The local grocery store is a great place to find more happiness. How? They have amazing healthy, nutritious foods. Unfortunately, it is also a place to find less healthy foods and many junk foods. Learning how to follow a healthy lifestyle means learning new habits such as how to shop for the healthiest foods, reading nutrition labels and learning to prepare in advance. This can potentially lead to more energy to do things, and therefore happier, healthier lives.
Learning to read labels is an important skill for any healthy shopper. The information on nutritional labels is very valuable, providing complete information on the percentage of many vitamins and minerals a particular food contains. In addition, nutritional information labels provide valuable information on things like the number of calories, number of at grams, percentage of total fat and amount of fiber each food contains. It is important to choose those foods that have the best nutritional qualities as you roam the local grocery store.
There are some important guidelines to follow to make sure that every trip to the grocery store will be a healthy experience. After all, you cannot have a healthy refrigerator or a healthy dinner table without first stocking your kitchen pantry with the healthiest foods available.
One of the best pieces of advice is probably something you have heard a million times, and that is to never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. One easy habit to develop before going to the store is to ensure you eat a healthy snack or go to the store right after your lunch or dinner: it is important to not enter the supermarket while you are hungry. Hungry shoppers often make bad choices, and those unhealthy choices will be around long after your hunger has abated. This can also bring mood down.
Another good trick is to hit the produce section of your grocery store first. Fill up your food cart with healthy, nutritious fruits and vegetables that have a variety of colours and tastes. Not only will this allow you to stock the fridge and the pantry with healthy choices, but it will leave less room in the cart for all those less healthy foods.
Another good habit to get into is the habit of making a grocery shopping list before you head to the grocery store. A well thought out grocery list keeps you from overspending, and also helps keep you from succumbing to the temptation of less healthy junk foods. To keep a detailed list of what you need on your next shopping list, try keeping a notepad by the fridge or on the dining room table. Write down each item as you think of it, and come shopping day, you will have a complete list of everything you need to buy. Not sure what to put on the list? Then you might be the person who needs a well thought out menu to help you create the list. Creating a weekly menu for yourself is also a great habit to build as it will naturally help you only shop for what you need to create those tasty and nutritious meals. Be careful to keep portion control in mind though when buying foods for a menu. You don’t want to overbuy. Have fun with your menu and trying new foods and try not to make it a chore.
As you shop around the grocery store, it is a good idea to take advantage of the many low fat (and make sure they are also low in sugar) foods that fill grocery store shelves. There are low fat varieties of many foods, including milk and dairy products, meats and cheeses, healthier snacks and cereals as well as whole grain breads and pasta. Most of these products contain all the taste of the full fat products, without all the fat.
There are lots of other small habits that you can put in place to help you develop good choices at the grocery store. If changing all your shopping habits seems hard, then pick one habit to start with that you know if your biggest trigger or downfall. Master that one over a couple week of shopping, then add another. Remind yourself that habits take time to develop too. And again; never shop when you are hungry!
Who knew food could make you not only healthier, but happier too!
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