Healthy Life Kitchen Essentials -Beginners

Hello Luvs,

Today I just wanted to share some kitchen tools that helped me transition to better meal choices and healthier eating. I am still very much a beginner to this lifestyle. I have made some poor choices along the way, but overall I have eaten healthy and clean just about everyday since the beginning of 2016! Now, going into the fifth month of my healthy lifestyle, I am down 33 pounds and I feel happy and confident with how far I have come. There are some kitchen essentials that I habitually use and have helped me shed pounds. Check out my list of HEALTHY LIFE KITCHEN ESSENTIALS below.

1. NutriBullet

I have the NutriBullet and the Ninja and I prefer the bullet only because its size and it's easier to clean. This is a kitchen essential because it will allow you to use substitutions to make some of your favorite dishes. For example, I love pancakes and waffles, but instead of using regular batter I can use my bullet to make the batter out of oats. Another substitute is cauliflower, which can be used to make a healthier Mac-N-Cheese dish or pizza dough! The possibilities are endless.

2. Food Scale

A food scale can help you get the most accurate portions and thus help you manage your food portions. I typically use it when measuring portions of meat and most fruits. Portion control is everything!

3. Measuring Cups & Spoons

Again, portion control is EVERYTHING! You can make a delicious healthy meal and eat a large portion, which will defeat the purpose if you are trying to lose weight and/or maintain a certain weight. I would suggest really relying on the measuring spoons when it comes to the use of oils, butter (not that you should be using it too often), dressings, dips, and syrups. 

4. Tupperware 

Whether you are a busy working professional, parent, student, or SAHM, meal prepping for the week means readily accessible healthy meals. This will help you to avoid those moments when hungry strikes because you will always be prepared with a healthy option. 

5. MyFitnessPal App

This app has been so helpful tracking what I eat. Not only will it help make you aware of how many calories you're eating, but it will break it down and let you know how many grams of fat you're over consuming, as well as sodium, and sugar intake. At the end of each day it will inform you of what you would weigh in a 5 week time frame if you ate like the particular day you completed consistently.    Now this app is extremely helpful if you make it a habit to track everything you eat daily.

6. Water

Water, water, water...Always drink water! Sometimes we confuse our bodies feeling of thirst for hunger. To avoid the mix-up in body signals, it's important to stay hydrated. This, I struggle with some days, but I am a work in progress. 

I have decided to make Fridays designated for fit lifestyle post and I will call it... Fit Fridays. I plan on sharing some recipes and things to help you all in your journey of weight loss and healthy living. Please note that I am no health professional, I am simply sharing my own personal tips that have assisted me on this journey.

Yours truly,

Just Shanise

XOXO