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Healthy Grocery Shopping Guide

ContentsContents................................................................................................2

Welcome from the Health Coach!............................................................3

1. Shop with a list..................................................................................4

2. Spend most of your shopping time at the perimeter of the store...........5

3. Learn to love labels............................................................................6

4. Buy 100% whole, real foods................................................................7

5. Buy foods that are locally sourced and in season.................................8

6. Buy organic when possible, and know how to prioritize when it comes to organic versus conventional...................................................................9

7. Buy in Bulk.......................................................................................10

8. Know your grocery store, and connect with the employees.................11

9. Eat Before You Go Shopping..............................................................12

10. Opt for Healthy Snacks...................................................................13

Conclusion...........................................................................................14

Next Steps...........................................................................................15

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Welcome from the Health Coach!Hi Ladies and Gents!Do you find it difficult to get in and out of a grocery store without ending up with a cartful of items you didn’t intend to buy? Do you know how to shop for the most nutritious products, so you can stay on the path to reaching your health/weight loss goal? As a health coach, I talk with so many people who say they are frustrated by the grocery shopping experience, so I've put together a list of tips to help. Before we get to the ten tips that will help you become a savvy supermarket shopper, I’ve got a share a secret with you. I may be a health coach now, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, if someone had told me 15 years ago I’d be interested in grocery s, I was the girl who lived on frozen meals and takeout. The closest I ever came to healthy food was Panera Bread.hopping for healthy home cooking, I would have laughed. I meanSo what the “H” happened to turn my hot mess into success? To make a long story short, a wake up call that had me ditch the booze for good (One Day at a Time) which only worsened my eating habits. Alchohol equals sugar so when I quit drinking my sugar and caffeine intake SKYROCKETED. What happened next was even more surprising. I started to realize how much food affected my life! I was feeling everything and trying to numb it out with bad food which only made it worse. Thankfully, the Universe conspired to help a sister out and I had my own ‘aha’ moment at an Oprah Show! Michael Pollan was the guest. He is a food activist and a leader in the real food movenment. I went home and watched his documentary Food Inc. and was enlightened to the fact that most of what I and most Americans was eating was food-like substances (a.k.a. processed food).Like all types of retail establishments, grocery stores rely heavily on marketing to influence buyers and convince them to buy things they may not really want or need. This, of course, creates a challenge when you’re trying to shop for healthy foods. After all, you don’t see broccoli and plain yogurt heavily marketed by your grocer, do you? Marketing tends to promote convenience foods, popular items that have virtually no nutritional value, and products that bring in the most profits for the store. Marketers are not really concerned with whether you, the consumer, buy healthy products or avoids things that are unhealthy. It’s up to you to learn how to maneuver through the aisles and get out with a cart full of healthy goodies and not much else. But everywhere you turn, there’s something that looks

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convenient and tasty, and may even be promoted with words that suggest the product is healthy when it really isn’t. Don’t despair, healthy shopper. You can do this. With awareness and attention to the way typical grocery stores operate, you can become a pro at shopping efficiently for healthy items, even if you’re on a budget. There are really just a few things you need to know.Here are ten tips to help you plan an effective shopping strategy:

1. Shop with a list.

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Plan ahead by putting together a list before you enter the grocery store. Try to group the items on your list according to where in the store they are located. This will allow you to work your way through the supermarket without becoming distracted by tempting but unhealthy items. A good way to create your list is to create four sections by folding the paper into quarter so you can add each item to the list in approximately the same place on the paper as they are located in the store. If creating more than four sections works for you, go for it! Another option is to simply list similar items together, since they’re likely to be located in the same general area. If you’re really a stickler for being organized, develop a shopping list template that you can save and print from your computer when you’re ready to make your shopping plan!

2. Spend most of your shopping time at the perimeter of the store.

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This tried and true tip for healthy grocery shopping makes sense. The perimeter of the store is usually where you'll find fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meat, bread and dairy. In other words, it’s where you’ll find the freshest foods. The bulk of your grocery shopping should be done in these areas. Keep in mind, though, that while fresh foods from the dairy, deli, bakery and butcher areas of the store are generally more nutritious than boxed and frozen products, it’s still important to know the nutritional value of the items you choose. Look for organic produce, meats from free-range animals that weren't treated with harmful hormones or fed genetically modified foods, and products made from non-genetically-modified (that is non-GMO) grains. When you do venture into the interior aisles of the store, only buy the specific items that are on your list.

3. Learn to love labels.

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Ideally, you’ll purchase as many foods as possible that don’t have labels because they are single ingredients (such as apples, lettuce, or fresh salmon). Realistically, though, you’ll be purchasing at least some foods that are processed or packaged in some way. In order to determine if you’ve got a healthy product on your hands, you’ll need to read food labels and understand them. If a product has a label, don’t toss it in your cart without a look at that label. The fewer the ingredients, the better. The more “real” the ingredients the better. Avoid products with ingredients you can’t pronounce, and also steer clear of anything with an ingredient you can’t identify. Do you know, for example, what “maltodextrin” is? Even when you can identify an ingredient, use common sense when deciding if it’s something healthy—“red dye #40” comes to mind here.

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4. Buy 100% whole, real foods

When you’re trying to avoid unhealthy ingredients, “100%” is your goal. In other words, choose 100% fruit juices or 100% whole grains. Be sure, too, to check for additives. Just because a food contains 100% juice, for example, does not mean there is no added sugar. You can add more sugar, salt or seasonings if you like later. Not sure if something is 100% whole or real? Look for foods that are sold as nature created them: fresh fruit, fresh or frozen vegetables, single-ingredient items such as nuts, eggs, meat or poultry from the butcher, and fresh fish are all 100% whole and real “by nature.”

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5. Buy foods that are locally sourced and in season.

The farther a food travels to get to your grocery store shelf, the more likely it is to have gone bad, lost some nutritional value, or become contaminated. The same is true for foods that are not in season. Have you ever noticed that an apple purchased and eaten in October tastes a whole lot better than one that was sitting on a store shelf in May? Not only are local foods healthier, but they’re better for the environment as well. After all, it takes less energy to get products to a local farmers market than to truck them across the country or fly them halfway across the world. Read those signs in the produce section to find out where a product came from!

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6. Buy organic when possible, and know how to prioritize when it

comes to organic versus conventional.

Ideally, all of the food you eat would be organic, but the truth is, you won’t always be able to find or afford organic food. A good way around this is to know which foods are most likely to contain high levels of pesticides. You may also want to consider sticking to organic when it comes to the foods you eat most often.The Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out two annual lists called the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean Fifteen.” These are the twelve foods that are most likely to have the highest levels of pesticides, as well as the fifteen that have the lowest levels. You can find the lists on the EWG website (https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/). Print them and carry copies in your purse or wallet to help you remember which produce is best to buy organic and which to avoid. The list changes a bit each year, so make sure to get the updated list every twelve months.

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

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In addition to produce, it’s a good idea to buy organic meats, eggs, and dairy products whenever possible. If you can’t afford organic, check labels and select meat and dairy sourced from animals that were not given hormones or antibiotics. Another good reason to buy organic is that you can also be sure the product is free of GMOs; by law, organic foods cannot contain them.

7. Buy in Bulk

This is a great strategy for dry goods, such as nuts, grains, and beans, which are usually a lot less expensive in bulk. You may also be able to save money by purchasing canned foods like soups and vegetables by the case. If you do buy canned goods, make sure the products you select are in BPA-free cans. Consider Amazon Pantry or other online retailers that offer lower prices and free shipping for bulk orders.

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8. Know your grocery store, and connect with the employees.

It’s a great idea to get to know grocery store employees, and ask questions when you need help. In fact, it’s a great idea to shop at the same one or two stores most of the time so you can really become acquainted with the products and layout of the market. When you know the lay of the land, you’ll know how to get in and out quickly. You’ll spend less time shopping, which means you’ll have less time to add items you don’t really want or need. Many grocers are more than willing to help shoppers find specific items or make the best choices. Fish mongers and butchers are often happy to make suggestions based on their knowledge of the quality and origin of the

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products they sell. Ask produce managers what’s fresh that day or which items are locally sourced, and if you’re not sure how to tell if a particular kind of fruit is ripe, ask about that as well. You can also ask when certain items are delivered so you’ll know when to shop for them when they’re freshest. For example, if you know the organic sprouted grain bread is delivered on Thursdays, you’ll know what day to add it to you grocery list. Purchasing fresh foods the day or day after they’re delivered means they’ll last longer, making it more likely you’ll use them before they go bad.

9. Eat Before You Go Shopping

Doing anything well when you’re hungry is a challenge, but it’s especially difficult to shop for healthy foods if your stomach is rumbling. You’ll either be in a hurry to get home and eat, which will cause you to skip checking labels or looking for healthier items, or you’ll be tempted to buy items that promise to banish your hunger pangs now. Try to plan shopping trips for soon after

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you eat. If that’s not possible, take a healthy snack with you so you won’t be tempted to grab a box of cookies and eat half of it before you reach the checkout line!

10. Opt for Healthy Snacks

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Of course you are going to pick up some snacks when you do your grocery shopping. Who doesn’t? That’s okay, because there are healthy snacks. Choose items like fresh fruits, nuts (as long as you’re not allergic), plain yogurt (add the fruits and nuts for a snack that’s almost like dessert!), organic string cheese, and fresh veggies and hummus. Be careful about pre-packaged “healthy” snacks that are often high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. These include “nutrition bars” that may be little more than glorified candy bars. (Here’s where learning to read labels will really come in handy!)

ConclusionCongrats! You now have all the secrets on how the health gurus navigate a grocery store.Don’t forget, the best way to keep yourself from eating junk food is to simply never buy it or bring it home. Smart shopping at the grocery store is one of the best things you can do for your family. When the bulk of your groceries are fresh, wholesome foods, you'll find that they taste better too, as well as provide the nutrition your body craves.

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Next Steps As I mentioned, I wasn’t always a savvy grocery shopper, and I didn’t always know how to eat healthy for more than a week or two. There is a rule of thumb that the fittest and healthiest people LIVE by which is eat 80% and 20% what you want because it works and also encourages moderation. I was like most others constantly failing at being one of those “healthy eaters”. But after 13 years, thousands of research hours, tens of thousands of dollars in education, one degree, certifications, and hundreds of clients later, I’ve combined all my personal experience and professional expertise in a powerful solution that can finally show you how to reach your health goal, whether that’s losing weight naturally, managing a food allergy or other health issue, or simply staying fit and healthy. My safe and effective solution works, even for those who think they just don’t have the willpower and even if you’ve tried everything else and failed!

Ready to finally NEVER diet again?I specialize in helping women who can’t seem to stop losing weight only to gain it back.My work is about helping women fill the void without food, end food addiction, find fulfillment, and feel their best inside and out.I received my training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.My practice is in Chicago, IL - but I support clients nationwide. I also offer workshops and corporate workshops.

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Change is not easy. Knowing what to do is one thing. Implementing it is a whole other matter. This is where I come in.In the past I struggled with food. It was the enemy. But by learning how to change my relationship with food through education and tools that lead to weight loss WITHOUT deprivation, I no longer hated food or my body. I was now able to enjoy my favorite foods without guilt and continue to maintain a healthy weight and feel better than I ever had in life. I'd love to support you...Click here to schedule your Free Health History Consultation.Warmly, Ashleigh Tepler

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