It’s awfully hard to stick to healthy meals and healthy snacks when your refrigerator and kitchen cabinets are stocked with sugary, salty, and fat-laden indulgences. You need healthy food options staring back at you to make the right choices.
“Choosing healthy food options at home starts at the grocery store. If you want to eat better, you need to shop with a plan in mind,” advises Lanah J. Brennan, RD, nutritionist and certified diabetes educator in Lafayette, La.
Before you go to the grocery store, make a list of items you need. Then stick to that list. Last-minute splurges are often high in fat, salt, sugar, and calories. And if you give in to these food cravings at the store, how will you be able to resist them when you are hungry at home?
“If all your temptations are absent from your kitchen, you will be forced to eat what is available,” says Lordeen Kordel Card, RD, outpatient dietitian for Beaumont Hospitals in Royal Oak, Mich. “If you are hungry enough, you will eat those healthy food options, even if they are not your favorites.”
Buying Healthy Food Options
You want to check out of the grocery store with a cart full of healthy food options for the week. Choose a selection of foods that you can easily cook into healthy meals or grab as a healthy snack.
“Stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables,” advises Brennan. Once you get home, “put a bowl of fruit out where you can see it.” This will help you reach for a banana instead of a bag of chips when you need a quick hunger fix. “Don’t dump fruits and vegetables into your refrigerator drawers where they remain out of sight,” she says.
Keep these other healthy food options in mind at the market:
- Choose the leanest “choice” or “select” cuts of meat. These may include sirloin, pork tenderloin, leg or loin of lamb, and white meat poultry.
- Buy enough fish for your family to eat two servings week.
- Choose only fat-free, one-percent, or low-fat dairy…
Read more: Chris Iliades, MD, Everyday Health
