How to Grocery Shop

It’s true what has been said and it’s the number 1 rule-never shop while very hungry, you will shop with your stomach and not your mind!

Prepare a grocery list before you shop, have your meals well planned and thought out. Your food shopping may require you to shop in more than one store per week. You may need to pick up some items that you can only get from your local health food store, one grocery store may have a better selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, while another may have a better selection of fish and chicken breasts.

It can never be emphasized enough to read labels. You will be surprised to find that although a product may be low in fat it has a high sugar content. Or it may be moderately high in fat but what is the source of that fat–canola oil or hydrogenated vegetable oil. How about the sodium, this is another very important ingredient to watch for. We always shoot for low sodium. Very few bottled and prepackaged items are low in sodium and sugars. Be careful of the little tricks, a package may say low in sodium or low in fat but what is the actual calculation. The manufacturers "per serving" may be described as 1 teaspoon with 20 mg. sodium but who would use 1 teaspoon of that product, the reality is that you may use up to 1/4 cup. Plan on spending more time in the grocery store just reading and studying the labels.

If you stick with what’s "healthy", your main weekly food list should never really change much. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry, eggs, and any unsalted, no sugar condiments. If you really like to cook and feel the need for a lot of variety then you would change your sources of these items. Maybe you’d like to prepare a fresh fruit salad a particular week or need a change of the types of vegetables. Maybe you’d like to barbeque some boneless, skinless chicken breast on the grill rather than baking it like the week before or try some different natural seasonings such as basil or dill. Little changes such as these can and will add variety to your meals if that is your desire.

	Suggested Grocery List
Produce	Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini squash, mushrooms, tomatoes, green bell peppers, radishes, any type of lettuce, celery, onions, green beans, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, yams or sweet potatoes. Apples, grapefruit, strawberries, plums, grapes, peaches, oranges, cherries, pears
Meats	boneless, skinless chicken breast (read the labels, many brands are high in sodium because of additives), 99% fat free ground turkey, turkey breasts (watch for sodium on this also), halibut, orange roughy, cod, canned white albacore tuna (no sodium and packed in water), salmon
Dairy	eggs, tofu (sometimes found in the produce section) low fat, low sodium cheese (but use sparingly)
Nuts	We encourage almonds, peanuts, pinenuts, and sunflower seeds, considering first the type of fat contained and no added sodium or oils.