Grocery Lists and Weight Control

PersonalDiets™
Custom Grocery Shopping List Maker: Planning Ahead

Planning ahead is one of the most powerful tools you can use to control impulse buying (which leads to impulse eating!). Now at PersonalDiets you can develop an individualized Custom Grocery List to go along with your custom diet and meal plan. Simply click the print my weekly grocery list button. This will display your items chosen in a list form that you can print and take to your grocery store. Use PersonalDiets Custom Grocery List Maker as a guide to stock your kitchen with a good balance of basic, healthy foods.

The Weight Wise Shopper
Today's grocery stores are filled with endless decisions to make. A person could spend fifteen minutes just picking out a salad dressing! Add the time you might spend reading labels for fat, sodium, sugar, and other ingredients, and you've got an all day event. No wonder so many people find it easier to buy packaged meals and eat out three or four times a week! Make it a little easier with preplanned custom grocery list and stick to the diet plan and items you buy.

Here are some some short cuts selecting healthy foods and getting home in time to actually eat dinner!

Print out a grocery lists and place it in kitchen (we provide automated Print-n-Shop Grocery Lists for our members to make this task easy). As you note you need certain items, add check marks as needed. This way you won't have to do "kitchen inventory" each time you shop.
"Team shop" - if you've got a willing housemate or partner, split the list and cut your grocery time in half!
Unless you have an online diet preplanned for you it's useful to create a shopping lists and do some pre-planning on what you want to eat in the days or week ahead. You don't need to plan every single meal, but have at least three meals or recipes in mind. For those who don't have a PersonalDiets planner you can write three recipes/meals at the top of your list - it helps to jog your memory for what you need in case you don't have time to make a complete list before you shop.
If you are new to buying foods based upon healthy guidelines, there's a lot to learn about nutrition labels and this can take some time (an upfront investment - it does get easier). Our members use personal eating guidelines as a guide for choosing leaner meats, low fat dairy products, and choosing the right type of fats. Look for these words on labels: "Low fat", "healthy", "skim", "fat-free", "light", "reduced fat", "high in fiber", "heart-healthy" - these are usually good signs.

The Outside Square
For the most part, grocery stores are designed so that the basic foods that you need (fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and dairy substitutes, meat, seafood and poultry, fats, eggs, and dried beans) are located on the outside aisles of the store. Spend most of your time there, especially in the produce area, where the green stuff is! Once you've made the circle, venture into the middle aisles and use your list to get in and out of there quickly!

A Quick Check Out
As you approach the check out stand, take a quick look at the items in your cart. Do you see the right colors and shapes? Check for dark green leafy vegetables, deep orange root vegetables, purple, blue, red, orange and yellow fruits. Are there a lot of boxes and cans? Mixes, frozen dinners, canned and packaged foods, if you use them, should be supplemented with fresh or frozen veggies (less salt), fresh fruits, whole grains and beans. Look for a balance of these items and try to add a few new vegetables or fruits to have just to make life interesting. You might find a new favorite!

If you utilize PersonalDiets plan & shopping list half of the weight control battle is won: your kitchen will be full of the right foods and so will you!

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