The Kitchen Clean-Up Project: Who Doesn't Love a Win-Win?

The Kitchen Clean-Up Project: Who Doesn’t Love a Win-Win?

by Amanda Hepp Jackson, SHOP blogger

So you know how sometimes you’re all “I’m gonna be super healthy and not eat shitty food anymore,” and you’re really, really good at it for a little while and then those Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats on the top shelf of the pantry look so damn good one night when you’re hungry and craving sweets, so you eat a bowl, and then the next day you snack on a few Christmas M&Ms left over from the holidays, and then you decide you don’t have enough time to make dinner one night so you order some Papa John’s and eat all the garlic dipping sauce with your crust and before your know it you’re back to eating like you were before you said you were gonna be super healthy? I meannnnn, we’ve all been there at some time or another, right?Well, you’re in luck because I have a solution to this classic healthy eating stumbling block.

GET THAT SHIZZLE OUTTA YOUR HIZZLE.

The kitchen and pantry makeover is an ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL step in your healthy eating process. I really cannot stress this enough. In the same way that we must surround ourselves with happy and wonderful and supportive people for emotional health, we have to create a kitchen oasis of greens and proteins and Epic meat bars for physical health (which totally supports your emotional health, obviously).As much as it may pain you to throw away perfectly good food that you spent some hard earned cash money on, it is not going to serve you well, and, please always remember this: you are too important to waste time on things that don’t serve you. Just add it to the list of spending mistakes you’ve made along with your New Kids on the Block Reunion Tour t-shirt and those ankle weights you bought at Target 10 years ago, and move on with your healthy self.If you’re like me, the toughest times to stay on your food track are when you are feeling hella snacky. You got your main meals planned and they’re healthy as a mo-fo, but at around 3:30 when you start getting the snacks, it’s sooooo much easier to grab a handful of tortilla chips, slap some cheese on ‘em, and top with salsa. Your belly says, “Afternoon nachos? Ummmm...obvi.” And your head, who knows better but is weak at this point says, “Ok, just this one snack.”Here’s the thing: the option to have nachos CANNOT be an option. Your kitchen should not be equipped to provide. And it forces you instead to have my new favorite snack, mini sweet peppers with Wholly Guacamole. It’s delicious, healthy, and Mexican (kind of). It helps me fill my nacho void AND it fills my belly with good fats and nutrients. This is also known as a *classic* WIN-WIN situation.Now go get a trash bag and go through every item on your shelves and throw away the food that doesn’t fit into your definition of healthy. Turn your kitchen into a win-win situation. As a side note, if you need help with defining “healthy”, see my previous posts, or schedule a good old fashioned sit-down with Drew and get clear on your health and your goals.(Another side note: my daughter napped the ENTIRE TIME I wrote this so I could actually finish it! Another win-win!)