Tips for the grocery store.

I have been told, don't shop when you are hungry. I have also been told to stick to the outside of the store, and stay away from the aisles. That's where the processed food is.

I say: Never shop hungry and go with a plan. When I say a plan I mean to plan your meals for the week. Try to think of themes. That way when you have that other half of a pineapple or an unused green pepper you have a meal already in mind to use them up.

Also focus on produce first. So many people think about meat as their main course instead of as a side dish. I've found that I eat healthier when I think of meat as a side and my vegetable as the main. The veggies cover half my plate. I also don't deny myself my small pleasures. I love applewood smoked bacon. I also know a portion is 1 or 2 slices.

My biggest guilty secret is that I people watch. I don't watch people to judge, just to notice. When I was first getting my health under control many years ago I began to people watch. I had this gorgeous coworker. She was incredibly pretty, healthy and thin. She ate yogurt every afternoon for her snack, so I ate yogurt every afternoon for my snack. She got the lentil soup at the middle eastern restaurant so I did too, etc. I wasn't her creepy stalker, my entire office had made the commitment towards health together.

That habit has stuck with me. I've noticed that people who seem energetic, thin and healthy have an abundance of produce either fresh, frozen or both in their grocery basket at check out. Unhealthy people tend to have many boxes of processed food and soda. This isn't to say that there aren't times when my grocery cart contains nothing but ice cream, heavy whipping cream and chocolate sauce. It is to say that most of the time it contains healthy fresh ingredients for meals I can prepare quickly.

The moral of the story? Copy the habits of healthy people.

This is a picture of my grocery cart for my health food blog containing highly processed bread, bacon and marshmallow fluff. Please take me seriously.