I'm a Go Getter... Go Getter of Groceries

Every single Saturday I participate in the age old event that most of us dread but must be carried on to continue to survive on the planet...

Grocery Shopping.

Back in the gold old days of BH ( before healthy) when I went to the store my shopping list was like this:

Bacon, Beef, Frozen Pizza, Frozen Dinners, Chips, Frozen Appetizers, White Bread, Pasta (ALLLLL THE PASTA) Cheese, Cream cheese, biscuits, turnovers, pastries, doughnuts, crackers, trail mix, muffin min, 2% milk, cereal, pudding, graham crackers, frosting, Stouffers family sized dinners and all that good non healthy delicious crap.

I was not only, over weight, but I hated to cook. The less I had to do the better I thought it was going to be. 

You know those cheese cake samplers in the fresh bakery section? Yeah I would get one and in a night eat it all.

It was bad, real bad. I understand what it's like to have been there and lived it. I hated vegetables. I hated having to cook and do meal prep. Literally there would be times when instead of turning on the over to make a frozen pizza, we'd hit up the drive through or order delivery, just for the sheer convenience.

I could have done so much differently so that I never reached my highest weight of 250, but I choose to ignore it and not deal with it and just eat another danish.

So to all of you out there that are new to this eating healthy mambo jumbo, I'm here to offer you some insight and give you a hand. Because not only can it be confusing it can be overwhelming at best.

Tip *PURGE your house of bad foods. If it is your weakness and you don't trust yourself with it donate it to a food pantry or trash it.*

I donated what was still unopened and trashed the rest.

Plan out your meals that you want and then make your grocery list.

I go once a week but each week I only buy small amounts of things because I need the fresh stuff and chicken ( I go through a bag of tenderloins a week) and about every other week I need eggs or milk or ect.

Make the easy switches first, Baby steps my friends, baby steps.

Don't just through yourself in the deep end and hope you float. Make small changes first, white to wheat bread 

flour Tortilla's to Whole wheat

regular to sugar free/reduced fat/low sodium

breaded to grilled

beef to lean beef or turkey burger

eggs to egg whites

milk to almond milk

pop to flavored water

regular chocolate to dark

Always watch your portions and serving sizes. That crap food is sneaky in how they lay out the servings to calories so it doesn't always seem as bad...

Prepare.

Pick one day to do meal prep. I shop on Saturdays and prep on Sundays. When I prep I bake and season all my chicken and my steak, make up hard boiled eggs if I'm feeling it, make up any home made things I want ( wonton poppers, cauliflower tots, wonton crackers, steamed sweet potato, sweet potato fries ect.)

I also do daily meal prep each night after dinner, I'm not hungry so I'm not tempted to snack and then I can leave the kitchen for the night and relax. I put all my meals into My Fitness Pal, I mean all, I plan my meals the night before including my husband and Is supper. This way all the work is done, no guessing and I don't have to stare at the fridge when I get home for an hour.

Shop smart.

Ad match and use coupons or get a member card. Eating healthy in the long run is cheaper but we  all know groceries no mater what are expensive. I have a Dillons/Kroger card and I also print off coupons to use at the register. I save around 80$ each trip. I then use the Ibotta app to get rebates for things I buy. It takes extra work but gosh it's nice.

Seems like a lot I know but for real I promise you can freaking do this. 

Here is a for real, grocery list of mine, and this is typically what I always am getting..

 ( I also just added Kind Strong Protein Bars in Roasted Jalapeno Almond, FREAKING YUM) 

I buy bags of frozen veggies and fruits EVERY time they are on sale to throw into the deep freeze. I always have broccoli, cauliflower, corn, peas and mixed fruit on hand. I go freaking nuts when they are 10 for $10 at Dillons. Like watch out I need vegetables and my hub just rolls his eyes.

I love mixing greek yogurt, honey, peanut butter and sugar free chocolate chips together for a sweeet and yummy treat in the evenings.

What is your favorite yummy and healthy go to?

-Jess