Organize Your Fridge for Healthy Eating This Holiday

Trying to eat healthfully but overwhelmed by all the holiday goodies in your kitchen? Some simple refrigerator organizing steps can make it easier to make better choices during the busy, calorie-heavy holiday season—and on into the New Year. “Organizing your refrigerator the healthy way makes improving your diet a lot easier,” says Maxine Siegel, a registered dietitian and manager of food testing at Consumer Reports. Here are four ways you can do just that.

Put Healthy Food Where You Can See It

Stock up on pepper slices, carrot sticks, cut fruit, hummus, yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs, and keep it all at eye level. You’re three times more likely to reach for healthy food if it’s on the middle shelf, according to research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Go a step further and store healthy foods in clear containers or bags, Siegel advises. What to keep in the fridge drawers? “Cheese, luncheon meat, and sweets like pies, sweet drinks, and pudding, and other foods you want to cut back on,” she says. “Out of sight, out of mind.”

Stock the Fridge With Healthy Drinks

“Fill a glass pitcher with unsweetened iced tea or try water with some cut-up oranges or other fruit, mint, ginger, or cucumbers,” Siegel suggests. Seeing the pitcher will remind you to stay hydrated, and adding the flavorings makes plain water more palatable.

Keep Good-For-You Condiments on the Side Door

Have plenty of flavorful, healthy ingredients, such as salsa, exotic mustards, pesto, jarred garlic, roasted red peppers, and artichoke hearts on hand. They’re low in calories and fat and can be used as a base for sauces, dips for sliced raw veggies, and toppings for cooked lean meats or fish.

Don't Forget to Healthy Up Your Freezer

“Most people don’t realize that cooked whole grains and beans can be frozen,” Siegel says. Store one or two servings in individual plastic freezer bags and stack the bags on top of each other in the freezer. That way, you’ll always have the foundation for a quick, healthy meal.

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