Welcome to 2022–the year you intend to eat healthier at home. You know your body would appreciate you consuming better foods. And, sure, you could stand to lose a few pounds, too. But figuring out what to eat and when to eat can be incredibly confusing. After all, there are so many diets out there all promising the same thing. With misleading results and not knowing which way to turn, it is no wonder why so many people choose to give up and just stay unhealthy. 

One thing you can do to ensure that you eat healthier is to eat at home. Eating out, you are not only enticed with all sorts of unhealthy foods, but you get oversized portions, lots of added sodium, and so much more. At home, you have control. So, while you may make a pizza or some wings, you have control over how it’s made – and can make wiser choices for your body. 

Let’s go over some tips for eating healthy at home this year. 

Create a Space You Want to Cook In

Truth is, if you want to retrain yourself to do something different, you have to be ready for it. You can’t invite all your best buds over to watch the Super Bowl and have a tiny tv that is set up in your smallest bedroom – or no tv at all. You may as well go out for the game, right? The same holds true for cooking. Why would you tell yourself you are going to eat at home if you don’t have a means of cooking? 

You need to create a kitchen space that you are going to be excited to use. Invest in new appliances if that is what it takes. You should want to be in the kitchen and want to cook. When you’ve got new appliances, they are like toys – you want to play with them. And, you are sure to want to cook more at home. 

So, invest in yourself – in your health – when you invest in a new range, refrigerator, grill, and so forth. 

Ditch the Processed Foods

Processed foods are the worst. Just the sound of it – processed foods – can make you cringe. Yet, we all love them. They taste so, so good, don’t they? Everything from white flour and white bread to potato chips, sodas, sweetened breakfast cereals, cookies, hot dogs, lunch meat, and so much more are considered processed foods – and they wreak havoc on the body. 

Instead of opting for foods that have a long list of ingredients that you can’t pronounce or that have been wiped of all things good, such as white bread, choose whole foods. Things like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and fish. If you think about it, these are items that are usually found along the perimeter at most grocery stores and not deep within the aisles. Simply making this change within your home, you are bound to see a difference in your health. 

Drink Water

Fill your wine cooler up with wine for an evening glass or two, but the rest of the day you should focus on water. Soda, pop, whatever you call it where you are from is one of the worst beverages you can drink. Whether you drink regular or diet soda, they are linked to obesity and increased risk for various types of disease. 

Don’t be fooled by the word fruit in fruit juice, either. Unless you buy juices that specifically say 100% juice and their only ingredient is the juice, avoid them. They are full of sugar – and usually a long list of other ingredients – and contain very little if any, actual fruit. Their high sugar content has also been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. 

Stick to water throughout your day and your body will thank you. You can even get a nice filtered jug and keep it in your Thor Kitchen refrigerator so that it’s always cold and refreshing. 

Have the Good Stuff on Hand

Not having stuff to prepare a meal at home or something easy to grab when you are short on time, for instance, can have you ordering takeout or going out to eat. So if you are wanting to eat healthier at home,  you are going to need to have healthy food at home. And, you are going to want to organize your refrigerator and pantry in a way that these foods are easy to grab. 

Always have some fruits and veggies on hand. Stocking up on frozen vegetables is a great way to get more of them in your diet. Have whole grains, such as brown rice, whole-wheat or lentil pasta, quinoa, and so forth in your kitchen. You may even want to prep them in advance so they are ready to go. It’s easy enough to toss some frozen veggies and rice in a pan and make vegetable fried rice for dinner. Have some chicken or turkey available, too. This is easy enough to cook in advance.

When you have all the makings for a healthy meal easily accessible and ready to go, you are more likely to make it. Don’t try to get all fancy and buy 25 special ingredients for a 15-step recipe. That’s overwhelming – and no one wants to spend that much time cooking after a long day. 

Grill Out

Cooking on a grill not only reduces the amount of grease you eat, giving you a healthier option, but it also tastes delicious, too. 

Why not take advantage of your backyard this year? Set yourself up with an outdoor kitchen and use it. You will have everything you need within reach and get to breathe in the fresh air as you cook. You can grill just about everything – meats, fish and other seafood, veggies, and even fruits. 

Just like having a kitchen can provide you with a nice area to spend time, an outdoor kitchen can be very inviting, too. And, it will keep you eating healthy all year long. 

The new year always brings hope and possibility for the future. If you want to eat healthier at home in 2022, now you know what you need to do.