How To Shop Healthily (Updated 4/8/2018)

Many of my clients have found that once they have decided to improve their eating habits, it tends to all go well until they hit the bump in the road. And that “bump” could be anything. Perhaps you return from the store with bags of food that don’t fit into your plan. Or perhaps you get home and realize you don’t know any recipes for your chosen plan. Or maybe you find that all you managed to pick up was junk food. =O It can be hard to stick to your guns, but with a couple of changes, you can learn to shop more healthily.  Here are three simple but effective ways to help.

1. Create Meal Plans
   Spend some time looking for new and interesting recipes that you’d like to try. See if you can schedule them into your week. I love Pinterest for this. I can browse recipes easily and pin recipes. I create my meal plans on Friday. This gives me time to look at my schedule for next week, see what’s going on, and plan accordingly. If you create a meal plan, you will know exactly what you are going to cook and what ingredients you will need.
2. Make a Shopping List
   Using the meal plan you created above, take the ingredients from those recipes and add them to you grocery list. Consider any sort of healthy snack foods you can. You can work out all the healthy snacks and food choices that you want and add those options to the list. Only purchase items from your list. When you get home you can give yourself a pat on the back because you have only purchased healthy options, which will help you to stick to your healthy eating plan.
3. Get Food Delivered
   If you know that you can not resist temptation, then you need to find ways to avoid that temptation. One solution is to have your shopping delivered to your home. There are several supermarket chains that offer a home delivery service. All you have to do is register an account with your supermarket of choice, and select the items that you need. You will be able to stick to your shopping list because you will not have to walk past aisles of delicious chocolates, biscuits, cakes or savory treats.   Do all your shopping online and your fresh fruit and produce will be delivered within 24 hours.
4. Use a Grocery Pick Up Service
   Another way to avoid temptation is to use a grocery pickup service. Walmart has introduced a new service I just tried. But there are lots of advantages… including not getting tempted by items you see while wandering down the aisles.

It is so easy to make unhealthy choices when we do not have the time to cook. If you  prepare a weekly meal plan in advance, you can factor in the times when you know that you are going to be busy.  You can then choose meals that will be quick and easy to prepare.

What tips or tricks do you have to keep you in line with your way of life?