Why Grocery Shopping Doesn’t Have to Be a Nutritional Nightmare

When trying to stick to a diet or nutrition plan, visiting the Grocery Store can sometimes be a stressful and “trying” experience. You see all the foods you can’t eat, and now and then, you give into the surrounding temptations, only to feel guilty immediately afterward.

It’s also a challenge to eat healthy and keep to a budget. Supermarkets are clever; they work with high-budget advertising to grab your attention and suck you into becoming a consumer. However, if you arm yourself with some knowledge and technological solutions, you can fight off those temptations and stick to your agenda.

In today’s article, we’ll be exploring some solutions to help you turn your Grocery Store Visits into enjoyable, smooth and satisfying experiences.

Know Your Food Products

Whether you’re following a strict diet or not, you should always know what ingredients are in the food products you buy and eat. However, it can be tiresome reading through all the information on the labels of products, especially when it’s in such tiny print.

In this day and age, there are effective solutions to check the ingredients of food, such as apps that scan labels and tell you about their nutritional information. Most of these apps will deliver the information in easy to understand formats, giving you an overview of whether a product is healthy or not. These solutions are time-saving, and they give you a well-rounded view of which products are nutritional and which need to be avoided.

“LOSE IT!” is a great choice as it recognizes most supermarket generic brand products as well as big brand goods. You can also use the app as a calorie counter to keep an eye on your diet. The app is free for iOS and Android devices but does have in-app purchases available.

If you’re going to be using food-scanning apps, you’ll most likely connect to the free WiFi available nowadays at most supermarkets. It’s worth knowing that food apps usually require personal data and information to be stored in them, especially if they’re tracking your calorie intake. They also might ask for credit card information or to access your contacts. Using a secure network will protect you and your privacy while using your chosen app in public at the grocery store.

Stick To Your Shopping List

If you want to avoid overspending and buying unhealthy foods, creating a shopping list and sticking to it is the best solution. Get into the habit of writing a list before you leave your house and enter the store, and then simply tick off each item as you go.

Another useful tactic to help you stick to your shopping list is to create a game out of your grocery store visits. This may sound silly, but it works great and can be very useful if you have kids. Time yourself on you grocery store visits, and each time you revisit, try to beat your previous mark.

Learn the store layout so that you can whiz around picking up the items you really need from your list. Over time, you’ll find you’re in and out of the grocery store as quick as a flash, you only bought what you needed and you didn’t waste any time doing so.

If you do have kids and find shopping difficult with them, this type of game makes grocery shopping a lot of fun. Not only will they enjoy supermarket visits, but you’ll also find they move quickly to help you locate items, putting them in your cart and helping you find the next item on your list. Plan out the store layout and your list with your children to help make this even more engaging. If you include them as a part of the entire process, you’ll find they enjoy it a lot more.

Get to the Store

Overall, grocery shopping can be made easier for those trying to follow nutrition plans by getting to know the ingredients and nutritional value in products and by sticking to a shopping list. Avoiding temptation and overspending gets a lot easier when you’re knowledgeable about the ingredients in food products and the impact they have on your body.

Over time, through using food scanner apps, you’ll soon get used to which brands to stick with and which to avoid. You may be initially shocked at some of the foods you’ve been buying as you learn just how much sugar and harmful ingredients they have in them—it’s so easy to skim over food labels and miss how much sugar a product contains. But with food apps on your side, that won’t be a problem anymore, and going to the grocery store can become a rewarding, confidence-building activity, not a nightmare.

The post Grocery Shopping Nightmares appeared first on Ask Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter.