Whether you love it or hate it, it’s something we have to do on a weekly basis. Here are a few tips to help you zip through the store and select the healthiest foods possible! Create your food shopping list based on your food sensitivity test and utilize these tips.
Tips for Success:
- CHOOSE ORGANIC AND GMO FREE!
- Before leaving the house, make a shopping list based on what you actually need. Seek out healthy recipes and do some advance meal planning. Include those ingredients on your list in addition to your main staple items. While shopping, stick to your list as closely as possible. Of course you might see things you forgot to include, but if you have a list it’s easier to avoid impulse purchases.
- Eat a quick healthy snack before going shopping. Fruit, yogurt, and string cheese are all easy snacks. Going grocery shopping while extremely hungry is a mistake because you can lose conviction when you pass by that bag of potato chips and your stomach is growling!
- Most grocery purchases should be from the produce section. Fresh fruits and veggies are the best kinds of food to eat. A wide variety of types and colors of both fruits and vegetables are required to make up a healthy diet.
- Grocery stores are often laid out so that the outside perimeter contains the least processed, most healthful foods – produce, dairy, meat and bread. These areas are where you should spend the most time shopping and where most of your food should come from. Remember that the more ingredients in an item, the more processed that item has been. These items are typically easier on your pocketbook as well.
- Try to avoid being influenced by fancy packaging or “healthy” advertising claims without verifying by reading the nutrition labels. Reduced fat or low fat items can be good substitutes, but validate the information before purchasing.
- Some of the most important foods to avoid are items with a lot of sugar. Soda, donuts, cookies, candy, some cereals, and juice to name a few. Most of these foods have extra calories with no added health benefits.
- Buy snacks! Yes, you should buy snacks – as long as they’re healthy. You should be eating small snacks every day to avoid overeating at mealtimes. A snack with a combination of carbohydrates and protein works well to fill you up between meals. An example is an apple with a slice of low-fat cheese.
Before you go shopping, create your shopping list. Plan extra time at the store so you can search for new fruits and vegetables and read labels. These lists will give you some good ideas of how to expand your diet even when eliminating foods. Download our provided Shopping List by logging into your account on the web platform or mobile app and going to the “Program Downloads” section under your plan. There are blank spots on the shopping list so that you can write in custom items that you’d like to purchase.
