Beating Sugar Addiction For Dummies
Book image
Explore Book Buy On Amazon

Planning your meals in advance is a vital part of eating well and avoiding reactive eating. An integral part of executing your plan is maintaining your grocery list. Without the right supplies, you’ll have a hard time providing quality nutrition for yourself and the rest of your family.

On your grocery list, keep a running list of all the items you need for the upcoming meals that you’ve planned. List some healthy snacks to have on hand, too. Don’t forget to include healthy beverages like distilled water, mineral water, and green tea. Double-check the pantry for any ingredients you need for recipes, and be sure that you have enough staples like olive oil and butter on hand for cooking.

When planning menus and making your grocery list, try to include vegetables in a variety of colors. Different colors indicate different phytonutrients, so make an effort to include red, green, orange, purple, and white plants.

Fruit and Vegetable Color Chart
Target Color Example Foods
Red vegetables and fruits Tomatoes, red peppers, strawberries, cherries, cranberries, radishes
Green vegetables and fruits Spinach, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, soybeans, green bell peppers
Orange/yellow vegetables and fruits Banana peppers, oranges and tangerines, pineapple, lemons, carrots, papaya, yellow squash, winter squash
Purple/blue vegetables and fruits Beets, blueberries, eggplant, currants, plums, purple onion, grapes, purple cabbage
White vegetables and fruits Cauliflower, pears, garlic, mushrooms, onions

The following table shows some simple substitutions you can make on your grocery list to improve the quality of your food.

Simple Grocery List Substitutions
Instead of This Buy This
Commercial ground beef Grass-fed ground beef or bison
Soft drinks Mineral water
Sweetened bottled tea Green tea bags
Seasoning packets Fresh herbs, garlic, or onion powder
White rice Brown rice or quinoa
Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan, or other peanut butter with sugar and hydrogenated oil Natural peanut butter or almond butter
White bread Spelt bread
White pasta Brown rice pasta, corn pasta, or quinoa pasta

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Dan DeFigio is one of the most respected names in the fitness and nutrition industry. His articles have appeared in numerous professional journals, and his workshops have been presented in many cities across the United States. He has appeared on the Dr. Phil show and was featured in SELF Magazine, MD News, Personal Fitness Professional, and a host of other publications.

This article can be found in the category: