Organize Your Fridge for Healthy Eating

It's that time of year when most of us are trying to stick to our New Year's resolutions.  Chances are that if you're a woman and you made a resolution, it had something to do with eating healthy or losing weight.  According to an article on inc.com 71% of people who made a New Year's resolution focused on diet or eating healthy. 

Only about 8% of people who vow to make a change in their habits for the New Year are actually successful, so how can you be one of those who meet your goal?  There are many factors in meeting a goal including setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal, creating milestones, monitoring progress, developing new habits, finding someone or a group to encourage you and keep you accountable, and avoiding obstacles.

Today I'm going to focus on two of these factors - developing new habits and avoiding obstacles - and how organizing your refrigerator can help you accomplish your resolution to eat healthier!  ​

Avoiding Obstacles
One way to avoid obstacles is to remove temptation.  When you give into temptation, you might say you have no willpower.  Give yourself a little more credit - it's not that you have NO willpower, it's that willpower is a limited resource.  An American Psychological Association article suggests that willpower is similar to a muscle that can get fatigued from overuse.  We use willpower all day every day whether it's forcing ourselves not to daydream when we should be paying attention in a meeting, not blurting out what we are really thinking when it would be inappropriate, or choosing an apple over a chocolate chip cookie.  All of these instances take energy, and the more we can remove temptation, the less work it is to make good choices throughout our days.

In your refrigerator, you can easily remove temptation by cleaning out the items that are unhealthy or not on your eating plan.  Well....this is easy if you live alone and no one else has to eat out of your fridge!  But even if you have a family not on the healthy eating train, you can still make this work (especially if you are the one who buys the groceries!)  First, eliminate the items that no one needs.  Examples could be sugary drinks, desserts, condiments high in sugar, etc.  Then designate a few areas of the fridge that you are "allowed" to eat from.  Guard these areas and only allow foods that you should eat to go in them.  In my fridge, I eat mostly out of the crisper drawers and the bottom shelf.  This concept applies to your pantry as well.

The second way to avoid obstacles is to make it more convenient to make good choices.  Rearrange your fridge so good foods are easy to access.  Consider a small lazy susan to help you get to items in the back of the shelves more easily.  Remove packaging and prewash and cut fruits and veggies.  Having clean, cut strawberries makes it much easier to choose them over a packaged treat when you don't have to spend extra time cleaning and cutting them when you are hungry!

Group foods that you use to together.  For example if you make smoothies for breakfast like I do, put all of your refrigerated ingredients together.  Use bins to make it even easier on yourself so you can simply pull out one bin, put it on the counter, and have everything you need for your breakfast.  I prefer clear bins so you can stack items, but still see what is in the bottom.   If you make a lot of salads, you could use one crisper drawer for all of your cleaned, cut up veggies and proteins.

Developing New Habits
Another critical component to achieving a goal is developing new habits.  Don't think of a habit as something big like "eating healthy," but rather the tiny things you do that lead to milestones along your journey toward your goal.  When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, little habits related to your refrigerator can be very helpful.
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Some of these habits do double duty and also help you avoid obstacles - win, win!  

• Go through leftovers and produce at least weekly and throw out the old BEFORE you go to the grocery store so you know what you need and have room for.
• Meal plan BEFORE going to the grocery store by planning around what you already have in your refrigerator or freezer.
• Clean fruits and veggies (and cut up if necessary) before putting them away.  Add a paper towel to the container you store them in to absorb the moisture from washing.  You can change the paper towel every few days to help your food stay fresher longer.  I even do this in bags of pre-washed salads.  Don't be afraid to store fruits in the plastic, clam-shell containers they come in.  Just wash them well, put a paper towel on the bottom, and add clean fruit.  I like to write CLEAN in sharpie on the top to remind myself these are good to go!
• Cut produce to make it fit in your space.  For example, I often cut the tops off of celery if it is too long to fit in my crisper drawer.  It's annoying to fight with the drawer, and if it's not easy to access, you may avoid eating the good food it contains!
• Remove packaging from foods before putting them in fridge.  If items are more convenient when they stay in a box, tear off the flaps for easy access.  Recycle any cardboard packaging.
• FIFO - first in first out.  When you are down to your last yogurt and buy a new package, make sure to put the oldest one at the front so you don't let it spoil.  Using all that you buy keeps your grocery bill down and removes the obstacle of "healthy eating is too expensive."  I also use this concept for eggs if I have more than one carton, newest ones go under the oldest ones.  You can stack several egg cartons and use vertical space on your shelf!

"Using all that you buy keeps your grocery bill down and removes the obstacle of 'healthy eating is too expensive'."

• Keep like items in bins (preferably clear ones) so it's easy to put away and find items.  When you use bins, you can better use all the space in the back of your fridge because you can just pull out the front bin to access what's in back instead of having to juggle items while you try to access the back.
• Add items to a grocery list when you notice them getting low.  If you wait until you're completely out of something, it's very easy to revert to unhealthy eating when you don't have a good option in front of you.  I use a Google Home speaker so it's really easy to just say aloud what needs added, and then I can access the list on my phone at the store.
• Keep clips near the fridge so it's easy to securely fasten partially used items.  This helps food stay fresher longer.  I use freebie chip clips and even cheap wooden clothes pins to secure bags of pre-washed salads.
• Use stackable containers for leftovers.  I love my stackable Rubbermaid containers with lids that fit multiple sizes of containers and stack securely.  They are also clear so I can see what's in them.  Stacking items uses the vertical space on your shelves and allows you to fit more healthy food in your fridge.
• Label foods that are in solid colored containers or ones you want to make sure you know how old they are.  I like a label maker, but a piece of masking tape and a sharpie work just as well!

 
If you can get into these refrigerator related habits, you will have a better chance of being successful with your healthy eating plan!

If you would like to increase your chances of meeting your goals by joining other women for encouragement and accountability, consider joining the Achieve! program.  Registrations for the February/March 2020 session are still open! 

Learn More about ACHIEVE!

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Sources
Economy, Peter. “10 Top New Year's Resolutions for Success and Happiness in 2019.” Inc.com, Inc., 1 Jan. 2019, www.inc.com/peter-economy/10-top-new-years-resolutions-for-success-happiness-in-2019.html
Weir, Kirsten. “What You Need to Know about Willpower: The Psychological Science of Self-Control.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 2012, www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower.