My shopping list.

I went grocery shopping with a girlfriend last night after we hit the gym, and while we were in line to check out our food, she goes "Damn you eat so healthy, whenever I go grocery shopping, I just think chips and and crackers to store at home!" I looked at her in shock and said "I like grocery shopping because that's when you have a CHOICE of what you eat, when you don't go grocery shopping, that's when you're stuck with chips from the school vending the machine!"

After some thought, I was inspired to summarize some practical and commonly approved strategies for grocery shopping by people who are health conscious and want to make better choices at the store...

1. Plan ahead. Figure out how what meals you are planning for how many days, and what is needed for them.
2. Make a list. And stick to it. Include lots of snacks, but be open to new healthy food options. This helps impulse purchases.
3. Shop the perimeter of the store for the good stuff, like dairy, meats, fruits and veggies. The fresh stuff is usually all there!
4. Eat first. Shopping for food when you are hungry is a no-no.
5. Read food labels. This is where people have the toughest time. This helps you compare two similiar food items so you make the best choice!

You can read where I got these tips from on http://health.yahoo.com/nutrition-healthyhabits/shopping-strategies-for-healthy-foods/mayoclinic--EDA7F312-E7FF-0DBD-13F7AA939C56EAE0.html.

If you follow these guidelines, it really helps! I unconsciously carried out most of the pointers above last night, and this is what I ended up with:

5 Gala apples
Packet of string cheese
Stack of honey wheat bagels
Non fat cream cheese
2 Non fat strawberry yogurts
1 lb of cinnamon raisin granola
.5 lb of chocolate covered raisins
Box of strawberry Special K snack bars
1 can of whole sliced pineapples

But what kind of sucks is that I never have meat at home, for that I'll eat out cause if I bought any kind of meat, I wouldn't know how to cook it...since I don't cook at all.