Grocery Shopping Choices - (q&a)
Q: Can you provide some ideas to help me to make the right choices in the grocery store?
A: Gladly – after all, the choices you make in the grocery store will be directly related to the way your body looks. The one thing you should never do is head to the grocery store in a state of hunger. If you do, you're emotions are going to force you into some bad food choices regardless of how strongly determined you are to eat clean. So, have a decent meal before you take your weekly grocery shopping trip. There are a couple of items you'll want to take along with you. Firstly, have a written shopping list and carry it with you. Secondly, take a calculator to the store. The main purpose here is to work out the fat content of your prospective food purchases.
Having a plan of your local grocery store in mind will help you to zoom in on the areas you need to go to and avoid the high risk zones. Remember the grocery store can be a dangerous place, full of temptations that can torpedo your best intentions. So get in, get what you need and then get out.
Don't be fooled by the proliferation of ‘low fat' foods available now days. Low fat may be as high as 30%. ‘Light' ( or the trendier ‘lite') may not refer to fat content at all, but rather texture and color. And low fat certainly doesn't mean low sugar. Be careful, though, of so called low sugar foods, too. They may well be high in saturated fat or even use sugar alcohol. Also fat may be labeled as vegetable shortening, hydrogenated soybean or lard. If these items show up near the top of the ingredient list do not put them in your shopping cart. Keep in mind, too, that the nutritional counts on labels are normally based on serving size. There may well be two or even more servings in a container. So make sure that you're clear on this distinction when analyzing the nutritional data on the packaging. While we're on the subject of nutritional labeling, you should know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require that items be labeled in order of the highest amount of a specific ingredient to the lowest.
As a general guide to help you make smart shopping choices, foods that will sabotage your lean, muscular goals tend to be high in total calories and have high calorie density per unit of volume. They are high in total fat in general, and saturated and trans fatty fats in particular. They are high in refined sugar and flavor enhancers. Fillers and other chemicals tend to feature prominently on the nutritional label. They are also high in artificial colorings and sodium.
On the other side of the ledger you should be on the look out for complex starchy carbohydrates like oatmeal, yams and sweet potatoes. Brown or basmati rice is another smart choice as are 100% whole wheat and whole grain products (avoid white bread). Green fibrous vegetables like broccoli, green beans and lettuce should feature highly along with fresh fruits. Proteins should come from lean, skinless chicken breast, eggs, fish and lean red meat (top round steak is best).
In summary, then, plan your shopping experience by eating a decent meal beforehand, having a shopping list, taking a calculator and using it to decipher the packaging labels, avoiding the high risk aisles and snack foods at the check-out and realizing that you're in a place that could wreak havoc with all of your hard work in and out of the gym, unless you use your smarts.
Source: http://www.bodybuildingtoday.com/index.php/nutrition/grocery-shopping-choices-q&a.html
A: Gladly – after all, the choices you make in the grocery store will be directly related to the way your body looks. The one thing you should never do is head to the grocery store in a state of hunger. If you do, you're emotions are going to force you into some bad food choices regardless of how strongly determined you are to eat clean. So, have a decent meal before you take your weekly grocery shopping trip. There are a couple of items you'll want to take along with you. Firstly, have a written shopping list and carry it with you. Secondly, take a calculator to the store. The main purpose here is to work out the fat content of your prospective food purchases.
Having a plan of your local grocery store in mind will help you to zoom in on the areas you need to go to and avoid the high risk zones. Remember the grocery store can be a dangerous place, full of temptations that can torpedo your best intentions. So get in, get what you need and then get out.
Don't be fooled by the proliferation of ‘low fat' foods available now days. Low fat may be as high as 30%. ‘Light' ( or the trendier ‘lite') may not refer to fat content at all, but rather texture and color. And low fat certainly doesn't mean low sugar. Be careful, though, of so called low sugar foods, too. They may well be high in saturated fat or even use sugar alcohol. Also fat may be labeled as vegetable shortening, hydrogenated soybean or lard. If these items show up near the top of the ingredient list do not put them in your shopping cart. Keep in mind, too, that the nutritional counts on labels are normally based on serving size. There may well be two or even more servings in a container. So make sure that you're clear on this distinction when analyzing the nutritional data on the packaging. While we're on the subject of nutritional labeling, you should know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require that items be labeled in order of the highest amount of a specific ingredient to the lowest.
As a general guide to help you make smart shopping choices, foods that will sabotage your lean, muscular goals tend to be high in total calories and have high calorie density per unit of volume. They are high in total fat in general, and saturated and trans fatty fats in particular. They are high in refined sugar and flavor enhancers. Fillers and other chemicals tend to feature prominently on the nutritional label. They are also high in artificial colorings and sodium.
On the other side of the ledger you should be on the look out for complex starchy carbohydrates like oatmeal, yams and sweet potatoes. Brown or basmati rice is another smart choice as are 100% whole wheat and whole grain products (avoid white bread). Green fibrous vegetables like broccoli, green beans and lettuce should feature highly along with fresh fruits. Proteins should come from lean, skinless chicken breast, eggs, fish and lean red meat (top round steak is best).
In summary, then, plan your shopping experience by eating a decent meal beforehand, having a shopping list, taking a calculator and using it to decipher the packaging labels, avoiding the high risk aisles and snack foods at the check-out and realizing that you're in a place that could wreak havoc with all of your hard work in and out of the gym, unless you use your smarts.
Source: http://www.bodybuildingtoday.com/index.php/nutrition/grocery-shopping-choices-q&a.html
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