16 Products to Make Healthy Eating Easier

Making the switch to eating healthier is a pretty big lifestyle change. You have to adjust how you cook, swap out some of the ingredients you normally use, and pay a lot more attention to what’s on your plate. Still, it’s not impossible, and some products and apps make healthy eating a whole lot easier and more convenient.

How to Start Eating Healthier

• Avoid processed foods. Processed foods might taste good, but they’re also loaded with sugars, chemicals, salt, and plenty of other things you want to avoid when you’re trying to be healthy. One of the best things you can do is drop processed foods (meals and snacks) from your diet and focus on whole foods like meats, healthy fats, fruit, and veggies.
• Pay attention to portion control. If you’re trying to eat healthier and lose weight, one of the most important things is to focus on portion control. Even if you’re eating healthy food, you won’t drop the pounds if you’re eating too much of it. That’s why owning something like a food scale is so great—it helps you figure out exactly how much you should be putting on your plate.
• Eat more fruits and veggies. Again, whole foods are so essential to a healthy diet, especially lots of fruits and veggies. Ideally, you should be aiming to eat more vegetables than meats or starches at every meal. Fruits can also fulfill your sweet tooth cravings and still be healthier than, say, a piece of chocolate.
• Drink a lot of water. Do yourself a favor and ditch the sugary drinks, like fruit juices, sodas, and lemonades, even if they’re low-calorie or low-sugar. Just drink water. It’s the best form of hydration out there, it helps fill you up, and it’s so, so good for you. An infuser pitcher (like the one below) can make your water a lot less boring.
• Change up your cooking methods. Frying and sautéing are two popular ways to cook that involve a lot of oil or butter—both of which you should have limited amounts of. Instead, try steaming or baking and use less oil and very little butter. An air fryer is great to have on hand, as it cooks quickly and uses virtually no oil. A steamer is also a nice thing to have in your kitchen.
• Try new meals and recipes. Eating healthy does not have to be boring. Instead of just steaming vegetables and making plain chicken, look at recipes in healthy cookbooks or subscribe to a service that comes up with entire meal plans for you. That makes things a lot more interesting!

You should always check with your doctor or a medical expert before you drastically change your diet. While cutting intake and whatnot probably isn’t a big deal, dramatically shifting the macronutrient balance could be bad—especially if you have any health issues (including ones you might not be aware of!).

For Fast Cooking: Ninja Air Fryer

Having an air fryer will make cooking a lot faster and a lot healthier—the Ninja Air Fryer cooks with up to 75 percent less fat than other cooking methods, and cooking times are much shorter than if you used your oven. This one allows you to make crispy, delicious meals, whether you’re cooking chicken, pizza, vegetables, or frozen food. It’s also ideal for heating up leftovers that you don’t want to get mushy and weird in the microwave.

This one also allows you to dehydrate food, so it comes in handy if you want to do something like make veggie chips for fun snacks. And compared to many other air fryers out there, this one (especially the 4-quart) comes in at a great price point. It works really well, is fast and efficient, and has dishwasher safe parts, like the basket, crisper plate, and multi-layer rack.

For Meal Prepping: Utopia Kitchen Glass Food Storage Containers

Meal prepping should be a big part of a healthier diet. While it might take a few hours to put everything together, your own pre-made meals and snacks come in handy during the week when you’re busy and don’t have time to actually cook. You’ll need containers for everything, which is where Utopia Kitchen Glass Food Storage Containers come in.

This 18-piece set has basically every size container you could need, and the pieces are made of durable borosilicate glass (which means you can take it out of the fridge and put it right in an oven or microwave without worrying about it breaking). The lids are leak-proof and air-tight, and it’s easy to see what’s in each container at a glance. These are also really easy to clean since you can pop them in the dishwasher.

To Cut Down on Oil: Evo Oil Sprayer Bottle

Olive oil might be a healthy fat, but too much of it can make an otherwise healthy meal just a little too oily. This Evo Oil Sprayer Bottle is a great tool to have. Fill it with olive oil, then spray it on veggies or meats instead of pouring. Spraying gives you more control and makes it harder to overdo it. This one works really smoothly and comes in a variety of different sizes depending on what you’re looking for.

For Your Veggies: Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer

Getting creative with your veggies makes them more fun to eat. One way to do that is to make them into “noodles” to make veggie pasta. The Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer does that for you. It’s a durable and strong gadget that allows you to spiralize pretty much any veggie, even hard ones like sweet potatoes and turnips. It’s easier to use than a small handheld spiralizer and works a lot better, even if it is a little pricier. It also has five blades so you can create a few different shapes.

That said, this one will take up a decent amount of space in your kitchen, so it’s something you should buy only if you plan on using it a lot. If you just want to make simple zucchini noodles once in a while, try a smaller handheld option like this one.

For a Great Salad: OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner

Salads are a great quick meal option when you’re trying to be healthier, and the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner helps you create the best ones by allowing you to thoroughly dry your lettuce (which does make a difference!). This is truly a great salad spinner: It is durable and sturdy and has a push pump instead of a top you have to spin yourself. There’s also a button that stops it from spinning immediately.

The nice thing about this one is that it also acts as two separate pieces. You can remove the colander part and just use it as a colander, and the bowl is nice enough to use to serve your salad.

To Stay Hydrated: Prodyne Fruit Infusion Water Pitcher

When you’re really trying to be healthy, water is one of the main things you should be drinking. . . but let’s be honest, that gets boring after a while. This Prodyne Fruit Infusion Water Pitcher allows you to infuse your water with natural flavors to make it more interesting. You can remove the rod in the center and fill it with fruit, herbs like mint, lemon slices, or even tea bags to make tea. The rod is easy to remove so the whole thing is easy to clean, and it’s just a nice-looking pitcher as well. This is great to keep in your fridge at all times.

To Keep Produce Longer: Farberware Food Huggers

Planning on eating a lot more fruits and veggies? Beware of the fact that they tend to go bad pretty quickly. Proper storage is one way to make already cut up produce last a little bit longer, which is where Farberware Food Huggers come in. These easily attach to the open end of a piece of produce, sealing it shut and keeping it from going bad in the fridge. There’s a set of four in multiple colors, so you’ll find there’s a variety of ways to use them—they can even seal jars.

For Easy Cooking: Crock-Pot Cook & Carry Slow Cooker

A slow cooker is great to have on hand for anything, really, but especially meal planning. You can easily whip up a big batch of soup, meat, or something else that will last you days—and you barely have to do any cooking work. The Crock-Pot Cook & Carry Slow Cooker is a favorite. The digital clock allows you to set it for any time, and it automatically switches to “Warm” when it’s done cooking, so you don’t need to stress over it if you leave it on while you’re at work.

This one also has a lid locker that makes it easy for you to take it out if needed, which is a nice feature to have. It works great, has plenty of room in a six-quart bowl, and is easy to clean.

To Plan Meals: Platejoy Subscription

Planning meals in advance is crucial to eating healthy because if you have nothing planned and you’re busy, you’re more likely to reach for something quick and easy, even if it isn’t great for you. Platejoy makes that super easy. If you subscribe to the site, you can get personalized meal plans for the week—recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks—and it even includes a shopping list to make grocery shopping easy.

The recipes are simple to follow and picked based on your preferences (when you first sign up, you fill out an extensive questionnaire on your eating habits). You can also fill out what you have in your pantry, then the site generates a shopping list for you based on what you need. It couldn’t be easier and is a great way to come up with healthy meal options.

To Save Herbs: Novart Herb Keeper

Fresh herbs are a great thing to have on hand in the kitchen to flavor your food and make it less boring. They tend to go bad quickly, but with the Novart Herb Keeper, you can extend their life significantly. This one allows the herbs to sit in shallow water in an enclosed bottle and keeps them fresh in your fridge much longer than any other way of storing them. It doesn’t take up a ton of space and is easy to take apart and use.

For Smoothies: Oster Blend-N-Go My Blend Blender

Smoothies can be a great healthy snack or meal option to take wherever you’re going. They can be made in any blender, but the Oster Blend-N-Go My Blend Blender is a great option for anyone who doesn’t want to take up too much space on their counter and isn’t looking for anything crazy. If you just want a blender to make smoothies, this is the one to get—it doesn’t have the power of something like a Ninja or a Vitamix, but it gets the job done and is small and easy to use.

The bottle you blend with is the perfect size for smoothies, and once you’re done blending, you can switch out the top and take it with you to drink out of. The one-touch button makes it so easy and straightforward to use, and it’s compact so it’s easy to store out of sight.

For Easy Steaming: Bella 2-Tier Steamer

Steaming is a super healthy way to cook because it requires zero oil. The Bella 2-Tier Steamer is great to have if you plan on steaming a lot of food. There are two separate steaming containers, so you can cook an entire meal at once, like meat in one container and veggies in another. It’s easy to use with a transparent water reservoir window to keep an eye on the levels of water and a guide chart on the unit to glance at whenever, so you know exactly how long to cook each item. This one has great quality and starts up very quickly; most of the pieces are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

For Meal Ideas: SkinnyTaste One and Done Cookbook

If you prefer to look up your meal ideas in a cookbook, try this one. The SkinnyTaste One and Done Cookbook is full of super simple healthy recipes to be made in the air fryer, InstantPot, slow cooker, and even in the oven. Each option is designed to be fast and easy. . . and obviously delicious.

For Protein Shakes: BlenderBottle Classic Loop Top Shaker Bottle

Protein shakes can be a great small meal replacement or a healthy drink after or before a workout. They’re also a great way to get in protein if you’re a vegetarian or vegan. That said, making them in a blender can be annoying. BlenderBottle lets you shake up your protein powder and liquid choice quickly and on-the-go.

The secret is the patented mixing system that uses a surgical-grade stainless steel wire whisk ball that truly mixes the powder and liquid up just like a blender. It has a wide mouth that makes it easy to add everything, and a loop for easy carrying. It’s great to bring to the gym to make a fresh protein shake right when you’re done working out.

For Portion Control: Ozeri ZK14-S Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale

The Ozeri ZK14-S Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale is proof that a food scale doesn’t need to be expensive to get the job done. With the digital screen, it couldn’t be easier to use for weighing all of your food so that you can keep a strict eye on portion control. It also instantly converts between five units of measurement (grams, pounds, pounds:ounces, ounces, and milliliters) so you don’t need to do the math yourself.

It runs on batteries and automatically turns off after two minutes to preserve the battery life, which is a nice feature. It also has a Precision Tare Button that calculates the net weight of your ingredients and subtracts the weight of a bowl or container they might be in. It also comes in at a great price point, and is not too big to be bulky on the counter.

For Food Tracking: MyFitnessPal

Keeping track of everything you’re eating is important when you’re trying to eat better and especially if you’re trying to lose weight. You could do it with a notepad, but honestly, an app like MyFitnessPal makes it so much easier and more convenient. This highly-rated app is a favorite among fitness lovers as it allows you to easily track everything you’re eating on your phone, as well as look up calories and nutritional information in a huge food database.

You can log your food, scan barcodes to input an item, and even find recipes. You can also log workouts if that’s of interest. The other nice thing about MyFitnessPal is that it comes with a forum that allows you to join a community of people also trying to be healthier, which can be really helpful and motivational.