Fit tip of the week: Grocery Shopping!

Hey everyone, so today I wanted to talk about one of the trickiest aspects of crossing over into living a healthy lifestyle: The DIET. Specifically, where and how you get your food can do a great deal for your success rate! I am in no way a nutrition expert or a professional on any of this, but here's a few things that have helped me be successful in changing over to clean eating, this time specifically, maneuvering the grocery stores!
First, before you go!
The LIST:

• Making a list is extremely important, not only so you can get what you need, but also so that you can avoid anything you don't and save on any mindless costs that may accidentally get thrown into your cart! 
• Make the list easy to access, most smart notes have a note pad feature (or you can download the free Colornote app for it, available for android and iphones!) if this isn't an option for you, maybe type your list and print it out, or just handwrite it the good old fashion way. 
• When you make your list, categorize your groceries by area, so you can avoid the dreaded cut through the chips & cookie isle. (MUST they be together?! You're giving us no chance, grocery store!) Most grocery stores are laid out with the produce on the outside, dairy in the back and bread on the other side. By categorizing your groceries by location, you can avoid zig-zagging around through unnecessary processed food aisles and save time!
• Always shop for meals, if you don't have time to pre-plan your week, try to put things on the list that would go well together
• Simplify snack troubles and avoid any kind of snack compromise (the healthier version of chips, snacky snacks, 100 calorie packs, etc) They will just lead to temptation and aren't necessary for your nutrition. Focus on buying things to feed your body. Anything clean can be made into a snack, so it's superfluous to buy more snack food! 
• Try to incorporate fruits and veggies into snack options rather than spend money on compromise snacks that will make you long for the real thing. You'll inevitably drive yourself crazy and may eventually cave. Instead, allow yourself a cheat meal every week.
• This goes against my previous two points, but if you are still adjusting to clean eating and living a healthy lifestyle, going cold turkey can be a tremendous challenge. Buy one "old favorite" if you feel like you just need a little something to sustain any emergency diet crash risk. This prevents the rebel "screw this i'm going to mcdonalds" trip and allows you a little human breathing room to indulge. Each week, aim for something better and better.

The HUNT:

• Try your BEST to stick to the outside aisles to avoid any of the aisle temptations. Most of the good stuff stays on the outer rims of the grocery store, with some exceptions such as frozen veggies, canned  legumes, etc. 
• STICK. TO. THE. LIST. 
• Read ingredients! You'll be surprised how advertisement can fool you, so don't just trust the label on the front. It's the one on the back that tells the truth. Example: Reduced Fat peanut butter is actually worse for you than it's original. Want better? Spring for a natural peanut butter, or make it yourself! Be mindful of calories and fat, but also look out for that naughty HFCS that sneaks in everywhere. 
• Try new things! Don't be afraid to branch out! I've discovered so many foods I thought I'd never even like and now adore by just giving them a shot!

The STORE: 

• Contrary to popular believe, eating healthy can actually be WAY less expensive if it's done wisely. Shop around, pay attention to how much product you get per dollar, and opt for produce stands and farmers markets if they are available. My fruit and veggie total is usually the highest at the wrong grocery store, but at my local produce stand, I get my weeks worth of produce for $8 bucks! What drives costs up are the fancy products advertised as "healthy", or the pre-packaged stuff in fancy bags.  
• Organic: This is a touchy subject. Many people believe it is ultimately best, and cleanest to eat organic in all ways while others just don't see the point. I do not choose to purchase 100% of my groceries organic as a personal preference, but it's still a great thing that many people prefer. HOWEVER, the organic tag does not give the green light for a feeding frenzy or neglect of portion control. Proceed with caution with organic labels. Most of the time, its a good thing, but "organic" is a buzz word these days and must be surveyed with care. 

So that's all the tips I have for now, I may do a sequel to the grocery shopping frenzy if there's interest! Next post, I'll probably touch on the basics of changing over to healthy eating. If you're still reading, I hope this post helped, entertained or motivated you in some way, and thank you for reading!