I spend a lot of time in the grocery store...its my place of solitude nobody bothers me at, so i'll tell you how I shop:
1. I try to not buy anything that has more than 20 carbs listed on the nutritional facts.
2. I never buy rice, pasta, potatoes, chips, junk food, and I buy pitas and flat breads sparingly.
3. waffles are out. That should be a birthday special meal or something...First thing wrong is the carbs and breadiness of the actual waffle. Second thing wrong is I'm sure you're going to drench it in sugar laden syrup..A total fiesta of bad bodybuilding food.
4. don't buy candy. If your mom would call it "junk food" pass it by... Its going to make all your hard work exercising voided out..what a waste-
5. I tend to follow a low carb adkins lifestyle of eating. This means you should be more inclined to buy chicken, meat, peanuts, enough for small servings of vegetables and legumes.
5a: rule of thumb with non-meat items (what I personally believe): I've been told the serving size should be the size of your fist. This means a salad or side of veggies shouldn't be huge, just a small portion. Why do I even mention this? Because a good meal can be ruined by a huge salad laden with fruit (containing a ton of sugars) or even certain vegetables such as corn (I say this because I love corn and this saddens me....) corn: full of sugar as well.
Just because its "green" or a vegetable, doesn't mean you can eat your fill. Watch the portion size. If you're going to eat seconds, make sure its the chicken and meat that fills you up.
6. condiments: mayo, mustard, and some spices(given the fact they have a lot of salt but not much carbs)...are generally ok in my kitchen. If you increase your salt, you're going to promote some water retention, but if you're not at that point of fitness and you're just trying to eat healthy, tasty, and drop the carbs, then its generally ok.
6a: ketchup: full of sugar. bbq sauce: so yummy but also full of sugar/carbs. .....if its tasty, sweet, ketchup-like: ask yourself if its loaded with carbs and try to minimize.
7: deserts. You know you can eat careful all day, but if you load up on ice cream, candy bars, chips as a nocturnal eater, you're going to blow it. I've found a nice chocolate chip ice cream sandwiched between 2 wafers of a dark chocolate wafer allows you to make about 2 for about 15g of carbs. Its small but satisfying and I think the slower you eat, the more your brain finds the treat gratifying, so take your time.
7a: what kind of ice cream has the lowest carbs: from a person who's literally read every brand's nutritional facts, I can say I have definitely found the store brand is the lowest carbs....don't ask me why, but if you're in publix, go for the publix brand. winn dixie, go for their brand, walmart, look for their cheapo no name brand. I believe you'll agree..their carb count will be significantly lower than hagaan daaz, starbucks, etc.
8: miscellaneous food to minimize hunger: I buy coctail peanuts, peanuts in shells, pistachios... nuts are a go-
9: other basic staples I buy: eggs for scrambled eggs with ham and cheese in the am.
nice lean ham from the deli (I think it may have less pressed in nitrates and sugars..tastes way better and costs the same, so stand with the ladies and get your ham by the pound there.), meat: chicken breasts (cheaper if you buy them with bones and skin), stir fry meat, hamburg(a little bit of fat adds taste...I think the 90% lean tastes like cardboard), plain pita bread: I buy this as my one bread item...Lets face it: if you're at work, you need a portable lunch and maybe a big ham sandwich of a big hamburg with cheese between a pita is the right thing. I minimize the pita and focus on the meat.
*this is my grocery bible. I repeat the same thought process every week and try to be creative in the kitchen not by the main dish item, but maybe how I season it, how I slice it, how I serve it. There's a lot of ways you can make chicken and even a hamburger. I should post some pics of meals sometime--
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