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If you have ever talked with a dietitian or nutritionist about how to get good nutrition from the foods you eat, you have probably heard that you should shop on the outside edges of the grocery store.
The reason for this is because the healthier items are generally on the outside edges of the store. When you go to the inside aisle you tend to see more boxed type foods and processed foods that aren’t really a part of healthy meals.
The Journal of the American Dietetic Association warns that when you eat more foods on the inside aisles you tend to eat more processed foods. When you eat those foods from within the inner aisles your 2000 calorie a day diet provides you with an average of 25 times more sugar and 20 times more fat than you should be ingesting.
So you may be thinking you are doing good and eating right because you are within your suggested calorie range. The danger though is that your nutrient ratios are out of whack.
This leads to weight gain because your body is trying to utilize the wrong calories. It doesn’t need that much sugar and fat. It needs more protein to provide the building blocks for new lean muscle and to support your existing muscle.
So what happens when you stick to the outside edges of the grocery store in an attempt to learn how to eat healthy?
You first go through the produce section where you choose various fruits and vegetables. Here you get plenty of vitamins and minerals and fiber. Not to mention lower calories.
You then reach the deli/meat section of the store. Here you grab various lean protein choices such as chicken breasts, salmon and lean red meats.
You finally reach the dairy section where you grab greek yogurt, cottage cheese, some eggs and maybe milk.
You now have all the essentials for healthy meals that lead to a successful weight loss diet. Your plate at each meal is going to look something like what I describe here. You will divide your plate into quarters. You will then fill 2 sections with a lean protein selection. One section will be a fruit or vegetable and the fourth and final section will be a starch.
You have just created a balanced weight loss diet by shopping primarily on the outside edges of the grocery store. You also have controlled your portions by following the portion control plate model described above.
You see how easy it is to avoid the pitfalls of eating too much of the wrong foods. I just walked you through a grocery store and we put 99% of what we needed into our shopping cart and never stepped foot into an inside aisle.
Now it is your turn to re-enact this healthy eating strategy in real life. Remember it the next time you go grocery shopping and you will find that you’ll fill your cart with good nutrition, not 25 times more sugar and 20 times more fat than you need.
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