Although your usual shopping trip may appear to be a sensible choice, you may be unintentionally thwarting your weight loss attempts by making innocent-mistake buys at the supermarket. Grocery stores are engineered to stimulate buying by our senses, but without a plan, it’s all too easy to fill your shopping cart with sneaky calories, no nutrients, and sugar pitfalls. To get on the track to success and health, you will need to get past these subliminal traps.
Shopping while on a Fast
When dehydrated or at the bottom of your blood sugar level, your self-control breaks, and your brain demands an instant high-calorie reward. What usually happens is that the store’s high-fat and pre-packaged treats look the best, not the fresh fruits and vegetables you meant to purchase.
Ignoring the Perimeter of the Store
The foods on the outside of the store-fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish-are what we want our bodies to take in for optimal weight loss success. Entering the store and shopping solely for products on inner aisles means you are likely consuming mostly highly processed, high-calorie foods that have no natural fiber.
Indulging in Free Samples
While tempting to take a small bite for taste while you are shopping, the food that is being sampled is almost always something you should avoid if you want to lose weight. These are the high-fat, sugary, and high-sodium choices in the store that will awaken your taste buds and get your appetite flowing, only to want much more.
Mistaking “Whole Grain” Marketing on Food Packages
Some packaging may promote “made with whole grains,” but if you check the list of ingredients, white flour will be at the very top, making the percentage of whole grains negligible, thus failing the purpose of feeling full and satisfied.
Filling up on Sugary Beverages
You need to be sure that what you drink isn’t secretly contributing as much to your weight gain as what you eat. Drinking certain drinks that are packaged like healthier choices, like bottled sweetened teas, specific lattes, Sports drinks, or any fruit Juice with added sugar, will inject a high volume of liquid calories into your system without filling you up as regular food does.
Bulk Shopping for Huge Amounts of Snacks
Yes, this seems like a logical choice as the cost per unit is much lower. However, buying huge portions of certain snacks, such as chips, pretzels, or cookies, means that you are likely to overeat these types of items as long as they are there.
Dressing with pre-made Sauces
Many individuals find it convenient to just throw together a variety of fruits, vegetables, and some lean protein, only to pour all of the nutrients down the drain with bottled dressings or sauces. There is a large presence of high fructose corn syrup, excess sodium, and bad fats in a lot of sauces that are mass-produced.
Purchasing “Grab and Go” Healthy Foods
Some items, like pre-made salad with dressing and protein included or an individually prepared yogurt, may have a “healthy” reputation, but many high-calorie, sugar-packed meals disguise themselves as nutritious snacks.
