Grocery Shopping, you either love it or loathe it.
While it may not be your favorite task, buying groceries is something we all do. As a former Personal Chef, I would grocery shop for my clients as part of their service. I believe they enjoyed that part as much as the delicious meals that I prepared.
I have a great deal of experience shopping for my family as well as for others. As a matter of fact, I learned how to grocery shop when I was about 9 years old, in 4-H.
Stores are arranged for ‘marketing’. That’s right, the stores want us to buy more so, items are placed strategically. Think about when you walk into a grocery store, you probably see flowers, fruits, and vegetables. These colors along with soft music help improve our mood. Bestmarketingdegrees.org has a very interesting infographic outlining the psychology of product placement.
So, now we’re happily shopping along and we realize:
I don’t have a shopping list
Mistake #1 We shop without a list and this will cost us. Not having a list as we grocery shop will cost time and money.
When we shop with a shopping list we know exactly what we want to buy and why we want to buy it (because we have written our menu for the week). Instead of figuring out meals on the fly and wondering whether or not we need an ingredient. With a shopping list, we can effectively and efficiently complete our shopping task, saving us time. Because we have a list we are less likely to buy random items which will save us money.
DOWNLOAD A FREE Grocery Shopping List Template
I only grocery shop in the aisles
Mistake #2 Not shopping the perimeter of the store.
Shopping within grocery aisles is ideal for household or personal care items. It’s even okay for staples such as oil, nut butter or beans. But, this is also where most of the processed foods are.
Health.Harvard.edu explains that Processing includes canning, cooking, freezing, dehydration, or milling.
Not all ‘processed food’ is unhealthy. The main concern with processing is, it reduces a food’s nutritional value, or ingredients like sodium and sugar are added. You may prefer to avoid or limit added sodium or sugar.
Shopping the outer edges of the grocery store is where you find produce, dairy, meat, and other whole foods.
I grocery shop when I’m hungry
Mistake #3 Shopping while hungry. Generally, we make poor decisions if we are hungry.
The scientists, from the University of Dundee, found hunger “significantly” altered people’s decision-making. This includes making any kind of decision while hungry can lead to poorer choices for the long-term.
Just like sleep deprivation, hunger makes your brain more sensitive to pictures of food, especially high-calorie food. Hunger causes you to be more sensitive to sweet and salty tastes (junk food). Hungry people tend to buy more high-calorie foods when they go grocery shopping.
So, before you go grocery shopping have a healthy snack.
Enjoy your next trip to the grocery store. And remember:
- Write out your menu then write out your shopping list.
- Shop the perimeter of the store for fresh foods.
- Have a healthy snack before you shop.
The Author Heidi Fleming is a Lifestyle Architect. She helps people make a personal blueprint for healthy living and healthy aging. She encourages and guides others to find their path and develop a maintenance plan for ongoing healthy living, clean label living, and healthy aging.