Alice's Mommy Blog

I am writing this blog for a fellow weight watcher who doesn’t have issues getting her fitness on but finds herself making some not so awesome food choices. So here are my general healthy eating tips and tricks! I’m going to write this post as very matter a factly

1- You can’t eat what isn’t there.
I hear a lot of people making excuses about their spouse or kids like it, and they just find themselves eating it. This is an obvious thing, only buy good stuff and if your kids/hubby/roomie need a fix buy the items that they like and you don’t. In this house they are salty people and I am a chocoholic, so there is little chocolate but I buy chipies for them. They are happy and I avoid temptation. If you can’t avoid buying the item exactly, try a flavour you’re less fond of.


2- If you can make it yourself why buy it?
I know pre-made is so easy to just grab and  go but honestly it costs a fortune! You can make SOO much more food for the cost of pre-packaged. I know you think about the cost factor of your time too but if you have a few hours on Sunday you can prep a lot of food in a short amount of time and you get faster at it the more you do it. So set aside a few hours on Sunday to prep stuff. I usually do it before dinner so it’s part of dinner prep. Cut veggies for omletes. Make the mother of all salads. Cut, peel, prep veggies for snacks. Make hummus to dip them in. The list goes on and on.


3- Whole foods are best.
I avoid processed foods simply because who needs to put extra crappy chemicals in their body? I also find that while the shelf life may not be as good it’s worth it for the taste. I now have gone to making salad dressings, bread, buns, pasta, salads, baked treats, lattes, and so on all from scratch. The bread I find tastes better and while salad dressing sounds a bit intimidating to start with, but if you follow recipes for the first few, you can get pretty adventurous.

4- Pack as if you’re starving.
There are days where we are all just starving at work or school, and since you can’t predict these days I pack every day like I’m going to have one of those days. This way when they hit I am always prepared. I find the trick for this is to always pack a few things that don’t need to go in the fridge and a few that do. Then you just have to make sure that you eat the fridge stuff first (unless you have a fridge where you are) and if you don’t want your apple, bring it home and don’t feel bad about not eating it. But this way if you have a starving day you won’t be tempted to wander to the coffee shop to get something sweet.

5- Have your treat in moderation.
This took a LONG time for me, but I can have good, fancy ice cream in my freezer and take weeks if not months to eat it. Why? I’ve taught myself to enjoy a spoon or two and not need anymore. If you can’t master this skill right away then it’s simple only buy enough that you can have for a treat and no more. Want ice cream? Fine, go to the store and buy 1 bar, eat it and savour it! There are no extras there for you to stuff your face with in a moment of weakness. In this house we believe in paying more money for less food since it saves us calories and health in the long run.

So these are my top 5 tips for healthy eating. I think a lot of people don’t realize that you need to put the same effort and dedication into eating well that you do into working out and exercising. If anyone has any other questions or things they want to know how I manage with, send me an email or leave a comment and I’ll answer them in another blog!

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