Grocery Shopping Tips

Start by making a list and making sure you’re not hungry before you go.  Shop the perimeter of the store searching for Choose mostly foods (bread, cereal, produce, dairy) vs food products (fruit snacks, diet soda, cheese spread), with a short ingredient list. Keep the 3-3-300 Rule: 3g Saturated fat, 3 g fiber or more, less than 300 mg Sodium (140mg or less is even better). Avoid aisles you don’t need to go down.

When you reach the produce aisle make sure to include something from each color group and remember you need 5-9 servings per day.  Fill in the gaps with canned and frozen produce to keep costs down.  Just remember to look for low sodium vegetables and fruits packed in water or its own juice. In the meat aisle be sure to include fish twice a week- this can be canned. Otherwise choose lean meat:

Beef: flank steak, sirloin tip, eye of round, top round, tenderloin, top loin, rump roast, extra lean ground beef.

Poultry- white meat without skin.

Pork: tenderloin, center loin, Canadian bacon. 

Keep in mind you lose about 25% with cooking so to get a 3 oz portion buy 4 oz.

In the cereal aisle look for the first ingredient to be a whole grain.  Check the nutrition facts for at least 3 g fiber, less than 5% sodium, and 10g or less sugar. Similar rules apply to the bread aisle. Look for whole grain as first ingredient, as much as possible buy breads with 3-5g fiber per slice and 5% or less sodium. Fruits vegetables make the best snacks try them with hummus or nonfat yogurt (by itself or plain yogurt mixed with low sodium seasonings for vegetables). Choose whole grain, low fat snacks. Use caution with protein bars-check sugar. Always check serving sizes.

In the dairy aisle choose nonfat of 1% for family members over 2 years old or unsweetened dairy alternatives if you prefer.  Check the sugar content of your yogurt.  Look for added sugars. Yogurt will have naturally occurring sugars from lactose (milk sugar).

                                    Regular: 15-16g

                                    Greek: 6-9g

                                    Icelandic: 6g

Subtract these numbers from the sugars listed in the nutrition to get the grams of added sugar.

Remember that a good diet is about overall diet quality; make sure as you reach check out that the the majority of your cart is healthy real foods.  Avoid last minute temptations of breads, candy, and sweetened beverages while standing in the checkout line.