Episode 6 – Four Simple Steps To Healthy Smart Shopping
A healthy house is a place that provides readily available healthy and tasty food.
There’s a simple rule to follow: If you keep healthy food in the house, you’re gonna eat healthy food. Conversely, if you keep junk food in the house, you’ll eat junk food. Sounds straightforward right?! So the essence of being healthy is to keep only healthy food in the house. Let’s discuss 4 simple steps to healthy smart shopping so you can create a healthy home environment – your shortcut to being healthy and fit!
It’s time to shop smart!
1. Only shop around the perimeter of your grocery store
It’s best to purchase foods located around the perimeter of your grocery store — vegetables, fruits, dairy, meat, juices, and breads all reside there. These foods should be prioritized for their nutrient value. This is especially important as you only have so much money to spend on food each week – so make it count.
What to do:
Collect those healthy food items around the perimeter of your grocery store and then focus on your “soul foods” next (your favorites). Not only is it a better way of shopping it’s also more efficient as opposed to going aisle per aisle.
2. Get non-perishable items first
Perishable items such as fruits, vegetables, and eggs tend to be more susceptible to damage because they are soft and unpackaged.
What to do:
So it’s best to collect non-perishable grocery items like toiletries, canned and solid grocery foods such as, grainy foods (pastas), meats, juice as well as dairy cartons first. Then, gather the perishable items at the end of your grocery journey so that they’re on top of the shopping cart when you finish. This will make sure they’re still fresh and appetizing when you get home – not squashed and broken.
Want to learn the other simple steps to healthy smart shopping! Read on below.
3. Eat before shopping
Eating before grocery shopping allows you to make more logical choices and better decisions in the store.
There are a number of reasons for this, but one of the most common is that you’re either tired, hungry or both before shopping – particularly evening shoppers. Either one of these states puts you at greater risk of being impulsive – meaning you’re likely to choose grocery items based on what you want to eat in the moment instead of choosing what’s necessary for your nutrition.
What to do:
Eat before you shop – doing the groceries with a satisfied stomach allows you to think and plan for the next few days better as opposed to eating for the moment.
4. Organize your shopping
Preparation and planning is the key to mastering your nutrition. Consult with your Dietitian and fitness coach to help you to choose foods that are balanced and appropriate for your lifestyle. When armed with the right information, you’ll be able to create nutritionally balanced shopping lists.
What to do:
Regular, organized, and habitual shopping will not only keep your foods fresh, but it will also save you time. Stick to your plan and eventually, you’ll develop a routine that will cut down time spent on decisions and make healthy choices an automatic habit – thereby winning by default.
Shop smart
A healthy home environment is easy to create when you shop smart. This is one of the easiest shortcuts to being healthy and fit. By providing your body with everything it needs in its natural state – not squashed and unappetizing – it will provide you with the right nutrients for a healthy life. And the best way to do this is through healthy smart shopping.
Summary
To summarize the tips again, here are the top four healthy smart shopping (4) tips to keep in mind:
Tip #1. Perimeter check
Tip #2. Non-perishable items first
Tip #3. Eat before you shop
Tip #4. Be organized
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Need extra help?
- My PURITY Protocol is an amazing resource packed with 6 secrets to detox your life and supercharge your energy. It’s my personal wellbeing philosophy. Check it out here.
- The First Five Fitness program is a complete 35 day guide to nutrition, mindset, and fitness for beginners and intermediates AND it only takes five minutes blocks to start. Click here for details.
- Don’t know what or how to cook and prepare food?! Check out My Meals & Recipes book here. It’s packed with loads of practical, healthy and simple to make breakfast, lunch, dinner options as well as snacks and drinks.
- Want live coaching? Click here to contact me. I look forward to working with you soon.
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Feel free to watch the video
Bibliography
- Chek, P. (2009) How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy!
- Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand (website): https://www.nrv.gov.au/ Accessed: December 2015 to January 2016
- Duhigg, C. (2012) The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and business. Random Hous
- Germov, J., Williams, L. (2004) A Sociology of Food & Nutrition: The Social Appetite (2nd Ed.) Oxford.
- Levitin, D. (2014) The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. Plume Printing
- Kausman, R. (2004). If not dieting, then what? Allen & Unwin
- Gropper, S., Smith, J., Groff, J. (2005) Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism (4th Ed.), Thomson Wadsworth
Chris Everingham lives and breathes health & fitness.
Hi, I’m Chris Everingham.
I’m sharing the holistic performance secrets that I both personally used to overcome racial scrutiny, escape poverty and depression, AND taught others so that they too could bring proven success and happiness into their lives.
Learn more about my time competing in international sports, in front of media and speaking with live audiences of thousands of people to discover my high performance secrets. Click here to grow your mindset, rewire your habits and transform your life.
