Each time the same thing happens: you go shopping to buy some vegetables, and you end up at the cash register with a whole range of cakes and sweets. Once again, hunger has taken over or your children have made you crack. Not to mention your poor purse that is underprepared for the extra expense, or your body which will struggle when you end up nibbling all this in front of the TV or a book. Having snacks available at home is a sure way to end up nibbling without ever being hungry, and as result, putting on those extra kilos.
To avoid all the inconveniences of shopping dictated by hunger (or greed), we are here to give you some tips and tricks, such as eating before you go shopping, preparing a shopping list or simply, taking the time to read the food labels.
Things to do before shopping (yes, you need to get ready!):
- Plan your weekly meals with your family. This will help you with step 2, and you’ll avoid buying food that ends up in the trash can: stop wastage. If motivation, time or ideas are lacking, then we are here to help with our personalised menus adapted to your tastes and cravings ! Moreover, planning your meals in advance helps you to eat better and in a more varied way: a study published in 2017 * showed that this reduces the risk of becoming overweight. So it’s all positive!
- Prepare a shopping list with your partner and children so that everyone agrees beforehand. Thus, the challenge will be to stick to the written list with a rule being that’s it’s strictly forbidden to add anything at the last moment!
- To choose the best products, take a tour of your supermarket and look at the ingredients, it will be time saved on the spot, and make for a better shopping list.
- Shop after eating. When you shop on an empty stomach, you want to buy everything, and in general, you end up choosing sweet and processed products rather than fresh fruit and vegetables.
While shopping:
- Promotions are there to make you consume more. So, if the two packets of chocolate-caramel cookies for the price of one were not on your shopping list, do not take them, it means you do not need them from the start. Without depriving you, do not forget that food balance is all about eating everything in moderate amounts.
- Take a relatively small bag to get a better notion of the quantities you buy. Trollies are purposefully too big so you buy more.
- Buy something to make your own lunch therefore avoiding processed sandwiches for lunch or on your break.
- If you haven’t done it beforehand, read the labels well. Have a look at this article which explains the method to no longer have you by the packaging.
After shopping:
- Well-done! You can now pat yourself on your back. You have shopped astutely and thought about your health (and therefore your well-being). Now, by yourself or with the help of your family, go ahead and make your own cookies, your own fresh fruit juice, and your own preprepared dishes to put in the freezer for later. If not, we always have a load of well balanced and enjoyable meals on offer so that you are never lacking inspiration !
If you are on a slimming program to rebalance your diet or simply looking for menus for the whole family, then we can adapt our dishes to your tastes and daily habits!
*Ducrot, P., Méjean, C., Aroumougame, V., Ibanez, G., Allès, B., Kesse-Guyot, E., Hercberg, S., … Péneau, S. (2017). Meal planning is associated with food variety, diet quality and body weight status in a large sample of French adults. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 14(1), 12. doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0461-7