Grocery Shopping Tips

How you grocery shop sets the stage for how you eat. I’ve put together a few tips for grocery shopping to help you go in with intention, find the most nourishing foods and give yourself more options that support the way you want to eat!

Let’s get into it:

1. Go in with a plan

This step is important! I love shopping with a grocery list because it keeps things efficient and makes it less of a guessing game. It also leads to less food waste as you can put all of the ingredients to use in multiple recipes.

I like to come up with a few ideas of meals that can use the same or similar ingredients so I make the most of what I have.

If you make a plan, you can be sure to add in a few snack ideas, an important piece of grocery shopping as sometimes (or often) you need to eat between meals. Making sure you’ve prepared a list and a general idea of what you’ll be eating will make grocery shopping a smooth process.

Something that helps me, is having a must-haves list.

A list of a few things I always enjoy and can make quick snacks or build meals from such as apples, frozen berries, chia seeds, lemons, lentils, ground beef and avocados. The list is larger than that but starting with a few basics I know I always enjoy, helps me build out snacks and meals that nourish me and keep me satiated.

2. Do the majority of your shopping on the outskirts of the grocery store

I learned this tip from Dr. Mark Hyman, a functional medicine doctor who shares a lot of information online about food, and preventative health and gives tangible tips to make healthy living more accessible.

A lot, if not most food in the inside aisles of the typical grocery store are processed, ultra-processed, and/or full of additives and preservatives that may be harmful to our health.

By limiting time spent on the inside aisles, you’re able to focus on adding whole foods to your cart, rather than processed foods. Whole foods are typically more nutrient-dense than processed foods, which may lead to improved nutritional status.

While certain processed foods are made better than others, it’s important to be mindful of how much we consume of them and do our best to eat natural, alive and good quality foods whenever they are accessible. We need balance!

3. Eat before you shop

It’s easy to pick up more processed and ready-to-eat foods (which often tend to be less nutritious), when you are hungry!

In my experience, shopping hungry is kinda messy.

I end up picking up foods I don’t want, it becomes a rushed experience and I usually spend more than I need to and walk away with less than I intended to.

Try having a balanced meal or satiating snack before you grocery shop to have more control of the outcome and leave the grocery store with the things you wanted for the week!

To wrap things up,

I’m a big fan of setting myself up for success.

I find when the environment I’m in supports my goals, it’s easier to achieve them. This starts with how I set up my environment, and on a weekly or twice-weekly basis, how I grocery shop.

Shopping doesn’t have to be a perfect event, it’s alright to have treats too - but setting yourself up to have balanced meals throughout the week goes a long way in supporting your health!