Keeping the diet being a housewife may seem complicated because there is always the option to nibble while preparing meals and to eat sweets and treats that are stored in the pantry, but working from home and arranging to prepare your own meals can be a great advantage for those who want to lose weight and stay healthy.
So, to get the most out of your routine, here are 7 simple tips that will help improve home meal planning and facilitate weight loss.
1. Make your own food
Making your own food helps you control the quality and quantity of meals, as well as help you save money. In general, when buying food outside the home, the preparations have more salt, bad fats, fried foods and sugar, which impairs the diet.
So, prefer to prepare your own meals, choosing fresh and seasonal fruits and vegetables, avoid using fries and oils in excess, and prefer to season the dishes with herbs such as garlic, basil and pepper, instead of cubes of meat or vegetables, which are rich in salt, bad fats and chemical additives.
3. Always have fruits and vegetables at home
Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, important nutrients to maintain the proper functioning of the body and avoid hunger and craving for sweets.
Fruits can be used as snacks between main meals, and you can add seeds like chia or flaxseed, or be accompanied by nuts, which are rich in good fats such as omega-3, which help control cholesterol and blood pressure .
2. Always have water or tea nearby
Always having water or teas around helps maintain hydration and increase the feeling of satiety by avoiding pinching sweets or other foods at meal intervals. This is because often the thirst sensation is often confused with hunger, which leads to an unnecessary increase in calorie consumption.
In addition, taking teas such as green tea, white tea and tea mate helps to speed up metabolism and stimulate fat burning, contributing to weight control. A good strategy is to add cinnamon and ginger to teas, as they have thermogenic effect. See more examples in 5 weight loss teas.
3. Avoid buying sweets and cookies
Avoid having caloric foods at home, like sweets, cookies and chips, helps avoid excessive consumption of sugar and fat even when the craving appears. When you have these products in the pantry or closet, the frequency of consumption is much higher, and not including them in the market purchases helps control the calories of the diet and increase the quality of food in general.
In addition, having sweets at home often influences children to enjoy high-sugar foods, and their overconsumption can hamper their healthy body development and increase the risk of problems such as being overweight and high cholesterol.
5. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks
Making small snacks between main meals helps reduce hunger and the desire to eat, while also reducing the habit of tasting food while eating lunch and dinner.
For snacks, prefer to consume foods like natural fruit yogurts, whole wheat bread sandwiches with cheese, fruit salad with chia, linseed or oatmeal or a small tapioca with egg and coffee, preferably without sugar. See examples of healthy afternoon snack options.
6. Make delicious desserts only on special occasions
Preparing delicious desserts only on special occasions and not as routine helps to reduce the consumption of sweets and very high calorie foods such as chocolates and sour cream. In addition, avoiding sweets on a daily basis also makes the palate accustomed to bitter or sour foods, helping to reduce sugar addiction and prevent diseases linked to its excessive consumption, such as high cholesterol, diabetes and overweight .
To use as a routine, the ideal is to consume only 1 dessert fruit, because they reduce the desire for sweets and are rich in fiber that increase satiety, in addition to having vitamin C, nutrient that increases the absorption of iron in the intestine, helping prevent problems such as anemia.
7. Include the family in changing eating habits
Preparing healthier meals for the whole family makes it easier to follow the diet and get everyone into the process of changing eating habits. Including preparations with salads, fruits, olive oil, seeds, yogurts, cheeses and whole-grain bread in the home routine will make the whole family learn to enjoy these foods and include them in their normal routine, making everyone feel the health benefits .
Improving nutrition should not only be an obligation of those who want to lose weight, but something necessary for everyone and at all ages, because only this way it is possible to maintain the proper functioning of the body, preventing diseases and controlling better weight.
In addition to these tips to do at home, it is also important to separate time to do some physical activity and take care of the skin, nails and hair. Self-esteem and sense of well-being motivate you to lose weight and maintain healthy lifestyle habits.
See other 5 simple tips to lose weight and lose belly.