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Shopping Your Way to Weight Loss :
While shopping may
not qualify as an aerobic activity, it can certainly help you to shed
the pounds, if you follow the right formula. What you buy largely
determines what you will eat. Therefore, if you want to maintain a
healthy diet at home, you’ll need to do some advanced planning
before heading out to the supermarket.
The secret to weight loss may begin with your shopping list. You need
to take some time before going to the store to assess what your nutritional
needs are. For instance, a healthy diet might very well include breads
and cereals, dairy products, vegetables and fruits, along with meat,
fish, and poultry. However, you’ll need to decide on exactly
which products to buy within each food category.
For instance, rather than purchasing white bread or cereals with little
fiber, consider whole wheat bread and whole wheat cereals. Pass up
the whole milk and whole milk yogurt and buy non-fat milk and yogurt
instead. You should avoid iceberg lettuce and opt for Romaine; select
fresh fruit rather than fruit in heavy syrup. You may be tempted to
buy fried chicken, bacon or spareribs, but choose low-fat options
such as baked chicken, lean hamburger, and grilled fish.
It’s a good idea to go grocery shopping after you have eaten
a full meal. Otherwise, your hunger could drive you to buy junk food
and other unhealthy snacks. If you are operating on a full stomach,
you’ll think more clearly and you will be less likely to buy
food impulsively. Also, it is critically important that you do not
buy more food than you need. Otherwise, you will have a powerful incentive
to overeat.
Before you go shopping, you might want to check out the layout of
the supermarket. Find out where you can find those items that are
likely to appear on your list. Otherwise, you could find yourself
browsing the shelves, looking for food that appears interesting—but
could also be quite fattening. Certainly, it may take some extra time
to “scope out” the supermarket, but it will be well worth
the effort, if it results in weight loss.
Whenever possible, you should buy individually packaged food. These
single servings allow you to maintain proper portion control. For
instance, if you feel you must indulge in potato chips, you will be
far better off if you buy a single-serving bag rather than the family
pack. Remember, large portions equal weight gain.
You might actually want to avoid shopping with coupons. Coupons can
tempt you to buy high-calorie items that you might otherwise pass
up. While everyone wants a good bargain, you don’t want to end
up paying for that deal by gaining additional pounds. It’s a
sad fact that you will rarely find a coupon for fresh fruit and vegetables.
But you might think of the situation this way: You will end up saving
money if you eat “fresh” because you will not have to
invest in additional clothes.
Also, when you’re considering which foods to buy, concentrate
on the product labels. There, you’ll find a great deal of nutritional
information, indicating fat content, calorie content, portion size,
and vitamin and mineral content. If you end up bringing the product
home, you should serve the item according to the suggested portion
size. In other words, if a portion equals one-half cup, don’t
opt for two cups. In essence, you should be treating food as if it’s
a medication that must be used as directed. In this way, you should
avoid the weight loss that comes with overeating.
It is interesting to note that the American Institute for Cancer Research
determined that only 12 percent of shoppers determined portion size
by using the label. As a result, paying attention to nutrition labels
is a counter-cultural thing to do. But it is certainly a good habit
to get into. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you could end up with
far more fat than you bargained for.
You may be amazed at the amount of weight you can lose just by diligent
shopping. A little advanced planning can go a long way to ensuring
weight loss. And you might actually save yourself some money, since
you will no longer be buying expensive snacks.
Weight Loss Tips
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