How I got better at grocery shopping [total NSV] loseit

So, first time poster to loseit, but longtime lurker. I wrote a blog post about the topic about a week ago, and I wanted to share some of the insights I had with you guys! I've battled with self-control and discipline all my life, and it hasn't been until recently that I've been able to really step back and assess how deep those issues ran. I don't know if many of you also tend to lose their minds when in a grocery store, I seriously want to put one of everything that is ridiculously unhealthy for me in my cart. Here's a bit of my story, and some tips that I included with it:

Grocery stores were always an issue for me, especially when I moved away from home, disentangling myself from a slow yet loving maternal strangulation. Financial illiteracy – combined with my then-hedonistic love for food and an immature disregard for self-restraint – always ensured that I was going to walk back to my apartment with whatever creativity had plopped into my head while roaming the aisles.

It wasn’t until I moved (again) to a small third-world island country with picturesque beaches, tropical rains, and mosquitos like you wouldn’t believe, and back to the U.S.A. a year and a half later, that I realized what had been happening. As I traveled back and forth, I saw the differences between opulent American grocery stores and the barren one-brand stores I’d frequent on the island.

I realized that the grocery store had been an issue because as soon as I walked inside, I would immediately give them – my surroundings – power over me. I had been giving food and cravings power for most of my life. Because it was easy.

On the island, this subconscious habit had been culled, largely because I was forced to. There was a lack of variety, especially in the junk food aisles. Snacks and sodas were expensive. Items were scarce. There was no easy high-calorie black holes to fall into. For the first time, an immense amount of control over what I was eating was shoved into my hands.

I was compelled to use tropical produce and healthier, cheaper options. I began cooking my own meals, and over time I gained a deep appreciation for fresh ingredients. I savored them, and the increasingly-gourmet meals I made, with satisfaction. I owned every bite of home-cooked food, and eventually, every bite of food I would treat myself to outside.

When I finally came back to America and walked into a grocery store, I remember feeling overcome. Colorful labels, promises of quick late-night snacks, comforting sights of overindulgence – I realized how easy it had been to be swayed, to hand a remote control over to emotional cravings, to walk out with overflowing bags and guilt. I knew it would feel comforting in the moment, but were my real problems being solved by that chocolate bar?

In this (admittedly dramatic) way, my relationship with food was irrevocably changed. I know now that when I am faced with easy, delicious options that I do not have to give in every single time. I take the time to understand my cravings and where they stem from emotionally, and choose the food I eat with purpose.

Most people don’t have the chance to get schooled in such a way, I realize this. It takes some time and some agitation to force yourself to not regularly answer the call of freshly baked cupcakes from the bakery – and even more time and more agitation to make that a habit. Because of this, I’ve listed a few tips below that will help the pain.

1. If you can help it, try not to grocery shop hungry. I was the victim of this mistake one too many times, and in those instances, more often than not I would come home junk food-laden and guilt-ridden.


2. On the flip side, I have noticed that grocery shopping after a trip to the gym results in an innate desire to buy and cook healthier foods. Once I’ve reached that endorphin high, I would keep looking for ways to strengthen that feeling of accomplishment – and was then less likely to buy sugary, high-calorie items.


3. Look up healthy recipes ahead of time, and make a list of ingredients to buy. Knowing exactly what you want and need will cut down on unnecessary time spent lounging around trigger foods.


4. Turn a blind eye to the distracting junk food at the entrance. Stores tend to keep their most unhealthy food at the entrances, and the middle of the store. Knowing the layout of my own grocery store would help me avoid these black holes.


5. If your local grocery does this, try picking up freshly cut produce like chopped fruit or vegetable sticks for quick and easy snacks. I used to never eat fruit, but I started buying fresh papaya regularly. It would taste A LOT better with my morning coffee, rather than a heavy chocolate croissant.


6. If it has a cartoon animal or cartoon anything on the wrapping – stay away. More often than not, it’s going to be full of sugar that you really don’t need.


7. Once I started checking the nutritional ratings and reviews of products I was unsure of (which involved a lot of loitering in the aisles on my phone), I felt a lot more informed about what what I was putting in my body.


8. Try to set aside some time after your trip to prep your veggies for the rest of your week. Invest in mason jars and tupperware to keep your ingredients organized. Once I made this a habit, buying a lot of fresh produce and healthy items wasn't be so overwhelming – and I stopped having to deal with forgotten food rotting in the back of the refrigerator.

Hope these tips help some of you. Here's the link if you want to read more: http://ift.tt/1EHTrFE

Submitted November 14, 2014 at 04:41AM by nucleus-ambiguus http://ift.tt/1EHTrFI loseit