You’ve taken the first step in your weight loss journey by doing the research and deciding to do it. Congratulations! Your next steps are just as important, and they should include taking a good look at your kitchen.

Losing weight is one of the hardest goals you can set for yourself. To assure your success, you need to give yourself every advantage and get rid of all temptation. When it comes to weight loss, your kitchen is Ground Zero and you have to eliminate what’s working against you and strengthen what works for you. Here are our top tips for organizing your kitchen for weight loss success.

• Clean out your cupboards – If you’re committed to making a real change, you need to do a thorough cleanse. Not talking about a juice cleanse – we’re talking about a cupboard cleanse. Open up all those pantry doors, grab a trash bag, and get rid of the cookies and chips and processed foods. Everything from sugary cereals to soda need to go. If it’s not there, it’s not going to tempt you. Worried that you’ll be left without anything to satisfy your sweet tooth? Replace what you get rid of with healthy choices like fresh fruits and nuts.
• Make sure that you have a few sets of measuring cups and spoons on hand. Most people have one set and only use it when it’s time to make holiday cookies, but measuring is important when it comes to understanding portions. Here’s a pro tip: keep a tablespoon measure in your containers of favorite snacks so you can track how much you’re eating. A kitchen scale can be a big help too.
• Keep your fruit front and center. Get a pretty bowl and pile it high with apples, oranges and other fresh favorites. Fill small bowls with blueberries. Cherry tomatoes make a great countertop snack too. The more visible your healthy foods are, the more likely you are to choose them. To remind yourself to drink more water, toss slices of lemon, lime, cucumbers or even fresh herbs into a water pitcher and leave it out too.
• Put the equipment that you use to cook healthy recipes in the front of your cabinets, and move your healthy recipes and cookbooks to the front of your recipe file and kitchen bookshelf too!
• Don’t let yourself run out of healthy foods. When you go shopping, make sure you pick up frozen fruits and vegetables that you can use if you run out of the fresh stuff. The same is true of healthy staples like brown rice, quinoa, nuts and seeds.
• Don’t let your food out of the kitchen. That includes the candy bowl that sits on your desk or out in your foyer. The more food is outside of the kitchen, the more likely you are to let yourself cheat.
• Put a speaker into your kitchen. Studies have shown that when you listen to music while cooking or eating, you tend to eat less.