I would be lying if I said I have been good on my dieting lately. I went off it for a good 3 months. By went off, I mean I was good for a few days, bad for a few days. I played this back and forth game and it caused me to gain back 10 lbs!

Now, I am realizing (especially with a wedding coming up) I need to stick with it. I want to be happy with how I look and feel!

Getting back into the habit of being healthy is a big deal. I thought it would be nice to share with you my TOP 5 tips to use in your kitchen to make your dieting life easier!

1. Always keep measuring cups, spoons and a digital scale on the counter tops or in a convenient place. This is to avoid guess work and make sure you know exactly how much you are consuming of whatever you are eating. I am big on eating the serving size, so whether it’s measured in cups or grams or ounces, I’ve got it covered.

2. Pre-pack your fruits and veggies. When you get home from the grocery, put on some good tunes, get comfy, and get to cutting. Having perfect serving sizes of all your fruits and veggies make grabbing them much easier than if you had to go through and cut and wash each piece of broccoli when you wanted them! For the calorie-counters, this is gold.

3. Make your own 100-150 calorie packs! Buy your bag of pretzels or baked tortilla chips, but separate them out into specific serving sizes (using your scale.) Label the bag, and you are good to grab. This saves you from accidentally eating the whole bag, and it gives you double or more than you would get from “100 calorie packs” you can purchase in the store. (Saving you $$$)

4. Double/Triple all your recipes. Vegetables, meat, rice, soups…anything! You can separate those into serving sizes and refrigerate or freeze for lunches/dinners later in the week. Saves you time, money, and if you liked it, you might as well have it a few more times!

5. Presentation is key. It may seems silly to see everyone posting pictures of their dinner, but if it looks good, it tastes good, and it’s healthy…it’s ALWAYS nice to get positive reinforcement from your friends and family. I know from experience that when I post something new and healthy, people want to know what it is and it makes me feel good! I use smaller plates to trick my mind, include colorful vegetables and fruits to make the plates look nice, and it makes me want to do it all over again the next day. The presentation gives me the motivation!

Have any helpful tips for me? I’d love to hear!

XOXO Brittney