Are you grocery shopping on autopilot? Do you wince when the cashier tells you your total? Do you wish that your family ate more healthy food? Perhaps the following ideas will get you thinking about what you eat and a few simple changes that could benefit you and your family. Let’s shop healthier!
1. Skip the “extra” Drinks.
This includes juice, soda, La Criox, energy drinks, Koolaid, Gatorade, and smoothie drinks. Commit for the next two weeks to drink only water as your in-between beverage. Please notice I don’t consider coffee an “extra”. That, my friend is a necessity. I’m not saying you can’t have coffee or tea in the morning, but make all meals and throughout the day sips – water. You’ll be relieving tiredness, flushing toxins, hydrating your skin, keeping headaches at bay, suppressing your appetite, and of course saving money.
2. Skip the Processed Snacks
Doritos, goldfish, crackers, Oreos, Cheetos, Teddy Grahams, etc, Start to think of these things as treats instead of daily needs. When you pantry has 17 processed options who’s going to pick celery sticks – not me! So many moms complain that their child will only eat junk food – of course they will if that whats filling up your cabinets. Kids (and most of us for that matter) will almost always choose junk and sugar. If those aren’t available they’ll choose something else. 😉
If you really need snacks in the house, aim for simple unprocessed ones – air popped popcorn and raw nut trail mix are two of my favorites.
3. Buy Plain Greek Yogurt (or make it!)
As written about here, there are tons of ways to use Greek yogurt. Skip the individual flavored yogurts (full of sugar), sour cream, and mayonnaise. Instead sub plain yogurt. Top with fresh fruit or granola for a healthy snack, breakfast, or lunch.
4. Aim for Whole Foods
Buy veggies, complex carbs, fruits, meat, fish, whole fat dairy. When you steer clear of mixes and pre-made foods, you may spend a few more minutes in the kitchen, but your health and pocketbook will thank you. Ginny always says “shop the perimeter” which I love. The perimeter is where fresh foods, meat and dairy live – the inner aisles are where Ghirardelli brownie mix lives. And lets be honest, thats really hard to resist.
5. Aim for Color
More on this later, but in general aim to eat the rainbow. If you look at your cart and its all brown and tan – go put a few things back. Try something you haven’t eaten before. Be adventurous.
Those are just a few thoughts for today. I would LOVE to hear that you do to shop healthy and save money!
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