Healthy Eating at Home

1. Stock healthy foods at home.
2. Cook foods in a healthy way.
3. Avoid emotional eating.

Stock Healthy Foods at Home

• Make a list before going food shopping: If you resolve to buy only items on your list, you’ll avoid impulse-buying food that isn’t good for you, eliminating the potential for temptation later.
• Don’t go food shopping when hungry: Hunger will tempt you to buy unhealthy foods based on cravings rather than on your nutritional needs.

The Shopping List

• Grains: Buy whole grains instead of refined grains whenever possible.
• Vegetables: Buy a wide range of vegetables, including dark green leafy vegetables, orange vegetables, starchy vegetables, and dry beans and peas.
• Fruit: Buy a range of fruits, including citrus, berries, melons, and apples.
• Milk: Choose nonfat milk products instead of cheeses and whole-fat products.
• Meat, beans, and nuts: Choose fish, lean cuts of meat, and a variety of nuts.
• Oils: Buy vegetable oils for cooking. Avoid lard, butter, and shortening.
• Solid fats and added sugars: Allow yourself a few indulgences from this group each time you shop, but stick to your list. This will help you monitor how much from this group you buy, and then eat, every time you shop.

Healthy Cooking at Home

1. Avoid frying: Instead of frying foods, which boosts their saturated fat content, try steaming, broiling, grilling, baking, roasting, or microwaving.
2. Use nonstick pans: Cooking with high-quality nonstick pans will lessen the need for fats and oils to keep food from sticking to your cookware.
3. Replace solid fats with vegetable oils: For recipes that call for solid fats, such as shortening or butter, substitute vegetable oil instead. To make this substitution, use 3/4 as much vegetable oil as the recipe calls for in solid fats.
4. Trim the fat from meat: Before preparing any cut of meat, cut away all visible fat.
5. Replace sour cream with low-fat or nonfat yogurt: When baking, substitute low-fat or nonfat yogurt for sour cream to reduce fat.
6. Replace sugar with spices: You can reduce the amount of sugar in some recipes by 1/4 if you replace the sugar with spices such as vanilla, cinnamon, or nutmeg.
7. Use whole wheat: Use whole wheat flour instead of refined all-purpose flour. If you do replace refined flour with whole wheat, use half the amount the recipe calls for.
8. Skim the fat from soups and stews: Fat gathers at the top of homemade soups and stews when cooked at a high temperature. Skim off the layer of fat before serving.
9. Replace whole eggs with egg whites: Egg yolks are high in cholesterol; egg whites are high in protein and contain no cholesterol. To use egg whites only, either prepare hard-boiled eggs (which allows you to remove the yolks with ease) or try commercially available products that contain only egg whites (such as Egg Beaters®).
10. Use skim milk instead of whole milk or cream: Skim milk is fat-free and can be substituted for whole milk in everything from pancake recipes to your morning coffee.

Avoid Emotional Eating

• Give yourself options: Have a plan of action to divert yourself from emotional eating whenever temptation strikes. Diversions can include writing in a journal, watching a favorite film, or going for a run.
• Move: A simple change of scenery can help you avoid emotional eating. Take a walk or move to another part of your house until the craving subsides.
• Don't keep junk food in the house: If you tend to snack, keep dried fruits, nuts, or plain yogurt close at hand, rather than candy bars and soda.
• Sleep more: Tiredness causes stress and other negative emotions and boosts sugar cravings. Sleep at least eight hours each night to help prevent emotional eating.

Weight Loss through Good Nutrition and Exercise