How to navigate the grocery store - by Rohan Krehbiel MS, RD, LD

This week we have a great blog/article from Rohan Krehbiel.

Rohan Krehbiel is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, living and working in Lexington, KY. Rohan is currently working as a community dietitian with an emphasis on providing nutrition education to the low-income population and coordinating several kid-friendly feeding sites. Rohan joined the team at God’s Pantry Food Bank in 2011. She coordinates the Kids Café and BackPack programs, writes monthly nutrition newsletters for the senior programs, provides nutrition education classes for the community and began the successful staff wellness program.

Rohan is a member of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Bluegrass Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Greater Cincinnati Dietetic Association and the TWEENS coalition. She was recently asked to serve on the University of Kentucky’s Coordinated Program Advisory Board. Rohan obtained her master’s degree in nutrition from Appalachian State University in 2011, where her thesis research focused on wine’s antioxidant effects in smokers. The presentation of this research won her the North Carolina Dietetic Association Foundation Graduate Research and Creative Activity Award in 2011.

 

I love Rohan's article as it includes real life/practical tips :) Read on......

 

How to Navigate the Grocery Store

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My, there are a lot of things being said at the grocery store other than, “What should I make for dinner?”

Grocery stores have become very overwhelming with all the marketing ploys and new food items that are glaring at you right at eye level. This makes it difficult sometimes to stick to your list and diet, if that’s your goal. So, what can you do to help yourself save money and your waistline from the marketers’ devious schemes to get you to purchase things you didn’t want or need in the first place? Willpower. However, willpower can be difficult when the oh-so delicious freshly baked cookie smell is wafting through the store. Cookies are a weakness of mine, so my willpower was sent back to the car as soon as that smell entered my olfactory senses.

Ok great, you say. How do you get your willpower to return and to stick with the healthy list you’ve made?

Here are my tips to stick with your willpower and list.

1.       Actually make a list of things you need.

a.       Take inventory of the foods in your house to prepare you for your shopping trip.

b.      Think of the meals you will be purchasing for and how many people you will be feeding at those meals. Are you going to be making everything from scratch? Or will frozen meals be part of your week?

c.       Now compare and contrast (remember that from middle school?) the list of meals you’ve made with the inventory list you took of your cupboards.

d.      Odds are, you need a few things. These things make up your grocery list, right? Easy peezey.

2.       Go to the store with a calm mind and full stomach.

a.       If you are able to take a little longer in the store and aren’t rushed or focused on other things, your experience will be much more worthwhile and you’ll make better choices.

b.      With a full stomach, you are not as likely to give into your cravings and wants, and will be more inclined to stick to your list.

3.       You will pick up something that’s not on your list, and usually, that’s ok.

a.       Our mind is a funny thing. Either we remember an ingredient in our favorite dish that we forgot to put on the list, or a meal idea comes to us in the middle of the store.

b.      When picking up something not on your list, check in with yourself. What purpose will this product serve? What are my conclusions about the nutritional quality of the product from looking at the label? Is it more money than what I am willing to spend?

4.       Cross things off the list as you put them in your cart.

a.       This is simply a good tracking method and can help you get in and out faster.

b.      Getting through the store quicker means less time for you to lose your willpower.

5.       Go through the check-out line and smile a big victory smile as you walk away, pushing your cart full of items that you know you need, rather than just want.

 

I hope these tips help you stick to your willpower when that freshly baked cookie gets within reach.

Questions for you: How do you stick to your list at the store? What are your steps to take to stick with your willpower, either at the store or in other aspects of life?