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My new grocery shopping strategy
By Meg | February 15, 2008
I don’t do diets.
However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t care what I eat. I’m trying to save money, loose weight, and eat healthy all at the same time. The result has been that I have been trying to eat out a lot less and pay a lot more attention to what I bring home.
Over the past few years, I have made a few adjustments to my diet. At least when grocery shopping, I have stopped buying stuff that contains high fructose corn syrup or trans fat. I’ve also tried to eat more healthy fats from nuts and olives.
This year, I’ve taken another step; instead of buying pre-made mixes, I’ve started buying one or two ingredient foods instead. For example, instead of buying a boxed noodle dinner, I buy noodles and seasonings separately. If I want flavored oatmeal, I get oatmeal and add fruit or nuts myself.
Now, this isn’t something I’m absolutely strict about it (though I’ve stuck to it even more than I expected). I should also say that I’ve eaten a fair amount of pizza since my husband bought them on sale. However, this new shopping strategy has had some nice side effects so far:
- I’ve cut out a lot of sodium and sugar, without even trying — as well as all sorts of other unpronounceable chemicals
- I’m buying a lot more fresh food.
- My shopping trips are a lot shorter because I can skip most of the store.
- Since I’m a lazy cook, I have a new appreciation for stuff I can eat raw (besides cookie dough).
- I’m saving lots of money even though I’m still going to the same grocery store and not using any coupons.
- I’m definitely eating a lot healthier, in general.
- Contrary to what I expected, I have more space in the fridge and our cabinets.
- I’ve lost 5 pounds over the past couple weeks despite the occasional pizza binge.
Again, I’m considering this an experiment for now. I’m interested to see how this works in the long run, especially when it comes to helping me save money and loose weight.
However, I’ve found it remarkably easy to do. At first, I thought that it would be difficult since I’m not much of a cook. In fact, it’s been super easy and probably even healthier for me because I don’t cook much. If I don’t have time to cook a big meal, I snack on raw foods, reheat leftovers, or microwave some steel cut oatmeal.
As it stands right now, I think this new strategy is going to stick.
Tags: Body, Food, Saving Money, Saving Time
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February 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am
You know, those are all things I do :) I don’t buy pre-packaged meals or things in cans or bottles any longer. It just simply doesn’t taste as good :)
And I’ve lost a ton of weight doing that, and not walking as often as I used to!
Plus I switch in water instead of pop and juice..
February 15th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
You know, pizza can actually be part of a healthy diet if you do it right, so don’t feel guilty about eating it. I lost about 13 pounds last year when I really put my mind to it, and I ate pizza regularly. The trick is to buy a very small pizza with a thin crust that has lots of veggies and not much cheese as a topping. For your meal, have one or two slices only and eat salad on the side. (Bonus: then you’ll have leftover pizza for lunch the next day and won’t have to buy more food.)
Sounds like you have a great strategy.
February 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
That’s great, FB! I certainly hope to do the same!
Miss Squirrel,
It might have been slightly healthy before he added extra cheese and pepperoni and I ate half of it! I’ll have to follow your suggestions next time. I have at least been adding banana pepper slices on my half. They make it taste really good, but in a “can’t eat the whole thing” way.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I tried something similar to you, and lost about 5 kilos (is that around nine or ten pounds?) without even trying. Also helps that me new apartment is at the bottom of a giant hill and my train station is at the top! My trick for seeing if I’m purchasing enough “decent” food is to look at my receipt - in Australia, processed food attracts 10% tax and fresh food is tax-free. The taxable items are marked with an asterix, so I can tell at a glance what proportion of good, unprocessed food I’m buying.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Hi Jayne,
5 kilos sounds great, whatever the equivalent is.
That’s a cool tip about the receipts! I wish we had something like that (though I wouldn’t want any of it taxed at 10%).