Weight Loss Tip: Clean Up Your Environment

If you are on a mission to lose weight, the first thing you must do is clean up your environment. You will never succeed if you have tempting food triggers in your home.

Go through all your cabinets and pack up everything that you should not have in your home. This includes cookies, crackers, sugary cereals, boxes of baking mixes, candy, pasta... just pack it all up and give it away. Give it to someone who might be struggling as a gift. Or donate all your non perishables to a food pantry. In Sanford, you can donate to the Sanford Food Pantry at 21 River Street.

After you clean your cabinets, it's time to clean your refrigerator and freezer. Get rid of everything that you know you should not be eating. Toss the ice cream, the frozen pizza, the cookie dough. Toss it out or give it away.

After your environment is cleaned out, it's time to go shopping! Buy healthy foods and fill your freezer with frozen fruits and veggies. Stack your shelves with low sodium, healthy soups, low sodium canned veggies and canned fruit packed in unsweetened juice. Buy lean meats and cans of solid white tuna. Fill your environment with foods you know are good for you.

It's not the end of the world if you want a candy bar or some ice cream. But, you'll have to go out and get it. Do not keep it handy. The harder it is to get to, the less likely you are to over indulge.

Weight loss support in Sanford, Maine

If you would like to lose weight, you can join TOPS in Sanford. TOPS is a fun and informative weight loss group that will support you during your weight loss journey. TOPS is non profit and very affordable. You can join ME 113 Sanford any Wednesday at the Fish and Game Club on Route 4 in Sanford. Weigh in is between 5:00pm to 5:55pm and the meeting is from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. New members are asked to arrive at 5:00pm for their first visit. Registration fee is only $26 per year and that includes 10 issues of TOPS magazine. Dues are only $2.00 per week. For more information about TOPS, please visit the official TOPS website .

This article was previously published by Darlene Michaud on Examiner