So I have noticed that a lot of people WANT to eat healthy, but they don’t because they don’t know what to buy at the store or they think healthy food is just too expensive. Let me tell ya, I just graduated college 6 months ago and I’m not exactly rollin’ in the dough over here so obviously it’s doable if you know HOW to do it. And that’s what I’m here for J to teach you.  If you aren’t much into reading, I made a video with this same info that can be found here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqD-2dzSD8 

So there are a few things that I consider must haves that I always buy no matter what. The first is chicken. You can get HUGE packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and freeze them for later. The same goes for ground beef. Buy in bulk. It will save you in the long run. Like even with toilet paper. We were at the store and my boyfriend is like “are you sure we need that much?” and I’m like “um..are we ever NOT going to need it??”. Anyway ground beef can also be frozen. You can even cook it first if you want, then you only have to worry about heating it up later on. But you can always just freeze it straight from raw. The trick with ground beef is to go as lean as you can stand. Personally I get the 93% lean. Some of you may think that it’s an abomination but it’s kind of like the same thing as skim milk. At first you’re thinking “well, this is different” but after a while you’re used to it, and the regular stuff seems weird. Fish of some sort is always good too. I have tilapia right now but I get salmon when it’s available, and yes, you can freeze that too.  I also keep everything in Ziplocs. Ziplocs are your friend. Go buy some. Lots of them. When you get home from the store, take a few extra minutes to pre portion out your foods and you will be AMAZED at how quickly mindless snacking (thus overeating!) becomes a thing of the past

Ok so moving out of the freezer and into the fridge. First up: salad and veggies. Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, squash, zucchini, bell peppers. All of these are great and can be easily incorporated many different ways. Some people don’t like bell peppers b/c it’s kind of like a hotdog where when you burp later it tastes like them. My advice is to get over it. Chew some gum. Bell peppers can be added to almost anything to give it a little extra crunch. They can even be used to substitute as bread if you’re trying to watch your carbs. Yes you heard that right. Cut them in half and clean out the seeds then just add your sandwich stuff inside. I use them for tuna salad a lot and I love it. My mom actually came up with it first so shout outs to her.

That brings me to the next thing. Tuna. It’s cheap and it’s easy. If you don’t like it, you probably haven’t tried it enough different ways. My friend Emily puts lemon juice and pepper on hers, and my friend Seli cuts up hard boiled eggs in hers. Get a little creative and don’t be afraid to try new things until you find one that you like. I get grossed out by mayo so I use hummus instead. Usually I’ll add some celery and red onion to it and you’re good to go.

Dairy products are good to have because they are a nice way to get some protein other than meat but you really have to stick with the Low Fat/ Fat Free kind for these. Be cautious though because flavor comes from 1 of 3 places, sugar, fat, or salt. So if you cut out one, they are going to double or even triple up on the others! Read your labels. That’s all I can really say. It is SO SO important to know WHAT is going into your body.

Eggs are obviously great to have, lots of different things to do with them and they’re super quick and easy to make. Other quick snacks would be protein bars, almonds, whole wheat crackers, whole grain rice cakes, low fat granola..etc. 

 Now am I saying you HAVE to buy these things? Not at all. But some basic principles that you should take away from this is that the closer to natural a product is, the better it probably is for you.  Also that as you learn more about food and how it should be viewed as fuel NOT comfort, you will start to realize that healthy foods actually make you FEEL BETTER because your body is getting the nutrients it needs. So all of those foods that you look at and say “I know this is bad for me but…” will eventually become foods that you think are totally unappealing because the stomach gurgling and gross feeling for the next 24 hours are just not worth it!