Photo courtesy of Female Gym Motivation

Your kitchen can make or break your weight loss results.

A kitchen stocked with the makings for healthy meals and snacks will keep you on track, even when late-night cravings strike. On the flip side, a kitchen filled with unhealthy munchies will derail your weight loss efforts every single time. When Double Eagle Fitness comes into your home to raid your kitchen, here is the list of what we cover in an hour:

• How to read food labels

• Simple cooking & assembly techniques

• Planning & eating clean on the go

• Portions

• Macro & micronutrients

• SUGAR IS THE DEVIL

• Calorie Awareness

• Frank N’ foods Vs Real food

• Snacking 101

• Super foods to have on hand

The Refrigerator:

Here’s what’s in my fridge: vegetables, organic meat and eggs and almond butter

The fridge is the heart of your kitchen. To set yourself up for a successful weight loss, purge your fridge of any condiment or beverage containing sugar-especially high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, or xylitol. Drinking calories is one of the quickest ways to gain weight. Replace soda and fruit juices with water. You’ll save a lot of money and adding fresh lemon juice to your water will help detox your liver–the organ responsible for metabolizing fat.

Get rid of all the barbecue sauce, ketchup, salad dressings, and high-sugar yogurts. Scrutinize the labels and be shocked at how much sugar hides in condiments and dressings. Would you pour sugar all over your grilled chicken? Fill the fridge with fresh vegetables, cashew or almond butter, fresh fruit, eggs, and salad dressing you make yourself.

Saw this yesterday on a cash register at Marin Coffee Roasters. So true!

The Freezer:

Ice cream. Hiding a gallon or two (or even a pint) of your favorite ice cream is NOT a good idea. Save yourself from that temptation and don’t buy ice cream. Get rid of frozen pizzas, frozen waffles, lasagna–any convenient Frank-N’-Food you didn’t cook yourself. Fill the freezer with frozen berries. When your sweet tooth starts acting up, warm some frozen berries and mix them with some cottage cheese. This makes a high-protein, low-glycemic index, nutritious snack.

In my pantry: almond butter, coconut milk, canned pumpkin, sun-dried tomatoes, and smoked herring

The Cabinets:

Toss any cereal with more than 5 grams of sugar–90% of boxed cereals. Get rid of cookies, cake mixes, candy, and anything made with white flour and white sugar. Replace with whole grain pastas, breads, and experiment with grains you aren’t used to such as quinoa, wild rice, and kamut.  Throw away all the chips, crackers, and salt-laden munchies. Snack on hard-boiled eggs, raw almonds, dried fruit, veggies and hummus instead.

The Spice Shelf:

Salt and pepper aren’t the only spices around. Your best friends for high flavor and low-calorie spices are fresh basil, cilantro, dill, and rosemary. Dried mushrooms, curry powder, chilies, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Go crazy on exotic spices like lemongrass and cardamom pods. Control your kitchen by keeping healthy foods around that won’t lead you into tempting calorie overload. You must burn 3,500 calories to lose one pound of fat.