Healthy grocery shopping

A key step for losing weight, keeping the weight off, and staying healthy is learning how to buy the right foods at the store. This will ensure you have healthy choices at home. Avoid bringing unhealthy choices, such as chips or cookies, into the home. Having to go out to buy an unhealthy treat gives you more time to make a conscious decision about eating that food.

Smart Shopping

Avoid buying snack foods in bulk and shopping in warehouse-type stores if you can. Getting a good deal can lead to overeating. If you do buy large amounts of a food, divide it into smaller portion sizes and store what you will not use right away.

PROTEIN

When you buy protein, choose:

• Lean ground turkey or chicken and skinless turkey or chicken breasts.
• Lean meat, such as bison (buffalo) and lean cuts of pork and beef (such as round, top sirloin, and tenderloin). Look for ground meats that are at least 97% lean.
• Fish, such as salmon, whitefish, sardines, herring, tilapia, and cod.
• Low-fat or nonfat dairy products.
• Eggs.
• Legumes, such as pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, lentils, and garbanzo beans. Canned beans are convenient but if you have the time to prepare them from scratch, dried beans are much cheaper. Low for low-sodium canned goods.
• Soy proteins, such as tofu or tempeh.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Buy plenty of fruits and vegetables. They will fill you up and provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your body needs. Some buying tips:

• One medium-sized apple has only 72 calories.
• 1 cup (130 gram) carrots has only 45 calories.
• 1 cup (160 gram) of cut up cantaloupe melon has only 55 calories.
• Select canned fruits that are packed in water or juice, not syrup, and have no sugar added.

Frozen fruits and vegetable can be good choices as long as there is no added sugar or salt. Some benefits of frozen fruits and vegetables include:

• Can be as nutritious or sometimes more nutritious than fresh as long as they do not contain added sauces.
• Will not go bad as quickly as fresh.
• Easy to prepare. Bags of frozen veggies that steam in the microwave can be ready in under 5 minutes.

BREADS AND GRAINS

Choose healthy breads, cereals, and pasta, such as:

• Whole-grain breads and rolls (read the label to make sure the first ingredient is whole wheat/whole grain.)
• All bran, 100% bran, and Shredded Wheat cereals (look for cereals with at least 4 grams of fiber per serving.)
• Whole-wheat or other whole-grain pasta.
• Other grains such as millet, quinoa, amaranth, and bulgur. 
• Rolled oats (not instant oatmeal).

Limit refined grain or "white flour" products. They are much more likely to:

• Be high in sugar and fats, which add calories.
• Be low in fiber and protein.
• Lack vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients.

Plan Ahead

Before you buy food for the week, think about your schedule:

• When and where you will be eating over the next week?
• How much time will you have to cook?

Then, plan your meals before you shop. This can keep you from buying whatever foods look good to you, whether or not they are healthy.

Make a shopping list. Having a list reduces impulse buys and ensures that you will purchase all of the ingredients you need.

Never go food shopping when you are hungry. You will make better choices if you shop after you have had a healthy meal or snack.

Know How to Read Food Labels

Learn how to read the Nutrition Facts labels on food packages. Know what the serving size is and the amount of calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates per serving. If a bag contains 2 servings and you eat the whole bag, you will need to multiply the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrate by 2.

Two words on food labels that can be misleading are "natural" and "pure."

Food labels

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Some other tips for reading labels and buying healthy foods are:

• Choose tuna and other canned fish that is packed in water, not oil.
• Check the label for the words "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" in the list of ingredients. These are unhealthy trans fats. The closer to the beginning of the list these words are, the more of them the food contains. The label will give the total trans fat content, and you want this to be zero. Even foods that are listed as having zero grams trans fats may have traces so you still should also be sure to look at the ingredient list.
• Carefully read the label of any food that claims it is a weight-loss product. Even though these words are used, the food may not be a healthy choice for you.
• Know what "lite" and "light" mean. The word "lite" can mean fewer calories, but sometimes not much fewer. There is no set standard for that word. If a product says "light," it must have at least 1/3 fewer calories than the regular food has, but it may still not be a low-calorie or healthy option.