Becoming Supermarket Savvy-When You're Not Traveling Part 1

One of the easiest ways to avoid temptation is to avoid bringing high-fat, high-sugar foods into your home in the first place. This effort begins in the supermarket, so learning to shop more effectively can be one of the most useful skills when trying to create new, healthy habits.
The first step is to avoid the random impulse purchasing of binge inducing trigger foods. The easiest way to do this is by shopping with a prepared list. Sitting down to write a list out may seem like a big task, but you can make it easier.

An easy trick is to keep a running list easily accessible in your kitchen - maybe hanging it on the refrigerator or leaving it on the counter. When you are running low on something, jot it down. When you think of a healthy meal you'd like to try, write down the ingredients. When you see a picture, advertisement or recipe for a delicious healthy meal, grab your list and write it down.

Another great shortcut in list making (and healthy meal planning) is to subscribe to a meal planning service, which not only gives you a week of healthy recipes, but comes with a handy grocery list listing the ingredients you'll need.

Once you have your list, make sure you only take the list to the supermarket. Leave your hunger and if you have children, leave them home too if you can.

If you food shop when you're hungry, you're much more tempted to buy things you would normally be able to bypass. By having a light snack or mini meal before you enter the supermarket, you're judgment will stay intact and you will be able to make more sound choices.

Have you noticed how much more junk food you buy when you bring your kids to the supermarket with you?

"Mom, can you pleeeeeease buy this (sugary, calorie-laden) cereal I saw on TV?"

"Mom, everyone brings in these (high fat, high cholesterol, nutrient void) snacks to school!"

The battles can be endless in the supermarket, with foods containing the least nutrition and the most fat, sugar and calories strategically placed right at your children's eye level. If you must bring your children, also bring a strong resolve to stick to your list. If you have a choice, leave the kids at home and take a few moments for yourself. You can use the opportunity to make better choices that the whole family will benefit from.

So, you're armed with your list, you've had a snack and now you are alone in the supermarket.

Where do you begin?

For Part 1 of becoming more supermarket savvy, we'll talk about labels.

1.) The first think to notice when looking at a nutrition label is to note the number of servings in the package. The calories, fat, cholesterol, fiber and sodium are all listed for only one serving. So, for example, if you buy a bag of popcorn and the bag contains ten servings and you finish the bag, the calories, fat, cholesterol and other nutritional information must all be multiplied by ten.

2.) Ingredients are listed in order from the highest concentration to the lowest. This means that if sugar or fat are listed within the first few ingredients, there's a high concentration of sugar or fat on the item. The reverse is also true. If the healthy-sounding ingredients - the fruit, the whole grains - are at the end of the ingredient list, there is likely to be only a tiny bit of them in the product.

3.) Sugar is often disguised under different names. High fructose corn syrup, any ingredient ending in "-ose", honey, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, and brown sugar are all forms of sugar that act just like regular, white, refined sugar within your body.

4.) If the front label claims that the food is "healthy", "low-fat", "wholesome", "made with whole grain", "made with fruit", check the back label to see what the real story is.  Food producers do not generally have your good health in mind when they put foods on the shelf. They want the foods to sell, and they know that these kinds of claims catch your attention. But the ingredients often tell a different story. Foods may be low in sugar, but high in fat and artificial coloring. They may contain a small amount of whole grain, along with a hefty dose of white flour and high fructose corn syrup. Make sure you look at the whole label and don't rely on the health claims to guide your choices.

5.) How many of the ingredients on the list look familiar? How many can you pronounce? How many would you feel comfortable adding to something you were cooking or baking at home? When you were a child and your grandmother baked her delicious, mouth-watering apple pie, the only flavor enhancer she added was the love that went into baking it for you. Although there are thousands of items available in the typical supermarket today, an alarming amount are pre-packaged, processed and provide little nutrient value.

When a food is processed, it's altered from its natural state. Valuable nutrients, vitamins and minerals are taken out while chemicals and additives are injected back in. Food dyes, flavor enhancers, stabilizers and preservatives may make food look more colorful or extend shelf life but think about it. If a product can last indefinitely in a store or a vending machine, what happens to it when it's in your body?

An easy rule to make healthy purchasing decisions would be this: if you can't pronounce it, if you wouldn't add it to anything you were cooking or baking at home, if you wouldn't find the ingredient listed anywhere in your favorite cookbook, it's probably best not to eat it.
Through more effective label reading, you become more knowledgeable about the products available in your supermarket and begin to realize that your shopping trips can be the first step to healthier eating, instead of a war zone where you battle with your best intentions, your cravings and your judgment. Look for "Becoming Supermarket Savvy-When You're Not Traveling Part 2" next month to learn the best choices to make within each aisle and department of your favorite supermarket.