Who likes grocery shopping? I know I know, grocery shopping sucks. It’s inconvenient, takes time out of your day, it’s crowded, I could go on and on. But, I think we can all agree that grocery shopping does set us up for nutrition success in regards to having access to good quality whole foods throughout the week.
Grocery shopping checklist:
- How many times do you want to go to the grocery store this week?
- How many people are you cooking for?
- Are you doing a full meal prep or just prepping for certain meals?
- Meats?
- Fish?
- Vegetables?
- Fruit?
- Starch / Grain?
- Healthy Fats?
- Spices?
- Sauces?
- Coffee? Always 🙂
- Convenience foods?
- Any special recipes you want to try this week?
- Traveling?
- Meetings?
Just to clear some things up with all of the fancy verbiage and labeling these days…
Organic vs Non Organic:
Organic means the produce or other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation.
Grass Fed:
Cows were (100%) fed grass after being weaned from their mother’s milk
Pasture Raised:
Animals that graze on pasture whenever weather permits and receive supplemental grain rotations. In the case of eggs, the requirement for official labeling is 1000 birds per 2.5 acres and the fields must be rotated.
Free Range:
The requirement for official labeling is 2 sq. ft. per bird. The hens must be outdoors for at least 6 hours per day.
Cage Free:
The requirement for official labeling is 10.5-11 inches per bird and hens housed in a building, room, or enclosed area that allows for unlimited access to food, water, and provides the freedom to roam within the area.
Farm Raised:
Fish fed corn, soy, and other feed raised in tanks or enclosures specifically for the food industry.
Wild Caught:
Fish permitted to feed off of algae or smaller fish who consume algae. These fish are caught using nets, hand-lines, divers, or traps in the fresh-water.
Lifestyle Hacks
- Never go to the store hungry! Always eat something before going grocery shopping so that you’re not tempted to make impulsive buys based off cravings.
- Shop with a list. It’s very easy to buy more or less than what you had intended on buying in the first place without a list.
- Shop at a natural grocer if possible. Stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Sprouts, Costco, etc. all have an amazing selection of good quality foods.
- Stores like Walmart, Tom Thumb, Sam’s Club, Albertsons, Kroger, etc. make it a lot harder to shop at. It’s not impossible, but the quality tends to be much worse at these stores.
- Shop mostly around the outer perimeter of the store; think items that do not come in a box. The majority of your healthy food is going to be found on the outer perimeter, whereas the majority of the unhealthy food is found inside the aisles.
- When it come to junk food, if you buy it, you’re going to eat it. If you have an issue with self control then simply don’t buy it in the first place.
- Get in and get out, grocery shopping should take less than 45 minutes.
- Don’t be scared to try new foods and recipes, variety is key.
- From a cost standpoint, prioritize buying high quality meats & fish over everything else.
- Enjoy the journey, you will continue to become more efficient at grocery shopping with each trip you make!
Do the work. Make the investment in yourself and your family. It will be worth it.
Grocery shopping complete! From there, the cooking begins…