By Mary Pletsch 17 Oct 2020 no comment 910 Views

If your trips to the grocery store involve going up and down the same aisles multiple times and winding up with a cart full of junk food, these tips can help you to avoid temptation.

Don’t shop for groceries when you’re hungry

Can you go to the grocery store right after a meal?  If you can’t, it’s important to have a healthy snack before you go.

If you’re hungry when you shop—or if you get hungry while you shop—it’s a lot easier to give in to the temptations of junk food.  People who are hungry before they reach the checkout also tend to buy too much food.  Then they have to choose between wasting food and money, or overeating to use it up.

Minimize waste, maximize nutrition, and save time with a meal plan

Grocery shopping is much more efficient if you draw up a meal plan for the coming days.  When you know what you would like to make and when, it’s easy to make a grocery list.  Then you can buy only what you need.  You’ll get out of the store faster.  You’ll also have fewer concerns about food going bad before you have a chance to eat it.  A meal plan also helps you to focus on nutritious choices.

Fight temptation with a grocery list

A grocery list helps you to avoid the temptation of impulse buys and junk food.  It’ll also minimize last-minute trips to the store for that one crucial ingredient that you forgot.

If it’s not on your list, think carefully before putting it into your cart!

You will be less tempted by junk food at home if you don’t bring it home in the first place.

Sales – help or hindrance?

Sales only help you to save money if they’re on something that you use.  You won’t save money if you’re spending extra money to get a “sale” item that you don’t need.

Whether or not the item is perishable is also a factor.  You’ll end up wasting money if it goes bad before you can eat it.

In the grocery store, you might be able to get the same thing in a different brand for even cheaper than the “sale” price.

It might be worthwhile to pick up the occasional sale item that’s not on your grocery list.  For example, chicken breasts can be frozen, and canned tomato sauce will keep for a long time.  But if it’s something you don’t usually eat, or something you won’t be able to eat before it expires, then it’s not really a bargain.

Remember, junk food is still nutritionally empty, whether it’s on sale or not!

Next week we’ll look at some foods that might not be as healthy as we think.

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