My, oh my, has my grocery list changed! Nowadays, the majority of my time is spent in the produce section picking out fresh fruits and veggies for my daily smoothies, healthy snacks, and as part of our weekly meal plan. Most of my entire grocery trip now involves the outer horseshoe shaped pattern of the store, and rarely ventures down a center aisle. Have you ever noticed that? That most of your fresh stuff is on the outside walls of the store? Ever notice how all of the boxed, processed, dead food is mainly in the middle?
Now, now, don't get me wrong, I DO go down those aisles sometimes and I am by no means some perfectly healthy eater, and I definitely don't judge anyone that does buy those items! I think we all know about my obsession with peanut M&M's and I'm a sucker for cookies & milk just like the next girl. Dang, I just had to bring that up right around lunch time, didn't I?
My point, is that I didn't arrive to my new method of grocery shopping over night. It has taken me a while to get here, and I did it one step at a time.
For starters, take a look at your normal staples. What kind of bread are you getting? How about pasta or rice? Do you usually buy pre-made box mixes for meals? How many servings of fruits & veggies are you currently getting, and how would it best suit you to add them?
First and foremost, start buying more fresh produce. Fresh, ripe, delicious fruits and veggies are the absolute best thing for you in the world. You just can't buy too much of this natural goodness. Start thinking of ways to incorporate more fresh produce into your daily diet. Get some bananas for a morning snack, carrots and celery for the afternoon, grapes, peas, apples, all of which are perfect snacks that you can prep ahead of time and grab on the go or to keep on hand at work. Also think about ways to incorporate veggies into your dinners. Try steamed veggies, mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes (yummm!!), grilled veggies, or a small salad before each dinner. Try new meatless recipes, and even try going meatless on Mondays.
Let's now try buying whole grain bread instead of white. Now, don't be fooled, some brands advertise that they're "wheat", but a quick look at the ingredients may tell you otherwise. You want WHOLE wheat flour, not just wheat flour. Flour is derived from wheat, so this is how they get away with saying "wheat flour", even when it's just plain white flour. You want to make sure it says whole wheat.
Now for rice & pasta. Try substituting with whole wheat pasta, and brown rice. Honestly, there's hardly a difference at all, don't be a wimp. And if you're feeling adventurous, try using quinoa instead of rice for an even healthier substitute. Here again, check your label and make sure the pasta is truly whole wheat.
Next, and my favorite, instead of buying things like hamburger helper or meal starters, make your own! I know it sounds a little intimidating, but you'd be amazed at just how easy it is to throw together your own seasonings and make your own variations of hamburger meals. My favorite is the cheeseburger hamburger helper DIY version, but you can also make a skillet lasagna, a taco version, stroganoff, and more. What's even better, is you can use wheat pasta instead, plus you're avoiding all those nasty additives. You can even toss in some fresh onion or pepper, or fresh herbs. Yum. You can't get that kind of flavor from a box mix! Another mind blowing fact about doing this, it takes the same amount of time as the box mix. I know, it's hard to believe, but you're still cooking your meat, still dumping in the pasta, water, milk and seasonings, and bringing to a boil then letting simmer, and the best part of all....you're still only using one pot for all of this! Woohoo!
After that, switch your dairy to organic milk, full fat butter, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. Those low fat versions may seem healthier on the outside, but ever think of what they put in there to replace the fat? Yick. One of the biggest things I changed, and struggled with a little, was changing my yogurt. I'm a spaz about textures, so for years I only ever at the whipped yogurt. Hello, have you ever looked at the sugar in those buggers? Wow. I started by switching to Oikos, which has a little more sugar in it than other greek yogurts. I've now completely converted to Chobani which is almost all fat free, and lower in sugar. Also, Chobani yogurts do not contain carrageenan, a nasty little carcinogen used in a lot of dairy. Watch out for that stuff too.
Recently, I've also switched from buying shredded cheese, to buying blocks and shredding it myself. I thought it was crazy at first too, but it's so much easier than you think it would be. I invested in a good grater from Tupperware, that actually traps the cheese you're grating and allows you to even measure it. Why do this, you ask? Because store bought shredded cheese usually contains some form of wood pulp or cellulose to keep all those shreds from sticking into one big glob again. I realized most of my recipes do not call for wood shavings, nor do I really wish to eat them, so I stopped adding them and switched to the real shredded deal instead.
Naturally, I don't expect you to try all of these at once nor would I expect that you never slip up and buy an old faithful. I just ask that you give it a whirl. Start switching out items in the cart here and there for healthier options, and see what happens. I bet you won't even notice the changes in bread, pasta or rice, and as for everything else, it just tastes better! You may notice a difference in how you feel though. Especially if you begin to add more fruits & veggies and start eliminating more processed foods from your diet, you're going to notice that you have more energy, feel lighter, and you may even shed some pounds!
Again, I can't tell you enough how important it is to start these changes one at a time, so you don't get overwhelmed, discouraged, or give up. Also, if you have a pretty hard core meat n potatoes kinda man like I do, then you have no choice but to gradually ease into these things. He fights me tooth and nail on some things, but little does he know how many things I've changed without him even noticing it. I'm still working on getting him to eat mashed cauliflower, though I did mix it with potatoes 50/50 once and he had no idea (cue evil laugh while tapping fingers together). I know, I'm such a rebel.
That's all for now,
Katie
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