On the counter, in your mouth

What's on your kitchen counter top right now? For most people, it's cereal, bread, soda, and more.

We leave shelf-stable foods on the counter all the time, and it's causing weight gain. Sure, the occasional apple might make it into the mix, but most of the time counter foods are carbohydrates with little nutritional value.

The fact is, if you see a food over and over again, you will end up eating that food.

This can be a very good thing or a very bad thing. You can make it a good thing by purposefully leaving healthy foods on your counter to encourage you to eat more of them. But obviously, this can also be a bad thing if you are leaving tempting baked goods and other calorie-laden foods out.

One-week challenge

Try a challenge this week. Just change the foods you leave out on your counter. Don't change what you buy at the grocery store or anything else.

The only variable should be what's visible to you when you walk into your kitchen.

At the end of the week, consider how this change has impacted your eating habits. Did you naturally eat fewer carbs even though you still had them in the house?

What to leave on your counter

Using this "see it, eat it" mentality to your advantage, consider leaving the following foods on your counter.

• Apples

• Filtered water

• Sparkling water

• Bananas

• Almonds

• Walnuts

• Carrots

• Celery

• Protein bars

• Apricots

• Cashews

• Dates

When you see these foods frequently, you will start to crave them. Your subconscious helps keep these counter foods in your mind even when you aren't looking at them.

What to avoid having on your counter

Likewise, out of sight is out of mind, especially when it comes to food. No one has the will power to resist treats all of the time, and who would want to? Life should allow some sweets and treats! But it's about moderation.

Keeping treats off your counter will help you eat these items at a healthier frequency.

Foods to keep in the cupboard or fridge rather than on your counter include

• Bread

• Baked goods

• Bagels

• Cereal

• Candy

• Soda

• Chips

• Pretzels

• Wine

• Beer

• Popcorn

Weight loss is challenging, but making small changes like this should make it slightly easier.

Keeping weight off

Every pound consists of 3500 calories, so if this tip helps you cut 100 calories per day from your diet, you will loose a pound in a month. That's without changing anything else!

If you add in a little exercise that burns another 100 calories each day, you will lose 2 pounds each month. This is achieved with just these small changes. Over time, small changes add up to big weight loss.

More importantly, when you lose weight slowly, you are more likely to keep it off.