the simple reason that alcohol is FULL of calories. Try limiting your alcohol intake to a maximum of one shot or one beer a day to help make sure the calories don’t start adding up…

5. Have a support group. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same kind of fitness goals as you is a great way to make it easier on yourself to get into great shape. There’s nothing more motivating than watching other people day in and day out live the kind of life that you’re trying to achieve.

Good luck!

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Thanks, Rafi!  I know I’m definitely guilty of #1 – getting caught up in the details of a diet!  But,  tip #2 – keeping a journal was a key tool in helping me achieve my weight loss goals!

Have a great day, everyone!

What’s one tip that helped you reach your weight loss or fitness goals?