Groceries

A love hate relationship. At least it is for me anyways. With items increasing in price, it has made the process more difficult for all, especially as a college student. It is even more hard to find healthy food for a reasonable price. I am starting to focus more on the food I eat. Not like tracking my calories or anything but really making sure I am eating healthier foods and better proportions. So let me explain how I do it.

Let me start by saying, I am no expert or "health nut". I still have a bad sweet tooth and cravings, I have just learned how to control them. Some of my favorite food items that are filling and can be used for lots of meals are: rice, yogurt, pasta, lettuce, eggs, and oatmeal. There is a lot more, I know, but those are my favorites. These can all be prepped for an easy lunch, light snack, or you can add items to them for a filling and healthy supper. I usually throw together some lettuce, nuts, other veggies, and a light sauce for a quick lunch on my busy days, with a yogurt parfait for breakfast. Yogurt parfaits are also super easy to prep and add things to it for more protein, fiber, etc. Another food item I use often is pasta. I know I know, CARBS! Carbs. Are. Not. Bad. You need your carbs. Pasta goes a long ways, so I have easy suppers with veggies on the side, and I usually do smaller portions for pasta so it's not a carb-overload (even though there is no such thing haha) but I still like to watch how much I eat. Pasta is also a great thing to add to a salad for a more filling and tasty meal. As far as "junk food" goes, I still eat it, but like I said before, the serving sizes are more controlled. This way I get my candy fix without the unhealthy amount. You can still be healthy and eat what you want. It's all about control. So instead of sitting down with a bag of chips or sour patch kids (which is my favorite candy ever so it makes it more difficult for me), I only eat a few of each or whatever I'm in the mood for, and stop myself after I reach my set serving size.

So, a hack I love to follow when grocery shopping: grab two vegetables, two fruits, whatever protein(s) you prefer, and then continue shopping as normal. This way you force yourself to eat what you bring home because fruits and veggies are not cheap and you don't want them to go to waste. You can obviously grab as many fruits, veggies, proteins, etc., as you want to, but to make sure you incorporate them in most of your weekly meals. I always grab at least two from each category. The good news is, a lot of fruits and veggies are good by themselves so they can be an easy and healthy snack at work, school, events, etc.

Again, this is what I do to try to stay healthy without cutting out all of my favorites. You do whatever works for you! I was debating on what to post this week and got some motivation while at Hy-Vee to write about groceries, so I did. Hope this helped or influenced you to try some new things!