Advice 4 Eating - Surfing the Supermarket

Surfing the Supermarket
Catherine Kruppa, MS, RD, LD

Is your trip to the grocery store giving you a headache? Do you buy the same things every week? With a bit of planning, going to the grocery store can be fun and make eating healthy much easier.

First, try to go to the grocery store at least once a week. Buy things such as apples, oranges, precut fruit, baby carrots, precut celery, fresh lunchmeat, yogurts, dried fruit, pretzels and low fat granola bars. Place the precut fruit and veggies on the shelf in your refrigerator where it is the first thing you see when you open the door. This will help steer you away from high fat snacks, like chips and cookies.

I recommend preparing a list of dinner meals for the week and shop accordingly. Planning is the key to eating healthy. When you don't have something planned for dinner it is easy to go through the drive thru and consume a high fat meal with little nutritional value. Planning also helps to alleviate frustration. How many times have you started to prepare a recipe and realize you don't have all of the ingredients? Make your shopping list based on the meals you are going to prepare and do not deviate from it at all. This includes avoiding the displays and food at the checkout counter. In addition to the food you need for the meals, you should buy some staple items for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Here is a list to get you started.

Produce:
A deep green vegetable
An orange/red/yellow vegetable
Raw veggies
2 different fruits
Salad in a bag

Meat:
Water-packed Tuna
Low fat lunch meat

Bread/Cereal/Grain:
Whole wheat English muffins
High fiber cereal
Oatmeal
Whole wheat pasta
Bean or lentil canned soup
Brown rice

Condiments/Spices:
Reduced fat peanut butter
Salsa

Snacks:
Dried fruit
Lowfat granola bars
Reduced fat Triscuits
Baked chips
Pretzels
Popcorn (no butter)

Dairy:
Skim milk
Low fat cheese
Low fat cottage cheese
Low fat yogurt

Frozen:
Mixed vegetables
Veggie burgers
Frozen chicken breasts
Frozen fruit

When you get to the store, shop the perimeter of the grocery store first. Fill your basket with the most nutritious, unprocessed, naturally low fat foods first i.e. produce, meat, dairy, and bread. Then go down the aisles for the essential processed foods. People who eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy products, poultry and fish have a lower risk of disease than those who base their diet on processed foods.

Most importantly, do not go shopping for food when you are hungry! Eat before you go or you will end up with those high sugar and fat loaded goodies magically falling into your basket.

By following these few simple guidelines your trip to the grocery store should be more successful. So pull out your grocery list and get started!!

Read other articles by Catherine Kruppa