Down (with) the Grocery Aisle - Part 1: Produce

As you do your grocery shopping here is a basic rule of thumb you should follow - 

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Stay out of the aisles and work the perimeter.

Everything you NEED will be along the perimeter. Think about your grocery store. Where is the produce? Where is the dairy? Where is the meat and eggs? Perimeter, perimeter, perimeter.

Where is the ice cream? Where are the chips? Where are the cookies? Where is the soda? Aisle, aisle, aisle, aisle (unless it's on an end cap).

So lets briefly talk produce. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this should be where you spend most of your time in the grocery store. It is practically impossible to purchase too much produce. Here are some Produce Power foods taken from a book titled Core Performance.

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• Tomatoes
• Blueberries
• Spinach
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Pomegranates

These foods are heavy in fiber and antioxidants that will keep your body running well with all the vitamins and minerals they have in them! Also, they are amazingly low in calories!

If you are unsure that you can eat all of your produce by the time it goes bad, you can also look into frozen produce. This way you can just pull out however much you need and throw it in your recipe for a quick blast of veggies or fruits! Or heck, throw them in a blender and make a smoothie!

Something else you can do if you're pinched for time is to purchase the bagged pre-made salads, provided the croutons and dressing are not mixed in already. Croutons and dressings are the easiest way to really load up on the calories in a salad. Without the croutons and dressings, most BAGS of salad will only contain about 50-100 calories. Yes, only 50-100. Read the labels.

Next time we will talk about what you should be looking for in the Fish and Meat section as well as what to avoid in the Bread and Bakery section.