Do you stress out before, during, or after a grocery trip? Do you worry that the nutrition you choose isn’t what you really want and need?
Is Grocery Shopping Hard for You, Nutritionally Speaking?
In the most basic way, good nutrition begins at the grocery store because what goes into your cart also goes into you. With all good intentions of buying quality nutrition in an amount we will use and not waste, many of us feel lost while at the store. For some, the hardest part is buying too much and for others, spending too much. For some, it’s feeling frazzled and disorganized. For others, it’s choosing the same foods over and over, not knowing how to get out of the rut. If it’s hard for you to face the task of grocery shopping, for whatever reason then take a deep breath, exhale slowly, repeat, and read on.
It’s no surprise that so many of us struggle at the grocery store. Industry stats tell us that on average Americans grocery shop about 2-1/2 times a week, spend $155-245 a week on household groceries, and waste about $55-60 of their weekly food purchases (fmi.org, 2023; eatingwell.com, 2023.) Reasons why food is wasted boil down to these, for example: forget about food; get bored with leftovers; lose food in the back of the fridge; worry that food is spoiled and/or throw it out too soon; don’t remember why food was bought and don’t have a way to use it; buy too much food and cannot eat it before expiration.
How Can Grocery Shopping be Easier, Nutritionally Speaking?
So, to overcome many of the above dilemmas, try tackling your grocery trips differently with a fresh, new 1-2-3 step system for success. Here are the 3 steps:
- Think about and make a meal plan that features healthier foods
- Write a detailed grocery shopping list that matches your meal plan
- Follow through with your meal plan at home
Step #1 is a smart starting point for each grocery store trip. When you intentionally think about including healthier foods on your meal plan, and do it, then your grocery shopping list (step #2) will fall into place with healthier foods, too. And, your follow through at home (step #3) will complete the cycle. Should you expect perfection with your first attempt to make a meal plan that features healthier foods? No. Will you get a little better every time you make a meal plan that features healthier foods? Yes, definitely. Grocery store success combines the comfort of knowing how-to, the confidence of getting it done, and the grateful result of less stress and more quality nutrition.
Resources to Make Grocery Shopping Easier, Nutritionally Speaking
My earlier blog, Taking the Mystery Out of Nutritional Counseling and 3 Easy Meal Plans to Try, can be helpful if you’re looking for some new ideas for your meal plan.
Another earlier blog, Waste Less Food with Consistent Meal Planning, includes meal plan ideas as well as a look at the ‘healthy eating plate’ from Harvard’s School of Public Health.
One more earlier blog, Shopping Cart Smarts, is a clear and handy list of 6 tips for everyone who wants to navigate the grocery store with a nutrition-forward attitude and come away feeling great.
Grocery Store Success = Learning, Commitment, and Practice
Like any life skill, grocery shopping comfort and expertise, nutritionally speaking, is the result of learning, commitment, and practice. There are resources that can help with the learning, such as the blogs listed above and/or private consultation in the grocery store aisles with a nutrition professional*. A strong personal commitment fires us up week-after-week to acquire this new and important skill and then lots of practice firms it up as a new habit. My free report is 6 Quick Mediterranean Grocery Tips and it will add to your knowledge and confidence of healthier grocery shopping beginning today!
*My face-to-face, private or small group grocery store tours are currently available in the local area of Winston-Salem, NC. Read more by scrolling down within all my nutrition services.
How are your skills with planning healthier meals and then using your plan to write a successful grocery shopping list?