Grocery List

JohnR41

Only once a month? What about fresh fruit and vegetables? Fresh produce will usually only last about a few days to a week.


You should shop at least once a week and concentrate on getting fresh fruit and vegetables. That's a good place to start.


In that case, wait until you and your son are very hungry, then eat your healthy whole foods first, while you are still hungry. The hungrier people get, the less picky they are likely to be.


If you set a good example, he will be ready. Taste the food while he's watching and say, "Mmmmm! this is sooooo good!!!! Then you put a big smile on your face, like this ------>

You can do things like use whole grains instead of refined and make soups and salads with the fresh vegetables you buy weekly. Include some low sodium beans daily and eliminate processed foods as much as possible. That's a start.

roxcyn

Here are some of my favorites: avocado, onions (red onions are very yummy!), lettuce, tomatoes, bananas, almonds, walnuts, beef, pork, chicken, vegetable juice low sodium, and water with flavorings.

We had tacos last night for dinner. It was so good with the whole wheat wraps and a lot of vegetables and beef. So we got a lot of protein, fiber and other vitamins. Avoid foods with a lot of sugar--just went to the grocery store on Saturday and there was yogurt with 28 grams of sugar for one! That is way too much sugar. Avoid a lot of juices, regular soda and refined grains. The sugars program your body to eat and eat more sugar, so you gain weight and keep getting sugar highs and crashes. Look in the ingredient list - do you see anything resembling sugar? A lot of times they give it fancy names raw cane sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, etc. If it's in the top 5 ingredients I would think twice before ever buying it.

Going to the grocery once a month is not enough as you can't be buying the good options for produce and perishables. If you're buying a lot of processed foods, then that's what causes us trouble. I'm in the same boat like you as I'm trying to lose weight. I wish you the best!

JohnR41

CORRECTION: I edited what I said earlier about fresh produce lasting about 7 to 10 days.
It's more like a couple of days to one week, depending on the type of vegetable or fruit.

Fresh broccoli, for example, doesn't keep very well. It's more suited to a large family that can use it all up in one meal, right after it's purchased. Cauliflower will keep much longer but is still more suited to a large family. Otherwise, you will have to eat a lot of cauliflower every day. So these items are best bought frozen.

Likewise, there are many other items that can be bought frozen if you think you won't be using them quickly enough. Just check the frozen vegetable section of your supermarket.

Here's my list:
Red cabbage
Red onions
Italian squash
Yellow squash
Carrots
Garlic (whole garlic not powder)
Avocado
Asparagus
Bok Choy
Kale
Lettuce (Argula, Romain and any other that is dark green in color)
Spinach
Collard greens
Turnip greens
Mushrooms
Pearled Barley
Whole wheat berries
Whole grain rice
Bread made from sprouts (rather than flour)
All kinds of colorful (fresh or frozen) fruits and berries


There are so many healthy items it the produce department I can't name all of them.

My choice for protein is legumes because they also contain calcium, iron, fiber and anti-oxidants. My favorite is lentils which can be made with whole grain rice or whole grain pasta.
Split peas can be made with pearled barley - my second favorite. Today I made a combination of the following beans: Pinto, Black beans, Great Northern beans and Black-Eyed Peas with barley. I made enough to last a couple of days. Beans are a very healthy form of protein.