It's time for a little spring cleaning, and by cleaning we mean unloading all of the unhealthy foods taking up space in your pantry and cabinets. Upon first glance, there are probably plenty of foods that have no place in your pantry. Maybe they've expired. Maybe they never had a place in there to begin with. Here are some simple guidelines to getting a fresh start. First off, get rid of those tempting treats that will only lead to diet destruction. We're talking cookies, cakes, crackers and other high-calorie, high-sugar and high-fat snacks. Keeping Twinkies, Ho Hos and Oreos in your house is a recipe for disaster. Even the best intentions can go astray in an instant. When you get stressed or start having cravings, you're more likely to feed into these urges during a weak moment if you have those unhealthy foods at hand. Not having those sinister snacks around gives you more time to stave off cravings. And don't keep unhealthy treats around for the kids' sake.
If you shouldn't be feasting on these sugary and salty snacks, neither should your children. And once they're gone from your pantry, don't even think of replacing them. Next purge your pantry of other processed packages - prepared meals, high-sodium soups and anything loaded with high-fructose corn syrup would all make great donations for your local food drive. And while popular spices don't spoil, they do lose their flavor. Spices are a great way to add flavor to foods without adding fat. You may want to take a close look at their shelf life. Many chefs say to give spices the ole' heave ho after six months, but other experts are a little more liberal. Some use the following rule of thumb - up to four years for whole spices like cloves, cumin, peppercorns, nutmegs, 2 to 3 years for ground spices and 1 to 3 years for leafy herbs like oregano. The bottom line is that if these products aren't part of your weight loss solution, they may be part of your problem. So get cleaning.