You’ve been there before. You head to the grocery store because you have no food in the house, you desperately need food for the week, but you get there with no game plan or list in sight. You basically just start throwing a whole bunch of stuff in your shopping cart and hope there’s enough in there to make a few meals.
By the time you hit the check-out you have lots of random stuff, definitely some snacks you didn’t intend on buying, maybe a few of the right components for some dinners, but you already know you’ll be back at some point to get the rest of what you need. You walk out of there spending a boat load of money but have no actual idea what you bought.
Yup, definitely been there.
Not the best plan of attack for a successful week of healthy eating. Instead, take some time to plan ahead. We talked all about meal planning last time to help you get a head start on setting up your week ahead. After planning out your meals and snacks, the next step is to write out your shopping list.
So, food shopping is kind of my jam. Trader Joe’s and I have a serious thing going on and I know where everything is in that store – the employees have seen my children grow up before their very eyes, and sometimes they look at me like I must be feeding a family of 9 with all of my groceries, but whatever. I just love food shopping, ok?!
Being a seasoned pro at this whole food shopping and list making situation, I approach the store a little bit differently. Therefore, ’m going to give you my 2 best plans of attack when it comes to list making. The first options is for beginners who are just getting their feet wet and the second option is for people who know their store like the back of their hand. But, try both and see what works best for you.
Option1: Beginners Guide to Shopping Lists
Create a list with the following sections
Produce
This is your fruits and veggies, fresh, frozen, canned, bagged, whatever. The fresh stuff.
Protein
Any form of protein you need for the week like meat, eggs, Greek yogurt, beans, protein powder, tofu.
Dry Goods
These are your pantry items like oats, almond meal, nuts, bread, olive oil, balsamic vinegar (not dry, but you get the picture), spices, etc.
Beverages
List your milk of choice (almond milk, Ripple milk, oat milk, regular old milk-milk), your coffee creamer, kombucha, green juice, and anything else you plan on drinking or need for a recipe.
Snacks/treats/miscellaneous
Because well, snacks are a food group in and of themselves around here. List all of your snacks like chips, trail mix, crackers, etc., and anything else that might not fit into another spot like coffee filters or parchment paper.
Option 2: Advanced List Making
If you already know where everything is in the store and you have an established shopping flow, use that to structure your list. List everything you need in the order that you would find it as you walk through the store for maximum efficiency.
For example, I walk into Trader Joe’s and head straight for the produce, then over to the dry goods section, hit up the beverages, then eggs, frozen foods, circle around to the snacks, make my way to the wall of hummus, and finish up with the protein. So, go with your own flow on this one.
If you need some meal planning inspiration, my Fall Meal Plan is packed full of delicious, balanced, fall-inspired meals, snacks, and sweet treats to help make your life so much easier. Bonus, it already has a shopping list in it, so you won’t have to practice your new list-making skills, but you can head to the store with confidence knowing that you are going to leave with everything you need to get your healthy week started.
As a little something extra to help get you started making a shopping list like a pro, I made a shopping list template for you to download and use as you get started.
Download your shopping list here!
Happy list making!