{"id":52136,"date":"2016-09-01T07:15:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T11:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=52136"},"modified":"2021-09-18T07:36:11","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T11:36:11","slug":"clean-eating-kitchen-hacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/clean-eating-kitchen-hacks\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Easy Kitchen Hacks for Clean Eating"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"7
Photo by Leonie Wise<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s be real, it\u2019s damn near impossible to avoid eating a cookie when it\u2019s sitting right on your counter or desk. Sweets and fatty junk foods are just too hard to resist when they\u2019re in plain sight. And that\u2019s not just in your head \u2014 science backs it up.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> shows that if you keep a candy dish in your line of vision at the office or at home<\/a> \u2014 or simply somewhere close to you (proximity can also pose a problem) \u2014 you\u2019re more likely to eat it, and more of it. \u201cJust seeing food can actually spike your hunger levels and release dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure,\u201d says Torey Armul, RD, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>20 Kitchen Gadgets to Make Healthy Eating Easy<\/a><\/p>\n

The good news: You can avoid calorie traps by taking away the temptation and applying the visibility concept to healthy foods instead. In fact, one study<\/a> from the University of Copenhagen found that \u201chealthy food nudging,\u201d aka making fruits, veggies, whole grains, and nuts more prominent on a table or at a public buffet, makes people more likely to eat them. (Sounds pretty straightforward, right?)<\/p>\n

Arrange your pantry, counter and dinner table according to these expert-approved tips to help you reap the benefits of a slimmed-down, clean eating environment.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>8 Low-Calorie Foods That Will Actually Fill You Up<\/a><\/p>\n

7 Ways to Trick Yourself into Clean Eating<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Make space.
\n<\/strong>Have you ever felt excited to cook in a messy kitchen? Neither have we. The last thing most of us want to do after a long day is clear space to chop, mix and saut\u00e9, so we resort to take-out. Your first line of defense: Keep your countertop clear, says Armul. \u201cWe all usually start the day with great willpower to eat healthy, but as the day goes on, that willpower wanes,\u201d she says. \u201cYou want to set yourself for success later in the day by making healthy eating the easier option.\u201d That means taking a few extra minutes after a meal to clean, so you\u2019re ready to whip up breakfast<\/a>, lunch<\/a> or dinner<\/a> the next day.<\/p>\n

2. Remove the distractions.
\n<\/strong>The more time you spend in your kitchen, the more calories you\u2019re likely to consume, according to Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Slim by Design<\/a><\/em>. You want your food space to scream more \u201cin and out\u201d than \u201clet\u2019s hang out.\u201d\u00a0Shorten your kitchen chill sessions\u00a0by removing the TV, any other electronics not meant for cooking and any super comfy chairs. You know what they say about food: Out of sight, out of mind\u2026 or mouth.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>12 Brilliant Meal Prep Ideas to Free Up Your Time<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Keep healthy snacks handy.
\n<\/strong>The reason so many people reach for a bag of Doritos is because it\u2019s just so convenient. But you can create that same handiness factor with healthy foods \u2014 as long as you do a little meal prep<\/a>. As soon as you get home from grocery shopping, Armul suggests rinsing your produce. Then put your fruits in a clear bowl on your counter or in your fridge and cut up your veggies<\/a> so they\u2019re as easy to pop in your mouth as those fried tortillas. Control portions, too, by measuring out snack-sized bags<\/a> of foods like almonds or carrots. This trick is extra helpful if you buy things in bulk.<\/p>\n

4. Get on eye level.
\n<\/strong>Because we tend to eat whatever is right in front of us (especially when our stomachs are rumbling), put nutrient-packed foods at eye level in your fridge and pantry, says Armul. Place items like sliced peppers, yogurt<\/a>, berries or salad in a clear bowl on the top shelf of the fridge. And keep oatmeal<\/a>, dried fruit, nuts and grains in see-through containers in your cabinet. Cake, pizza and other sugar<\/a>– or fat-filled snacks go in opaque containers or wrapped in aluminum foil.<\/p>\n

Follow the same rule for what you put on your countertop. A study<\/a> from Dr. Wansink at Cornell\u2019s Food and Brand lab<\/a> found that women who kept cereal or soft drinks out in the open weighed at least 20 pounds more than those who kept only a fruit bowl handy.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>30-Minute Meals for Quick, Healthy Dinner Ideas<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Fill your own plate.
\n<\/strong>When it\u2019s time to sit down for dinner, keep the food in the kitchen, except for maybe a salad<\/a> on the table. Have everyone fill their own plates before sitting down. \u201cForcing people to get up for a second helping usually gives them pause and helps them reassess their hunger levels,\u201d says Armul.<\/p>\n

6. Place veggies first.
\n<\/strong>Besides eating veggies first at your meals (say, starting with a soup<\/a> or salad<\/a>), it also helps to have make-your-own stations, says F.J. Armando Perez-Cueto, associate professor in the department of food science at the University of Copenhagen. When you place ingredients in smaller, separate bowls, people tend to take waistline-friendly portions<\/a> \u2014 especially if you make produce more readily available and placed at the front of the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen in the lab that people still eat the same amount of food, but the energy intake is lower, probably because of a kind of dilution effect by the vegetables,\u201d Perez-Cueto explains. \u201cEven men \u2014 usually considered meat, gravy and potato eaters \u2014 have their veggies when the organization of a buffet is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>9 Quick and Healthy Breakfast Cookie Recipes<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Freeze sweets.
\n<\/strong>Sometimes dessert<\/a> feels necessary and it\u2019s perfectly OK to indulge every once in a while. But to slow down while you eat, savor the flavors and snack a little less, Armul recommends storing chocolate<\/a>, candy, cupcakes and muffins<\/a> in the freezer. \u201cWaiting for it to thaw may let the craving pass, especially if you drink water or start doing something else,\u201d she says. \u201cIt also keeps it farther out of sight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Create an environment that makes clean eating super easy. These expert-backed tips teach you how to make good food choices and set yourself up for success. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,11,18],"tags":[291,51,71,341,388,285],"class_list":["post-52136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-health-hacks","category-weight-loss","tag-clean-eating","tag-food-choices","tag-nutrition","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2nutrition","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}