Your grocery cart is your arsenal of weapons on your Badass Journey to a stronger you. We are what we eat - which means we look how we grocery shop.
So if you spend most of your weekly grocery shopping time in the center aisles amid the soups, cereals and microwave popcorn, keep reading. If you like to walk into the grocery store and just pick up "whatever jumps out" at you, keep reading. If you walk past the organic produce and meats because you're sure it will be way too expensive, keep reading.
And even if you think you've perfected a healthy, budget-savvy grocery shopping strategy, keep reading. You might learn a new trick or two.
Choices can be great - but when we're trying to make the best ones, too many choices can be overwhelming. Supermarkets are full of choices that range from terrible to mediocre to excellent.
Show me a cart filled with brightly colored "go-gurt" pops, canned soups, baked chips and frozen diet meals, and I'll bet money the cart pusher is someone who goes on the d-word often...yet isn't seeing results. Show me a cart filled with fruits and vegetables, eggs, lean meats, real cheeses, whole grain breads and even real ice cream - and I'll bet money they look healthy and trim.
Last week a few co-workers and I went on a supermarket nutrition tour with Tallahassee-based registered dietitian and Nourish Nutrition owner Jaime McHaffie, in hopes of walking away with a healthier food-shopping strategy that might also save us money along the way.
McHaffie delivered, reiterating some of what we instinctively know but also shedding new light on the weekly errand we tend to take for granted.
So here are some of the best pointers. Print this out and keep it in your car or purse for that next food stock-up session:
1. Play Games in Produce: A healthy eating regimen is packed with variety - so even you regimented fruit and veggie eaters who buy the same items every week can amp up your game. Every week, try one new thing. If you have little ones, get them in on it with games - make a rainbow in the cart, find four yellow things and two orange things, etc.
2. Remember that Time is Money: If you are more likely to eat the green peppers or apples that are pre-cut because it suits your schedule, pay the extra dollar for the pre-cut convenience to ensure you get your daily does of fruits and veggies.
3. Round Loin = Skinny Badass: When shopping for pork and beef, remember that the leanest cuts are "round" and "loin."
4. Save with Skin, Toss the Skin: The skin on chicken is the fattening part, but there's no harm in buying a whole chicken and cutting it into parts - even cooking it with the skin on. In fact, it saves you money that way. Just toss the skin before it hits your dinner plate.
5. Go Fish, Twice: Aim for seafood twice a week - trying to include varieties like salmon with omega-3s. But canned varieties of salmon, tuna and sardines (if you can stomach them, which I cannot!) are budget-friendly good choices as well.
6. Cereal Savvy: The cereal and bread aisles can be the trickiest to maneuver, thanks to healthy-sounding varieties like "nuts and oats" or "honey wheat" that are loaded with sugar and fat but low on nutrition.
When buying bread, make sure the first ingredient is "whole wheat flour" and not "enriched" anything. Aim for varieties with 2 to 3 grams of fiber per slice - or 4 to 6 grams per sandwich. And beware of added sugars in the form of "fructose corn syrup," "sucrose," etc.
Cereals are potential minefields of sugar. Consider: Quaker Natural Granola Oats & Honey & Raisins has as much sugar as THREE Krispy Kreme Donuts, and the typical bowl (more like 2 servings than 1) can set you back 400-plus calories. Read the labels carefully - Kashi and Cascadian Farms are better choices. No matter which you choose, shoot for 150 calories or less per 3/4 to 1-cup serving, and 8 to 10 grams of sugar or less. Also seek out bran and wheat-based varieties higher in fiber.
7. Light and Free Might Cost You: Ever since Snackwell's Cookies debuted and made countless dieting housewives plumper, we've been conditioned to seek out "light" and "fat-free" varieties of our food faves. But so often, the regular version is the real deal that's better for your Badass. Fat-free sour cream, for example, has only 30 calories less per serving than full-fat - but has a laundry list of Franken-gredients produced in some factory. Same goes for regular Triscuits compared to the reduced-fat variety. And in many cases, you'll pay more for the "light" version.
So beware of what you're putting in your Badass - and remember that moderate amounts of REAL food beats Franken-foods. Period.
8. Make a Plan, and Stick with It: Do NOT go into the grocery store hungry, and do NOT go in without a list. Otherwise, you're more likely to make impulse buys that aren't healthy. And when it comes to eating well, remember: It can't tempt you if it's not in your pantry.
9. Stick to the Square and avoid being Round: Shop the outside areas, the perimeter, of the store. This is where the produce, dairy, and meats are. The inside aisles - home to chips, cookies, and other processed foods - are not your friend.
10. You can do the Can-Can: Canned fruits and veggies are a way to save money while stocking up on nutrition. Just be sure to rinse canned veggies to reduce the sodium, and make sure any canned fruits are packed in their own juice - NOT heavy syrup.
Now you can attack the grocery store like a Badass Soldier - Happy Shopping!
Coming up: We check in with Badass Turner's 360 to 30 journey. And a plan to make your next roadtrip Badass-worthy!