When I was younger there were few things I disliked more than going grocery shopping with my mother. It wasn’t because I had to spend time with my mother; there was just something about wandering around a huge building picking out what food we were going to have for the week. I could be outside playing or watching TV or playing video games. I would have rather done anything than go grocery shopping. Some people may share my same disdain for grocery shopping, while others may really enjoy it. I know some people make a Saturday afternoon out of going to the store. Strategically planned, you can eat your entire lunch without spending any money. People roam from aisle to aisle finding all the various samples to try. Each time you go there’s a surprise and excitement of what may be offered today. Even that couldn’t excite me enough to go grocery shopping. But now that I live on my own I don’t have a choice. So, I should at least simplify the process, as always, so I can get in and out as quickly as possible.

Grocery stores these days could house multiple football fields they are so big. It seems like there are hundreds of aisles, each one half a mile long. All the different variety of food is enough to make your head spin. There are all the bright colored packages trying to get your attention. Before you know it you look down and your cart is overflowing with all sorts of crap you didn’t even realize you grabbed, tricky little advertisers, luring you into buying their product. That is a different topic that I don’t need to get into today. The point is that there is so much to choose from, and for most people not enough knowledge to help in the process. I’ll take you step by step through the grocery store to help you choose what your body actually needs to survive. Follow me.

The first step in going grocery shopping is finding an actual grocery store that has a good selection of healthy food. My top two choices are Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Each of these has a good variety of produce, meats, and the other essential foods that you need, while having some of the food that you don’t. There are other smaller specialty stores that you can also shop at, Fruitfull Yield being the closest one to me. I would suggest doing a search on the internet or Yellow Pages to find the closest health food store. The major chains would work, but I feel that the health food stores carry the same foods and they are much healthier for you. For those of you who are worried about cost, it just takes a little searching to find the right store for you. I know that most of the food I buy is actually cheaper than it would be at a major chain.

Once you have found the grocery store of your liking you are ready to get started. I am going to make this process shockingly simple. When you walk in the door, turn right or left, depending on where you walk in the store and how it’s organized. Then proceed to walk around the entire perimeter of the store to the checkout counter. That’s it, pretty simple, all you have to do is walk around the outside perimeter of the grocery store and you will have everything you need. Take a second and think about it. When you walk in the door, the produce is usually the first thing you walk through. From there as you walk around the store you will walk through the butcher area and then the dairy section. After that you are free to walk out. But wait, you didn’t get to walk down the chip aisle, nor the candy aisle. What will you do?

That is up to you. All your body physically needs to survive is what I just described. Your body wasn’t designed to need Cheetos, Cheerios, Pop-Tarts, or Lean Cuisines. This may be hard to take but it is the best thing for your body. I guarantee that if you change your nutrition and eat natural foods you will achieve the figure you have always wanted, with some exercise and other factors involved. Over the past 50 to 60 years our nutritional focused has changed drastically. Now we are more concerned about what tastes good than what it good for us. Who honestly thinks that a Twinkie is good for you or a better question healthy for you? Probably no one, so why is it that people continue to eat them? This ties in a little bit to my post yesterday. I won’t get into it anymore for now.

You need to change your thought process on food right now. First, realize that you don’t need all of the processed crap. Second, realize that natural food can taste just as good. So let’s walk back through the store. In the produce area pick up all of the fruits and vegetables that look good. Remember, the produce will go bad quickly so be reasonable. You may actually have to go grocery shopping more than once a week, but don’t worry we can make it work. Fruit is one of the sweetest things we can eat. So how is it that kids and adults can dislike it? Again this goes back to the psychology stuff. It’s time to reprogram yourself to enjoy the food, and trust me you can. Just pick out some that you like right now and work from there. Once you have picked out all the produce you want let’s take a walk to the meat area.

Your selection of meats can depend on a few factors, one, if you read my post on the metabolic typing diet you will need to select a certain kind of meat. Two, if you have any dietary needs, like being a vegetarian of some sort. For the most part choose what you like. Steak, chicken, or fish would all work; it just depends on your budget and how well you can cook. For me nothing is easier than throwing a chicken breast on the George Foreman Grill for eight minutes. Get a few days worth of meat, since it will last longer than the produce. This is where a little planning ahead will help. I’ll get into that another time. After you have picked all the meat you want move on to the dairy section.

Selection of dairy products again depends on your nutritional beliefs. The metabolic typing diet gave me some new insights into my dairy selection. But for the time being, select some milk, eggs, yogurt and cheese that you would like. My only suggestion is with the yogurt. Do not get yogurt with any fruit in it, because, for the most part, there is very little fruit. It is a bunch of sugary syrup that won’t do you any good. Buy some plain or vanilla yogurt and add your own fresh fruit into it. If you are the kind of person that loves dessert try having some yogurt and fresh fruit. It has the fatty and creamy texture, while still providing the sweetness of most desserts. Your mind is all that stands in your way of enjoying it. Finished picking out the dairy, then you are almost done.

Realistically, you could be finished right now. However, I know there are other things that people would have a hard time living without. So, right now, for this reason only, you can venture down the aisles. First, a loaf of bread would be good for sandwiches and toast. My top recommendation is Ezekial bread. It is by far the best bread for you. However, a lot of stores don’t carry it. Word of caution, if you find it, it has to be kept in the refrigerator if you want it to last. It doesn’t have any preservatives so it will go stale really quickly. If you can’t find Ezekial bread look for the bread with the highest amount of fiber. This means you will have to get a whole grain bread of sorts. For those who don’t like anything but white bread, you are better off not eating bread at all. That goes for any grain. If you are going to get it, make sure it’s whole grain, and pick the brand with the most fiber.

After you picked up your bread, move onto the cereal aisle. My favorite brand is Kashi. There are other healthier cereals, but it is darn good and fairly inexpensive. If you can’t find Kashi, again pick the cereal with the most fiber. When I say cereal I am not talking about Captain Crunch or Fruity Pebbles. Yes, I do enjoy them too, but they are horrible for you and you are better off not eating cereal at all if that is all you like. After you pick out a suitable cereal there is only one other thing you need to get.

Most people think that natural food doesn’t taste very good. The key to changing that is using spices. By learning to cook with spices you will add tons of flavors without adding any extra calories, which is a good thing. Think of most ethnic foods around the world. They have lots of flavor with pretty basic ingredients. It’s time you learned to cook this way. One of my favorite spices, or more of a condiment, is salsa. I will put salsa on just about anything to add flavor. There are so many different kinds of salsas that it would be hard to get sick of the flavor. The key to all of this is experimenting. The more you try, the more you will realize you like and over time you will perfect the use of spice.

That’s it for now. You should have successfully made it in and out of the grocery store pretty painlessly with lots of healthy nutritious food. Be open minded, learn to enjoy the simple things in life. Overtime you will want to eat nothing but natural foods. Look for some recipes online or in a cookbook to get ideas on how to prepare the food you purchased. Trust me you will thank yourself in a few months once you make this transition.

Sometime in the near future I will give you some of my ideas on how to prepare quick, easy, and nutritious meals.
Until then, good luck and enjoy. Everyday is another opportunity to change your life.

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