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Simple Strategies for Smart Shopping

1. Spend most of your time in the produce section. If there's one thing you can do to improve your overall health, it's to eat more vegetables and fruits. Pick out fresh avocados and salad veggies like broccoli, kale, cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini and carrots. Low-sugar fruits like raspberries, blueberries and blackberries are also good along with my favorite starchy veggie; sweet potatoes.
2. Stick to the perimeter of the store. In general, foods from the center aisles are refined and processed. You'll find the fresh foods like produce, meat, seafood and eggs when you shop the perimeter. This is because real food spoils, so it does not have a long shelf life. Only brave the middle aisles for oils, fats, frozen items, and spices—or, better yet, stock up on some of these “interior-aisle items” online,so you can avoid temptation.
3. Buy what you can online. You can save time, tempatation and and even a few bucks! Another perk: You can take your time reading the labels so you don’t miss anything questionable! In addition, I try to make it easier for you by providing links to what I buy since I've already done a lot of that legwork.
4. Look at labels and aim for a small number of (pronouncable) ingredients. For instance, your peanut butter label should have 1-3 ingredients: peanuts, and maybe oil and/or salt. It can be surprising how many basic food items are loaded with preservatives, trans fats and nasty sweeteners.
5. Don’t fall for deceptive marketing. My favorite example is the peanut butters that are labeled “cholesterol free.” You will never find a peanut butter that contains cholesterol. Cholesterol is found in animal products, so peanut butter is naturally cholesterol-free. Don’t fall for flashy terms like this and others like “fat-free," or  “helps lower cholesterol” on the front of packaging. In fact, Cheerios are known to have a label that says they lower cholesterol, when they are, in fact, the very culprit that raises it.DON'T fall for this type of marketing! Notice when catchy phrases on the outside of packages catch your eye, and don't even give those items a second glance.
6. Make a list and stick to it. No browsing. Planning meals and snacks ahead of time will help you get in, get the necessities and get out. Make it your mission to get in and get out of the store ASAP.
7. Don't shop on at empty stomach. You've heard this before, and it's a good tip for good reason. Your brain’s primary biochemical response when you are hungry is to encourage you to seek out sugar (being really intelligent, it knows that hunger means low blood-sugar levels—and sugar presents the quickest way to raise them). Be a smart player of this grocery-shopping game, and get some protein, healthful fat, and carbs in your system before you start.

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