Being a healthy, fit and active person is so much more than
the time you spend running on your treadmill or elliptical or lifting weights
or utilizing your home gym. Healthy is a lifestyle that you live in every
setting of your life. One of the places that is most important for you to adopt
a healthy lifestyle is at the grocery store. The food that you buy when at the
supermarket sets up how healthy you are going to eat for the week. If you buy
unhealthy food, then you are obviously panning on eating in an unhealthy
manner. We have a few tips here for some rules you should follow while at the
grocery store so that you stay healthy all week long!
1: The outside perimeter is where most of your food should
come from
This
one you may have heard before. These areas, versus the aisles, have the least
amount of processing and are more natural foods like fruits, vegetables, grain,
and dairy.
2. Choose aisle food with less than 4 ingredients.
When
choosing snacks, sauces, cereals, and all the other foods you will find in the
aisles of the grocery store, you want to choose the ones that are the best out
of the bunch. If a products has a huge list of ingredients, it is more likely
that that product is going to contain unnatural and harmful additives or
processed ingredients. Stick to the food that have the least amount of
ingredients.
3. Have a 5 color cart.
Having
a colorful cart is a way of saying that you are eating your proper amount of
fruits and vegetables. If you are new to the healthy lifestyle, this rule of
thumb is a good one to force yourself to buy more produce. You won’t be able to
resist eating the gorgeous colors in your fridge.
4. If you’re going to buy “cheat” foods, make them a small
portion.
We all
know that at some point, you will pass the aisle of cookies or of chips and you
will want to bring those home for those days that you just want to cheat a bit.
Instead of buying an entire large bag, try buying the single serving size. This
way once you cheat, you can get back on track to eating healthy and not be
tempted by the remaining junk food in your pantry.
5. Stick to water, coffee, and tea.
Coffee
and tea are water based drinks and they can be customized for many different tastes.
The liquids you drink should rehydrate you and nothing does that better than
water and others made form water.
6. Make sure all your carbs are 100% whole grain.
Your breads,
pastas rice, etc. should all be whole grain to provide the most benefit to your
health.
7. Stay away from frozen meals.
These
meals are basically void of any nutritional value. Make it a part of your healthy lifestyle to
cook more and avoid using these meals that are full of refined grains and
simple sugars.
