The Best Time to Grocery Shop

Who remembers watching “Supermarket Sweep” on TV? Contestants would race around the supermarket, filling their cart with the most expensive items they could find (straight to the hams!!). Whoever ended up with the highest total of groceries won.

Unfortunately, grocery shopping is never that much fun in real life… We want to keep our grocery bill as low as possible, while still buying quality food!

So when is the best time to get your groceries? You probably already know that the worst time to go to a grocery store is on the weekends in the afternoon. This post, however, isn’t about the best days/times to go (here’s a free tip anyway: grocery stores start their weekly sales on Wednesday and are least busy in the morning or after dinner). The purpose of this post is to tell you the best time to go to the grocery store to make healthy choices. Good health begins with good, healthy choices at the grocery store.

In addition to the obvious “don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach,” I have a few tips to help you know when the best time is to shop healthier and as a result, eat healthier.

1. After you eat a piece of fruit. Having a healthy snack before stepping in the store will not only satisfy any hunger, but it will also put you in the mindset of making healthier choices. The same applies to eating a sugary snack before grocery shopping… your sugar craving is spiked and you will be more likely to buy unhealthy, unplanned food.

2.. After you workout. Same reason as above applies- after working out, you are in a healthier state of mind. Who wants to negate all the sweat and hard work that just went into a workout?! Be careful though… you will most likely be hungry. Don’t forget to pack something quick and healthy like an apple to snack on before you shop.

3. After you plan meals and make a grocery list. The internet has made it ridiculously easy to find recipes, so take advantage of this and pick out a few recipes that sound good. Once you have selected a few recipes, look at the ingredients and make a list of what you need to buy. If you have a list with everything you need, you can stick to it and skip the tempting aisles you don’t even need to wander down. Here are a few great resources to help you with meal planning.

• Skinny Mom’s “Supper Club” – a free email subscription of weekly recipes for dinner and suggested side dishes with grocery lists included
• The Fresh 20 – A cookbook or email subscription that uses just 20 organic, non-processed ingredients per week to create 5 wholesome, delicious meals.
• Grocery List Magnetic Note Pad – fun and colorful with individual sections for fruits, frozen food, dairy, etc. to make grocery lists EASY!

Happy shopping! Do you have any specific things you do to make healthier choices at the store?