The 21 Day Fix is the nutrition program on which I lost 55lbs. Grocery shopping was very daunting when I first started. I had a steep learning curve! Now 3 years into my new lifestyle and blogging about it, I have several posts that give grocery shopping tips.
What made grocery shopping seem so hard?
The first thing I learned was that I didn’t know near as much about food as I thought I did!! I was almost 60 years old and never really understood how to read a label on a can/bottle/box of food properly. My main reason for ever reading one was for my allergy triggers so I could avoid them but never looked with nutrition in mind.
I never knew things like: What does the sodium number mean to me? What are some of those “hard” words? What is the difference between sugar and added sugar?
Add in that there are rules and information for each container that our lists give us and you soon see there is a lot to “learn”.
I haven’t covered each individual container “yet”. I do plan on working on some more though. And I have included some information from some blogger friends of mine for some individual products and other information.
I hope this makes it easier to find all of that in one place!
Let me get started …
The very 1st post I did about finding approved premade products at the grocery store was about salad dressings. I adore salads and I love to make homemade dressing every chance I get but I knew that there were going to be times where I needed to be able to GRAB a bottle of dressing out of the fridge!
Bread and bread-style products on our Yellow/Carb list are some other store-bought options I needed to know how to shop for. I need them almost daily and are the only way for me to make this a lifestyle. Finding approved products that would give me more “bang for my buck” was important to me. I wanted 2 slices of bread or 2 pitas for 1Yellow container and figured out how to find them! I also include crackers/wraps/waffles/pancakes and such in this post.
I also cover the other part of our Yellow list that is mostly store-bought… cereal. It can be a meal, a snack, or a dessert to me. Approved brands and how much counts as 1Y are all included in this post.
Grocery shopping tips for beverages
Coffee is life. Maybe not to you but it is very serious for me! Learning how to drink it black was one of the major turning points in my lifestyle journey. I did it but I know some people just can’t give up creamer or sweetener. I like an afternoon Starbucks-style treat once in a while so I compiled this information.
Sometimes it is a soda habit that is hard to kick! This information from Foodie and the Fix can help with that!
Things you can drink instead of soda
Right here I am going to include treat swaps because you can add alcohol to some of those things to drink to make adult beverages! Treat swaps are not only alcohol, so check out the whole post as some things like tortilla chips can be a Yellow treat swap too!
Grocery shopping tips for other cans, bottles, and jars!
A jar of pasta sauce or pizza sauce can save my rear-end when I am short on time sometimes. So I waded thru the shelves at the store to learn how to read those labels!
Condiments take up a large portion of the space on my refrigerator door and I know I am not alone. Mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup are all approved but you have to know how to read that label for sure.
Right here around the condiments area let’s mention veggie burgers since we use condiments on burgers. I give some examples of approved ones and how to read that label of any brand I don’t mention!
Learn what cuts of beef are the best for your 21 Day Fix results. Ground beef fat percentages and words to watch for too.
Red container products for the Fix
Right here is some great information on Coconut Aminos! I use them as a condiment all the time!
A product like coconut aminos shows us that we need to know things like sodium numbers and how they translate to our lifestyle. This information was eye-opening!!
Dessert foods can be store-bought sometimes too!
There is a whipped topping that is store-bought and approved! This delicious strawberry shortcake recipe mentions it.
Often I use nuts in dessert-style foods. Shopping for them isn’t that hard but COUNTING them can be confusing. So I tried to take some of the guesswork out of counting them.
Counting nuts on the 21 Day Fix
I really hope these posts will help you make your journey a real sustainable lifestyle!! I am sure I will keep shopping looking for those products that make healthy choices easier!
Hello, thank you for all the information. Have you ever thought about a post on how to read the labels. Just thought it might be helpful. Thank you,