Healthy eating does not have to be expensive! But you’ve got to learn how to shop healthy!
Let’s be honest, when I look around, I see a health divide between communities that are economically challenged and those that are not.
So one of the things I’m passionate about is showing women how to shop and eat healthy for less!
Here are my 5 tips to shop healthy without breaking the bank.
Tip # 1: Know where what is.
It’s really important that you know how to navigate your neighborhood grocery store when you want to shop healthy.
Because grocery stores are manipulating you!
Here’s what food activist and journalist Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual has to say:
“Your grocery store is a sophisticated landscape that’s designed to extract as many dollars from your wallet as possible. Everything from the music, the number of beats in the music you hear to the location of products on the shelves to the layout of the store.”
Listen to his 1 1/2 min interview here.
Tip # 2: Make a list and stick to it
One of the strategies I teach my clients is meal planning. Once you know what meals you’re going to prepare for the whole week, then make a list of the ingredients you need. Use that list when you go grocery shopping and as best you can stick to the list.
Tip # 3: Buy what’s in season
Seasonal foods tend to be less expensive. Oftentimes, when you go to your supermarket, you’ll see sales on certain items. That’s usually because they’re plentiful, meaning they’re in season. You want to develop the ability to cook what’s in season. First because it’s healthier. Our bodies and nature are intimately connected, and so our bodies need what’s growing in nature at the time it’s growing! Second, it’s less expensive. So buying seasonal is one of the ways to shop healthy.
The United States Department of Agriculture is a really good website to find out what’s in season. Check out this link.
Also, know what foods you can buy conventional and what foods you must spend a little more on to buy organic because of the pesticides levels. Check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen here!
Tip # 4: Buy in the bulk section
Buying in bulk is almost half as less expensive than buying packaged foods. That’s because in truth we pay for the packaging! Just like an Armani shoe is made in the same place as a less expensive shoe, what we pay for is the packaging, the brand..
Did you know that at the bulk section of Whole Foods you can also purchase organic sugar, flour, pasta, peanut butter, and honey for half of the cost? Well if you didn’t, now you know! Another easy way to shop healthy!
I buy everything in bulk and then I put them in containers in my cupboard. Here’s a pic of what part of my pantry looks like:
Tip # 5: Buy the store’s brand
Most stores have their own organic brand. Whole Foods it’s 365, Publix it’s Greenwise and Target it’s Simply Balanced.
When you buy the store’s organic brand you’re most likely to pay at least $1 or $2 less than another organic brand sold at these stores.
There you go! These are my 5 tips to shop healthy for less!
If you have other tips, please share them with me, as I would love to have everyone benefit from them. Simply leave a comment.
And here’s the link to this week’s recipe: Kitcheri, an Indian take on rice and beans.
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