Control Weight with These Healthy Pantry Foods

As gratifying as regular workouts are, they are often accompanied by relentless hunger pangs. A ravenous appetite can mean grabbing whatever is in sight - wherein an unhealthy food choice will hamper one's fitness progress. For this reason, having healthy pantry staples in stock is a must. It is especially helpful when individuals who are watching their weight consult a nutrition guide, posted on cabinets, shelves, and refrigerators, that outlines foods from the most nutritious to the least nutritious categories.

It is convenient to buy nonperishable, healthy foods in bulk to serve as grab-and-go snacks, appetizers, or components of a meal. Having a longer shelf-life, healthy, nonperishable foods in the pantry mean less trips to the supermarket, allowing food availability when one's stomach demands it. Theses healthy, nonperishable foods also come in handy when individuals need a snack to carry with them when they are away from home as when running errands and needing a quick bite. Even more, it is ideal to bring these healthy, nonperishable foods to one's workplace, especially when it has few or no refrigerators and one is prone to purchasing unhealthy snacks from vending machines. Another benefit of keeping healthy, nonperishable foods at hand is to encourage children to make it a habit to select wholesome food choices.

Having reviewed the importance of stocking up on healthy, nonperishable foods, it is now time to note examples of these ready-to-eat products. As mentioned above, nutrition guides will help to keep health-conscious individuals on track. One such popular nutrition guide is called Michi's Ladder that outlines foods from the most healthy (Tier 1) to the least healthy (Tier 5) using five tiers. Some of the healthy, nonperishable foods listed in the first three tiers include the following:

Tier 1

- canned fish such as tuna and sardines

- natural salsa (no sugar) in a jar or individual-sized plastic container

- whole grain cereal

- soy milk

Tier 2

- granola or energy bars

- non-salted or raw nuts

- canned vegetable juice

- a jar or individual-sized containers of applesauce

Tier 3

- dried fruit such as apples or raisins

- Graham crackers

- raw peanut butter

- plain popcorn (microwave in less than a minute)

- soup (microwave in less than a minute)

Above all, with this regular or emergency stash of healthy, nonperishable foods, individuals no longer need to blame their appetite for overpowering sensible thinking. In addition, one's posted nutrition guide is a continuous reminder of foods to buy when grocery shopping. It prevents the bad habit of grabbing junk food when going down the snack aisle. In other words, a nutrition guide enables one to be health-conscious rather than impulsive when selecting snacks for the pantry. Maintaining a pantry of healthy, nonperishable foods such as those mentioned above makes the difference between one who sees a drop in his or her pants or dress size and one who doe not. This is the key to success in keeping one's weight on track.