“Grocery shopping for healthy food is overwhelming. What tips do you have?”
I get questions like this all of the time from clients. And for good reason! Choosing to make healthy lifestyle changes is one of the most rewarding decisions you’ll ever make – although anything worth doing has its challenges. Efficiently grocery shopping for healthy food has a bit of a learning curve. Here are a few expert tips:
1. Shop the perimeter of your grocery store.
Think about it. You walk into the grocery store and the produce (fruits and vegetables) is always one of the first things you see off to either side. Usually the meat is plain in sight too. Your eggs might be on the back wall in the refrigerator along with other dairy products. My point is that whole foods with the most nutritious value are found on the outer walls of grocery stores. That’s not to say there is nothing good in the inner isles. You might find whole grains, like quinoa or brown rice, in an isle. However, many items on the shelves are processed and have preservatives in them to keep them shelf stable for a long time. Preservatives add extra chemicals to the food that we end up eating – not healthy!
2. Make a list before you go to the store.
Grocery shopping is actually a lot of work. You can make it a lot easier if you do some research at home! Plan out your meals for the week ahead and make a list based on that menu. This will save you a lot of “wandering” around in the grocery store. Sure it might take a few trips to figure out where everything is, but you’ll have it down soon enough! If I don’t know ahead of time what I’m getting, I end up sooo stressed out because I am unprepared.
3. Look at the ingredients label.
This is so important!! I am not just taking the Nutrition Facts label. Look at what ingredients are in the food that you are about to eat. The typical American diet has so many chemicals and sugars in it, no wonder why we are a sick people! Check out my blog post on How to Read a Food Label for more tips on this.
Let’s not give grocery shopping a bad wrap anymore! But… “the dread of having to go to the store week after week, getting the same foods over and over again”. It doesn’t have to be so bad! Think of it this way – you have the fortune and opportunity to be able to go decide on the health of you and your family by what food you buy. No excuses! Be thankful for that!
Heidi says
No excuses- yep! Thanks for the motivation!!