We have all fallen victim to the “gotcha’” snacks at the end of the aisle and at the checkout counters in supermarkets. So, what should our shopping cart look like? Sticking to the perimeter of the grocery store is good advice, however, there are some finer points to that statement.
- Choose leaner protein options such as chicken, fish, egg whites and fat free greek yogurt.
- Utilize fruits and veggies to fulfill your carbohydrate requirements (fruits run up the numbers quicker than butternut squash for example).
- Stick with nuts, nut butters, avocados, olive oil and low fat salad dressings to work towards daily fat goals.
- Avoid getting sucked into the middle aisle with calorically dense and less nutritious options such as cookies, candy, fruit snacks and chips.
- If you feel the need to satisfy a sweet tooth, look for sugar free or lower calorie options
- Sugar free jelly, diet soda, yasso greek yogurt pops or halo top ice cream over the traditional jelly, soda, and ice cream choices.
- We all want some flavor, so when looking at condiments choose sugar free options, significantly lower in calories and sugar, but still with the taste and flavor we want to add to our foods.
- G.Hughes is a sugar free brand that makes many different condiments. For instance, their barbeque sauce provides 5g of carbs vs. the 20g of carbs from sugar in Sweet Baby Rays barbeque sauce).
- Think ahead!! Prepare a shopping list and do not deviate from the list once you are in the store.
- Don’t go shopping while hungry… Our brains are powerful, but they are easily triggered when we have a rise in hunger and then immerse ourselves in a store with so many poor choices . It is hard to resist these temptations while hungry.
