Oxygen Australia — January-February 2018

5050 Jan/Feb 2018 oxygenmag.com.auoxygenmag.com.au

Kitchen

Renovate

your

The new year brings with it the motivation to press the ‘reset’ button on your health and

fitness goals, and as you gear up to get started on a healthier eating plan, a good

place to start is in the kitchen! The home renovation craze is going nuts at the moment,

and here at Oxygen magazine we’ve put our own spin on the meaning and applied

it to our health and fitness goals (crafty, right?). It can often be daunting to commit

to healthy eating if you’ve spent so much of your life consuming processed food, but

preparation is the key to success, so if you want to stop yourself from indulging and

falling off the bandwagon before it even starts, follow these steps to a full kitchen reno.

1

THE INITIAL CLEAR-OUT

To start your kitchen renovation, you

need to first clear out the foods that

aren’t serving your health and fitness

goals, as ‘painful’ as it may be. If you’ve

heard the saying, ‘out of sight, out of mind’,

you’ll know precisely what this is all

about. In saying that, you don’t

need to become a ‘tosser’

if you feel that it’d be

wasteful — and what

better time of year

to donate the

unwanted food to

a local charity or

food drive? It’s a

win-win!

I should men-

tion that during

this process I

don’t want you

to think that there isn’t a time and place for

indulging in your cravings, because there is,

but having these processed foods easily acces-

sible to you in your home will mean you are

more likely to reach for them when you feel

hungry and ultimately jeopardise your goals.

Don’t worry, I did this too. I remember buy-

ing all sorts of treats for when guests

were coming, especially at this

time of year, but I usually

ended up eating them

myself long before my

guests did!

Avoid the tempta-

tion of sabotaging

yourself and only

buy what you need.

When it’s time for a

‘sanity’ meal of sorts,

go out and eat it or

purchase it and bring

it back home for that meal only.

Now let’s look at the different areas of your

kitchen that need a clear-out and begin our

renovation!

2

THE PANTRY

Your pantry is likely lurking with

vast amounts of processed foods

that need to get the boot (or be

donated). Begin your clear-out by

tossing out all processed cereals — the only

‘cereal’ you need is whole oats.

From there, get rid of the biscuits, muesli

bars, pasta, white rice, and ‘snacky’ packaged

foods, and replace these less-nutrient-dense

foods with carb sources such as quinoa, whole

oats, and brown rice.

Your next step is to remove any nut butters

that aren’t natural (no, it doesn’t mean you

have to give up peanut butter — just make sure

it’s the natural kind) and remove any other

BY LINDY OLSEN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DALLAS OLSEN

Go through your entire kitchen and

remove any tempting foods that may be

lurking in the shadows waiting to add

centimetres to your waistline! If you simply

can’t go without, buy your treats when you

need them, and don’t take any leftovers

home. The closest bin is always the best

option once you’re satisfied!

Hunt that junk