Grocery Guide: Buying Healthy food for your Weight Loss Plan
Your local grocery store is packed with great healthy food choices for weight loss—but it is also full of unhealthy junk as well. No matter what diet you choose, you will need to head to the grocery store at some point. Even if the plan you choose features meals that are delivered to your door, you will still need to supplement your menu with other food items. If you don’t allow unhealthy, fat laden items into your shopping cart—they won’t make it into your home. Keeping your kitchen stocked with healthy options will help you stick to your diet, no matter what plan you are on. Here are some tips for navigating the grocery aisles, and buying healthy food for your weight loss plan.
- Bring a list. Before you leave home, write down a list of every item you need. This makes good time management and economical sense as well—using a list makes it less likely you will forget something you need, and more likely that you will stick to your budget. When you get to the store, do not purchase anything that is not on the list. This sounds simple, but if you don’t buy cookies and donuts, you won’t be able to binge on cookies and donuts when you have a craving at 2:00 in the morning!
- Eat before you shop. Never, ever shop while hungry. You will purchase for a too much food—and chances are, you will purchase food that is not on your diet as well. Eat before you go, and you will be more likely to choose only the healthy food that your weight loss plan calls for.
- Shop the perimeter. The healthy food that your weight loss plan calls for are usually spread around the perimeter of the store. Produce, meats, dairy, and grains are often at the outer edges of the store. The inner aisles are often reserved for convenience foods, and junk foods.
- Ignore sales and specials. Unless an item is on your list, or is a healthy food item from your weight loss plan, avoid sales and specials. A sale on cookies does you no good—and having two or more bags of cookies in the house will only sabotage your diet.
- Fill your cart. Shop the produce section first, and then head to lean meats, dairy, and the freezer section. Fill your cart to the brim with fresh, healthy food. Your weight loss plan will benefit from the abundance of produce, and you will have less room to add junk food.
- Avoid candy at the checkout. Try to choose a checkout lane without candy. These displays are designed to be tempting, and if you have made it through the entire store without adding junk food to your cart, you are almost there! Don’t sabotage your shopping trip at the last minute with candy or sweets!
Wherever you shop, keep these tips in mind—not only will they will help you make healthy food choices for your weight loss plan, they may save you time and money as well.
