Beginning a healthier lifestyle is not always easy, especially when you have been living an unhealthy lifestyle for decades. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to start a healthier lifestyle. One of the best ways to begin is to get your kitchen in order.
By changing up your kitchen’s design you can remove unhealthy items, reduce meal prep stress, and develop an environment that works with your healthier lifestyle not against here. Here are several kitchen design ideas for a healthier lifestyle.
Remove Clutter
Life can be…messy. With mail, school reports, receipts, and bills coming into our homes on a daily basis it’s easy for our counters to become cluttered. But all that clutter doesn’t just get in the way, it can actually hinder our attempts at a healthier lifestyle. Studies have suggested that a chaotic kitchen leads to additional snacking especially of sugary high calorie foods. To counteract snacking and improve your healthy lifestyle you should remove excess items from your kitchen.
If you are one of the many homeowners who use their kitchen as a central station you’ll need to create a drawer or out of the way shelving system where you can put excess clutter. Clutter can also come in the form of excess kitchen gadgets, utensils that clutter your drawers, and a mountain of recipes with no filing system. Find a place for all of these items so that your counters are easy to use and clean.
Keep fresh herbs and spices nearby
A healthier lifestyle generally means less takeout and more at home meals. For those transitioning from on the go food to healthier options cooked at home, it can be difficult and frustrating to keep up with cooking so many meals. Make the process a bit easier for yourself by keeping fresh herbs and spices easily accessible. Many homeowners use cabinet door spice racks to keep their spices organized and always available. In addition, homeowners who are committed to using the freshest ingredients will use a window sill herb garden to grow their favorite spices such as rosemary, thyme, mint, and dill. These compact gardens are perfect for any kitchen and add an extra layer of healthy options to your kitchen.
Upgrade to Smart Appliances
Technology is a very beneficial tool for anyone that is dedicated to creating a healthier lifestyle. There is no shortage of technology that you can add to your kitchen but the most beneficial additions are smart appliances. Not only are smart appliances helpful options for a healthier lifestyle, they are also very popular among home buyers interested in more energy efficient appliances. A must have smart appliance is a smart refrigerator. The latest tech enabled refrigerators can efficiently store more food, display recipes, shopping lists, or a digital pinboard. In addition, some smart refrigerators have see-through doors so you can check for items without stepping away from whatever healthy meal it is you are trying to cook.
Another smart technology is a smart range hood. While these are rarely turned on beside when the occasional egg is burnt on the stove, they are very beneficial. Range hoods remove toxins that are released during the cooking process. A smart range hood turns on automatically when steam, grease, or harmful chemicals are detected. It also turns off on its own, displays recipes, music, movies, social media, and video chat. Finally, a smart scale makes it possible to weigh ingredients and then proceed through the recipe with step by step instructions from the scale. Many are also hooked up to calorie and macronutrient tracking apps such as MyFitnessPal for easy logging.
Organize and Upgrade the Pantry
Just like a cluttered countertop can lead to overeating, an organized pantry can lead to unhealthy food choices. To avoid always reaching for the same unhealthy snack because it is the easiest to find you can organize your pantries to promote healthier eating. To begin, remove everything from your cupboards and pantry. With a completely clean area to start you will be better able to organize food items in a healthy manner. If you are able, move unhealthy items to higher shelves or further in the back of the cupboards where they will not be directly in your line of sight. Next, group foods together. For instance, group your baking items in one area, crackers in another, cereals, breads, fruits, and vegetables that do not need to be stored in the refrigerator in another area. Keeping foods together will make them easier to find, especially when you are in a rush.
When you originally purchased your home you may not have been thinking about how the size and depth of your cabinets would affect your lifestyle. However, since you are becoming more aware of your kitchen design you may have noticed that your cabinets are too deep or you have several out of reach areas in your pantry that are hindering your food storage. it may be hard to see everything you are storing. If this is the case you can give your cabinets an easy upgrade and install slide out cabinet shelves. These consist of an additional inner mount track and shelf that slides completely out of the cabinet. These allow better viewing for items in the back of deep cabinets. If you are having trouble with bags of flour tipping over, cereal bags spilling onto the floor, or stray bugs finding their way into your food items you can upgrade the storage in your pantry. Many homeowners use clear glass containers that they can label while others prefer colorful plastic containers for their items.
It may be time-consuming to organize your kitchen based on healthy lifestyle choices, but in the end it will pay off. By keeping healthy options visible, making cooking easier, and removing or leaving unhealthy out of the kitchen you will improve your chances of sticking with a healthier lifestyle. Don’t worry if your first attempt at organizing your kitchen to meet your goals doesn’t work. Just like a healthier lifestyle is a process so is creating an environment that is consistent with your new lifestyle.