RecipeChatter

  • About
    • Find Us Online
    • Editors
    • Contact Us
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • BBQ & Grilling
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast Brilliance
    • Casseroles
    • Copycat Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Gluten Free
    • Kid Friendly
    • Main Dish
    • Meat Dishes
    • Quick and Easy
    • Seasonal Recipes
    • Sides and Sauces
    • Slow Cooker
    • Snacks
    • Soup & Stew Recipes
    • Special Occasion
    • Vegan/Vegetarian
  • Holiday Food
    • 4th of July
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Halloween
    • Hanukkah
    • Memorial Day
    • Mother’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Newsletter
  • Giveaways

Guest Post: Lessons in Healthy Eating – Part Three

November 2, 2009 by RecipeLion

If you’re a regular follower of this blog, then you have already seen parts one and two of this four-part series of tips on eating healthy from Marlene Lesson.  Ms. Lesson is nutrition director of Structure House, a residential weight loss facility in Durham, N.C. that offers a unique behavioral approach to weight loss and healthy lifestyle change, and she has provided us with some wonderful tips to eat healthy through a potentially land-mine-filled holiday season.  This week is our second-to-last in the series.  If you missed parts one and two, be sure to check them out as well.

Menu Planning

You generally give little thought to what you eat and often decide what to buy at the last moment. Here are a few “Habit Busters” from Dr. Gerard Musante, clinical psychologist and author of The Structure House Weight Loss Plan, on how to keep your meals healthy by planning in advance:

Habit Busters:

  • Buy a cookbook with healthy recipes (with nutrition analyses) to help you plan.
  • Structure each week’s meals a week in advance perhaps at a designated time, such as Sunday night.
  • Note your planned meals in a food diary each week.
  • Use food group and calorie guides to plan meals.

Making a Shopping List

You don’t prepare a shopping list, since you aren’t really sure what you’ll be eating anyway. If you think ahead, you’ll save yourself time and effort later by eliminating problem foods before they ever come into the house. Here are a few “Habit Busters” from Dr. Gerard Musante, clinical psychologist and author of The Structure House Weight Loss Plan:

Habit Busters:

  • Plan your meals first, and then determine the ingredients you need to buy.
  • Using your menu plan, figure out the quantities of items to purchase—how many pounds of meat or vegetables, how many packages of prepared items, etc.
  • Group the foods according to your supermarket layout to facilitate shopping and avoid ‘trolling’ for unneeded treats and problem foods.
  • Make sure you have the ingredients you need for each recipe in the menu plan, which will avoid improvising with more problematic ingredients or going off your plan.
  • Avoid purchasing foods that aren’t on the list.

Shopping

When you go shopping, you generally haven’t eaten for a while, so you arrive at the store hungry. Since you aren’t sure what you’re going to fix for your meals, you tend to buy items you hadn’t planned to purchase. You also do “impulse buying” in response to the store’s displays, free samples, in-store announcements, and other marketing tactics.

Here are a few “Habit Busters” from Dr. Gerard Musante, clinical psychologist and author of The Structure House Weight Loss Plan, on how to avoid leaving the store with all kinds of foods you hadn’t expected to purchase:

Habit Busters:

  • Schedule shopping trips after you’ve eaten one of your regular structured meals.
  • Shop only from a prepared list.
  • See your task as time-limited and goal-oriented: just get the items on your list and clear out.
  • Avoid interior aisles, which often have less crucial, more tempting foods.
  • If possible, delegate shopping to other family members, or consider using only shopping and delivery services.

Storing Food

On arriving home from the supermarket, you leave some goodies out on the kitchen table or on the counters. You fill the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets with foods in easy-access packages, and every time you open the fridge, the sight of all those tasty items drives you crazy.

Here are a few “Habit Busters” from Dr. Gerard Musante, clinical psychologist and author of The Structure House Weight Loss Plan, on how to store food in ways that aren’t so tempting:

Habit Busters:

  • Store foods in non-see-through containers (such as opaque plastic bowls or disposable aluminum pans); cover with aluminum foil instead of plastic wrap so that you can’t see the contents. Label with stickers so you know what’s inside without opening the containers and feeling tempted.
  • Store food in individual-serving-size containers so that your meals are portion controlled. You can store the leftovers in the freezer or refrigerator and then take out the exact serving that you need, which will help you avoid overeating.
  • Store only foods that need to be cooked before eating, which presents one more step to take before Unstructured Eating.
  • Store all foods in the fridge or in cabinets, not on countertops, open shelves, or tables.

Remember to visit this blog next week for the final installment of this four-part series!

To review part one, click here.

To review part two, click here.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
RecipeLion
Editor at RecipeLion.com
RecipeLion is dedicated to the best recipes and cooking tips. From quick and easy dinner recipes to new and exciting dessert recipes, we find and deliver the best recipes from all over the web. Plus, we feature free product reviews and giveaways of all the latest and greatest products including cooking gadgets, cookbooks, food, and more. RecipeLion is a wonderful online resource for cooks of all skill levels.
Latest posts by RecipeLion (see all)
  • Your Guide to Homemade Hostess: Twinkie Recipes, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs & More - June 28, 2022
  • 17 Summer BBQ Recipes For a Crowd - June 23, 2022
  • 15 Quick Casserole Recipes for Busy Nights - June 18, 2022

Filed Under: Healthy Recipes Tagged With: eating healthy, guest post

abc123

Email Email Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube RSS

Subscribe to the Recipe Chatter Newsletter.

Dinner Made Easy!

Eat Like It’s Friday Every Day: 10 Copycat TGI Friday’s Recipes

Categories

Free eCookBook Download

Strawberry Icebox Casserole

Strawberry Icebox Casserole

Before we get started... Be sure to check out RecipeLion.com's most delicious cookbook yet, Family Favorite Casserole Recipes. You can find this … [Read More...]

Archives

Appetizers

Healthier Ham and Cheese Sliders Recipe (Perfect for Potlucks!)

Casseroles

15 Quick Casserole Recipes for Busy Nights

Desserts

Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

Healthy

The Beginner’s Guide to Eating Healthy

Copycat Recipes

12 Days Of Christmas Giveaway: Winner Day Eleven

Slow Cooker

Make Delicious Barbecue in Your Slow Cooker

Prime Publishing Food Group
Copyright © 2022 · RecipeChatter.com - A Prime Publishing LLC property. All rights reserved.

About Us Advertise Contact Us FAQs Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Personal Information Subscribe Terms of Service Unsubscribe

Copyright © 2022 · Tidy Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in