Hey everyone! These are my favorite and top 10 grocery shopping tips that help me every week and could help you maintain or lose weight! I share a list of my typical grocery list with you at the bottom, and I have also linked this outfit for you to shop.
1. Eat Before You Grocery Shop!
I think this is the most important tip which is why I have listed it first. Whenever I’m grocery shopping while hungry, it always ends up as a disaster and I start throwing random things in my cart like sugary cereals, chips, and other munchy foods. I spend the next week regretting buying these foods that have thrown me off of my regular healthy nutritional lifestyle. Make sure your stomach is full before crossing into dangerous territory.
2. Inventory Your Fridge
Analyzing your fridge is actually the first step that I take when I’m about to grocery shop. This one seems obvious but sometimes you might forget! It’s important to take a look at what you have in your fridge so that you can either plan around those items (explained more below) or save money by not buying duplicate items and eventually having to throw out food because you bought too much.
3. Make a Shopping List Based off of Items You Already Have in Your Refrigerator
This step makes planning out what I’m going to buy for the week super easy! Sometimes I have a hard time predicting what I am going to want to eat that week so this takes the pressure off of me, plus it can save you money. If I have leftover hummus than I will write down that I need to get cucumber, celery, or something to dip with for a snack. I’ll also make sure to buy flat wraps and other veggies to make hummus sandwiches. If I have leftover condiments, like BBQ sauce then I’ll make sure to buy chicken that week to use up what I have. I also use the Ibotta app to help me use coupons and plan my meals! Use my referral code “HORAYMA”. I’ve already gotten over $100 from using this app when I shop! They pay you via PayPal when you’ve reached a $20 payout that goes right into my bank account!
4. Shop the Perimeter of the Grocery Store First
The next time that you go to the grocery store, try to only buy items from around the perimeter of the grocery store. You will find that the grocery store perimeter is where the vegetable, fruits, meats, fish, and dairy are located. After you have shopped the edges of the store where are the fresh and healthy items are then you can hit the aisles where processed and packaged foods are and quickly grab what you need. When I say quickly, I mean going straight to the items that you need. I do not suggest going up and down every single grocery store aisle because you may grab more items that you originally planned. From the middle aisles, I will normally buy items like bread, taco seasoning, and popcorn.
4. Grocery Shop More Frequently
I grocery shop frequently (once a week) for multiple reasons. Before you google search, “how to grocery shop once a month”, hear me out. I grocery shop once a week because I find that it helps me purchase fresh produce, which only lasts about a week at best, and allows me to plan around items that I already have so that I can use them up before they too expire. Another reason I grocery shop weekly is because I can adjust to what my body is craving. When I plan an entire month in advance I find that I am having to freeze a lot of meals that do not taste as good when I heat them up and around the end of week two I am already tired of eating what I planned out.
5. Plan for 2 Meals Per Mealtime for the Week
If your not into meal prepping yet or are just starting out to figure out how to optimize your grocery shopping then this tip is for you! When I am in a rush and have not had much time to meal plan, then I do this really quick exercise where I will essentially pick 2 meals for breakfast that I know I will enjoy, choose 2 filling and low-calorie snack meals, decide on 2 easy meals for lunch while I’m at work, and figure out 2 dinners for the week. A quick example that I might use would be Breakfast – Protein Shake (I use this one here ) and Banana Peanut butter wrap, Lunch – Veggie sandwiches and buffalo chicken wraps, Snacks- Yogurt and popcorn, Dinner – Egg Avocado Toast and Grilled Chicken with Veggie. I will eat this all week and then I will create a new list for the next week.
6. Try Not to Buy Too Much at Once
This goes along with some of the other tips I have previously mentioned. This tip is more towards fresh produce and dairy items. You want to make sure that you are only buying what you will be able to eat that week so that your food does not expire. This tip does not apply to buying in bulk for paper products and snacks like popcorn.
7. Buy Only Foods that You Enjoy
I have tried out many different diet foods just to see if they are worth switching to when trying to cut down on calories or carbs, but a lot of the time they are not worth it! I have found that in order to be excited about grocery shopping and weight loss you have to purchase foods that you really enjoy eating! I suggest staying away from any diet yogurt or low-fat peanut butter. I have found some good food swaps, such as doing plain yogurt instead of sour cream for my buffalo chicken wraps.
8. Buy the Store Brand
I have found that I don’t notice a difference when I buy the store brand of bread and other items compared to the big brands. You save money in the long run when purchasing the store brand!
9. Write Down Items that You Need as You Run Out
I suggest writing down items that you need as you run out of them so that you don’t forget. This is a great tip for the moments when you have one egg left and if you don’t write it down as you notice it, you could overlook it when you are analyzing your refrigerator inventory right before your leaving to go to the store. I always seem to remember these items as I’m putting food away, so you’ll thank yourself later when you have written it down!
10. Remember to Bring Your Grocery List!!
I always forget to bring my grocery list with me, so I have started to write down my grocery list in my phone. I’ve gotten pretty good at remembering what food items I normally purchase so it is not a huge deal, but in the beginning it can be pretty overwhelming until your into a routine!
What my Grocery Shopping List Looks like this Week!
I normally spend around $50 for about 1-2 weeks worth of food depending on if I eat out a few of those days with friends at restaurants or go out for dinner.
- Yogurt x 5 (snack)
- Protein Shake x 5 ( breakfast: I’m currently digging this one from Amazon which is a great value!)Banana x 4 (breakfast: banana peanut butter wrap )
- Wraps (breakfast: banana peanut butter wrap)
- Wheat bread (lunch: sandwich)
- Lettuce (lunch: sandwich)
- Peanut butter (breakfast: banana peanut butter wrap)
- Hummus (lunch : sandwich)
- Boars head bacon slices (lunch: sandwich)
- Radishes (lunch or snack: sandwich or dipped in hummus)
- Cucumber x 1 (lunch or snack: sandwich or dipped in hummus)
- Avocados x 2 (breakfast or dinner : egg avocado toast)
- Eggs (breakfast or dinner: egg avocado toast)
To see recipes head on over to my blog post here where I detail out my meals and their nutrition ! I hope you enjoyed this list of grocery shopping tips. Leave a comment below on some of your grocery shopping struggles or tips you use!
Michelle says
I think I’m bad about checking my refrigerator first. That’s a really good thing to remember to do. I’m also bad about buying vegetables that I think I will eat and then never do.
I’ve done a lot better since I started meal planning, which requires me to buy what is on my list more than I used to do. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight, and I think meal planning has helped with that the most.
https://easyteadetox.wordpress.com/
kitstanwood@gmail.com says
Awe thank you so much for reading! Yes checking the fridge and then making a list off of that helps me cut down on accidentally buying too many flat wraps or veggies that will go bad if I already have it. Hope this post helps motivate you to check it every time! Congrats on the weight loss! That’s amazing! Keep it up !
Viviane Claire Feeney says
Very organised! I personally rarely shop at large chains (it’s a bloody nightmare trying to find your way around this maze called Woolworths!) and choose small-scale shops. I shop at Affordable Wholefoods (local business selling bulk items and even organic, grass-fed dairy hard to find in Australia) and anymous independent Italian fresh food shop (=where I worked as a cashier last year and now am just a regular shopper) for seasonal produce.
Why do I choose small shops?
-staff are like your family, at AFW they don’t even wear uniforms but often op shop wear!
-I practically know where everything is. especially at AFW, the store is small enough for two people on opposite ends to hear each other. That’s good, it creates a cosy vibe and is not a maze to navigate!
-just the atmosphere is more friendly, uplifting your mood, making grocery shopping an experience not a chore! Unpopular opinion, I know
-big giants don’t need your money. pay the small businesses who may be struggling to make ends meet.
-big giants got the self checkouts going. I’ve never seen a local business with one, so you have no choice but to let a human serve you, keeping retail jobs going!
-they promote health more in your face. The fresh food shop is looming with fresh, seasonal produce, often at a lower price and higher qual than large chains! AFW sells mostly goodies in their natural state, and there’s something for everyone.
-You save soooooooo much plastic if you byo bags to carry produce, and bring jars to put your bulk items into, getting the staff to weigh them first, of course! Saving plastic also means saving the amount of times you labouriously take out the garbage & recycling…
Long one, I know!
best,
From Viv x
sunsurfandcoconut.blogspot.com
Ingrid says
Great advice, especially to make sure to eat before you go grocery shopping (which I sometimes forget..) One more: have a small fridge 😉 We have a small fridge and that means we have to limit the purchases and we are also then very conscious to use everything before we do another shop which also saves money.
Ingrid | thatscandinavianfeeling.com
stylebyraysagarcia says
So many great tips! This is so helpful, seriously.
Thank you for sharing.
Hope you had a wonderful long weekend.
Xx, Raysa
https://stylebyraysagarcia.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/casual-questions-to-get-to-know-me/