Let’s Move Campaign: Michelle Obama Shares Tips For Healthy Grocery Shopping

You enter into a grocery store and you have no idea what you need! This is something that you regret for almost an entire week because when you enter clueless without knowing what you want, the grocery store eventually turns into a fun house where you spend lots and lots of money on buying things that are tempting but are of no use. In the end you a have a hand cart full of random stuff and nothing to prepare an essential and basic feast.

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First Lady Michelle Obama initiated a different support to try to lean and tone down the U.S. as an element of her ‘Let's Move campaign.’

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Mrs Obama's shopping guidance appeared among a series of articles published on ivillage.com when she worked as a guest editor for them and created a series of great articles and videos with advice for families looking to Rev Up their Back to School Routineand establish healthy new habits for each person in the family, for almost a week.

She throws light on her own practices and experiences of being the key shopper in her family before they moved to the White House, praising a 'flexible work schedule' for letting her to seek out the finest grocery stores for healthy deals and bargains. 

Guidelines from the hale and hearty living fanatic included ideason when and how to shop in a grocery store and she alsosuggesteda five-night meal plan with downloadable recipes.

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First of all you need to create a list. It is a must! A list is necessary because by making it you know what exactly you need and what is unnecessary!

'I am an absolute list person,' she said.'And I actually enjoy the efficiency of the list because it also keeps me from buying stuff that we didn’t need. I had my path through the grocery store and I would make my list based on the path that I took.'

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Now once you have your list, grab your cart and start shopping!

Look on the edge of the store first, that is usually where you’ll find the meat and dairy sections, which store fresh, whole foods that should encompass the volume of your grocery list.

Mrs. Obama told: 'I would start in the frozen--no, I would go over to the far right aisle in Dominick's and work my way up.’

She continued adding, 'By always heading to the essential areas of the store first, you’ll train yourself to form a shopping pattern that’s healthier,' Mrs Obama writes, 'and, in time, will get you in and out of the store faster.'

There are people who  shop on Wednesday nights as produce and meat are often restocked mid-week and grocery stores reduces prices on expiring items while some shoppers prefer weeknight evenings or early mornings, when stores are a bit less busy. She advises people: 'Whenever you decide to shop, just don’t do it on an empty stomach, hunger pangs will tempt you to stray from your shopping list.'

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If you cannot defy a snack, she proposes a few healthier options to gratify the craving in which she ticks ok to plain popcorn, frozen edamame, nuts, dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, hummus and raw veggies or salsa and baked tortilla chips.

She also suggested an easy five-night meal plan formula; you can click hereto check it out!

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If you’re fixing yourself to a meal plan, there should be fresher than packaged items in your cart, but there’s nothing wrong with store-bought foods, as long as you choose wisely. Here are a few things that she advised us to keep in mind:

- Look for packaged foods with short ingredient lists. Pay close attention to the first ingredient listed, which is what the food is mainly comprised of – which can help you determine whether a product is a healthy choice.

- Consider what’s in season. If you’re shopping for fruits and vegetables in the winter, you’ll save money and get better quality produce if you buy frozen, rather than fresh. Likewise, look for bargains on deliciously ripe tomatoes and berries in the summertime.

- Your supermarket’s salad bar is a treasure trove of ready-to-go produce, especially lettuce. If you’re one of those people who end up pitching more vegetables than you consume, just buy what you need from the salad bar.

- Look for cereals and bread made with whole grains or whole wheat, not “refined” wheat, which has been stripped of its nutrients. Also check for sugar and corn syrup – many “healthy” cereals are loaded with sugar.

- Meat and bread freeze beautifully, so take advantage of sales and buy in bulk!

First Lady Michelle Obama also added, 'And the last thing I would do was the produce section and get all the vegetables and fruits and all that, and then get right into the line. And I stayed on the outer aisle. And if you stay at the outer aisles you try to avoid going in and getting the processed, packaged foods.'

Grocery shopping is as easy as making a list of items on a paper all you need to do is to keep your meal plan in mind and keep all the distractions aside! In this way you’ll get pass the tempting stuff in the store and your cart would contain all the necessary and healthy items that you need.