Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips

I know how overwhelmed you can feel when entering the grocery store! Between all the people, kids crying, and all of the choices it’s tough enough to stick with your grocery list!! I mean where do you even start? So I am going to give you some healthy grocery shopping tips for each section of the grocery store!

Tip 1: Produce- Of course I will start off with produce, since its the first area you usually see in MOST grocery stores. I highly recommend you spend the most time in this area. Getting fresh produce is key. The more colors and varieties you get the better!! Remember the more colors the different nutrients and vitamins you are getting! I always recommend getting: bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, onion, green peppers,eggplant,blueberries, etc.

Tips 2: Breads,Cereal,Pasta- Okay first off let’s start off with cereal of course you are going to want to go with something you have always loved as a kid, but unfortunately it’s NOT the best choice. So you silly rabbit trix are for kids. Try getting oatmeal, cheerio’s, or whole grain chex. I know it may seem bland and boring, but you can spruce all of them up!! Oatmeal add some organic maple syrup, or cinnamon and stevia, for cheerio’s add cinnamon and stevia, and same goes for chex. Even adding some of that yummy fresh fruit you got from tip one is great to add to this as well.  Next lets go to breads,pasta, and rice, whole grain is key. I alway make sure to get whole wheat bread. When checking the label on the bread make sure it’s whole wheat flour not enriched this means it’s NOT whole wheat. Same goes for pasta go with wheat pasta and brown rice. I find the best brown rice to get is Uncle Bens the kind in the bag, which you can boil in just 10 minutes!!!!

Tip 3: Canned and dried food- Try and keep a variety of canned and dried  items in your pantry such as beans, fruits, tuna,and some canned veggies. These are always great to keep on hand for adding to soups, pastas, salads, or side dishes. Make sure to get canned veggies without added salts, tuna in water, and fruits that are in juice not sugary syrups.

Tip 4: Frozen Foods- Sometimes during winter months its nice to get frozen fruits and veggies. Of course you will want to make sure when purchasing these you don’t get Vegetables with any sauce added and fruits that are just frozen with out anything added!! I find getting mango and pineapple is nice especially when making my Shakeology.

Tip 5: Dairy- Of course this is one of my favorite aisles to choose from. It can also be the worst for a lot of people if you don’t know what you are looking for. I first like to choose my cottage cheese and yogurt. I get 1 % cottage cheese and fat free strawberry yogurt or some sort of flavor. Remember portions when eating yogurt though. Next is the milk I always go for Fat free or Almond milk. Almond milk is my favorite especially mixed in Shakeology! Less calories and fat and taste so yummy!!  Of course we have to move on to CHEESE!! Who doesn’t love cheese?? When choosing this you have to be careful try and find fat free or low fat. of course it may taste different at first, but I find that I enjoy it much more than the cheese loaded in fat and sodium. It could be because  I know it’s much better for my body. I usually go with the fat free singles and get the low fat shredded cheese for my healthy pizza’s and eggs.

Tip 6: Meat, Poultry, and Fish- This one is pretty simple. What I always do is choose my lean meat and fish first. I go for tilapia, shrimp, and salmon for my fish. And then move onto my turkey and chicken I get boneless skinless chicken breast, ground turkey, and turkey breast for that part. Then onto red meat. You should only have red meat once a week and I highly recommend going for either lean beef like 93/7 or tip sirloin.

Nestle offers these simple solutions to savvy shopping without spending hours in the grocery store:

• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located. Avoid the center aisles where junk foods lurk.
• Choose “real” foods, such as 100% fruit juice or 100% whole-grain items with as little processing and as few additives as possible. If you want more salt or sugar, add it yourself.
• Stay clear of foods with cartoons on the label that are targeted to children. If you don’t want your kids eating junk foods, don’t have them in the house.
• Avoiding foods that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.

Now that you have some great tips for grocery shopping why not make out a grocery list now and see how it goes!! I know when I have a ton of fresh and healthy items in my cart I feel great! of course junk food may taste yummy it’s not what your body needs and won’t make you feel good at all!!

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