It's now time to focus your organizational skills on your grocery shopping and keep the money in your pocket. Here are ideas to support you on this road.
Planning your food shopping trips
-Start by collecting the flyers from the supermarkets you normally shop at. By checking your flyers first you see what is on sale and then you can create your weekly meals to include the sale items. For example, if chicken is on sale, chicken will be on the menu this week. If you love salmon and it's on sale...then treat yourself without breaking the bank.
-Coupons - start collecting them from newspapers or even download them from the internet and add more savings to your grocery budget.
-Create a system to keep your coupons organized. Purchase a coupon organizer to house all those great deals. Though only keep coupons for those products that you actually use. Sometimes even with a brand name product coupon it's still cheaper to purchase the store brand. If you are going to buy the brand name anyway, then definitely take the savings.
-On the day you are organizing your shopping list, check the expiration date of your coupons. In my coupon organizer, I have a section that says, "expiring soon." Depending on how often you shop, this can be within a week, two weeks or a month. You go there first to stock up on your favorite foods or household products...don't want to lose those savings.
Get into the habit of planning your meals out each week. Choose a day of the week to do your shopping and stick to it. The day before is when you organize your menus.
-Once you've completed your menu, you can create your shopping list.
-It's also important to take a current inventory of your pantry and add any staples that are running low.
-Keep a shopping list posted to your bulletin board or refrigerator where each family member can let you know what food or product is out or almost empty.
-Create a shopping list that is similar to the layout of your store. If there are several stores that you go to, then you will need to organize your list by store.
-The internet has free shopping lists, though I find creating on the computer your own customized list works fine. Create three columns: one for the product, one for whether it's on sale and the last column to indicate if you have a coupon.
-Attached your coupons and any ads to your shopping list....in case there are discrepancies in the store.
-Bring a calculator to keep track of your bill...don't want to be surprised at the register.
Hint: Stores are set up that your milk and bread are in the back...so you have to pass many other products before getting there. How many times have you gone in for just milk and impulsively bought something else and you paid the full price. Weekly planning will keep you focused on the sales and savings.
You are now organized: flyers, coupons, menus and shopping list. If you are just starting the "organized" path of food shopping, it will seem like a lot of work. After a few weeks, you will become more efficient and the process will not take as long.
If you really want to motivate yourself, keep a log of the amount you saved each week. If your budget allows, treat yourself to something special with your savings.
Have fun shopping!
Copyright (c) 2007 Pat Brill
Many people are under the misconception that when they are diagnoised with diabetes, that they must go on a special diet that excludes all the foods they love, requires all the foods they hate, and calls for a regime that they simply can not follow for a long period of time. This, however, is not true because if you simply learn how to shop for your food, you can still enjoy the same foods you love to eat by just learning to eat different brands.
Many diets fail because you are forced to eat foods you do not like, but this does not need to be the case on your diabetic diet. I can show you 5 things to look for when grocery shopping so you can still purchase the same foods with some simple changes such as switching to a different brand.
One way is to watch the total carbohydrates that are in the foods you are purchasing. Many people who start on a diabetic diet think that sugar is the only thing that will raise your blood sugar level, but that is not true. Starchy foods can also increase your blood sugar level which is why you also need to keep a close eye on the carbohydrates you eat as well. A good thing to look for is products that have 10 grams of total carbohydrates or less because it only takes 1 gram of carbohydrate to raise your blood sugar level by 5 points. The fewer carbohydrates that are in a product, the better it is for your health.
A second way is to focus on foods that are high in fiber. Fiber works great at lowering your blood sugar level and keeping it at a normal level. Your body does not actually absorb the fiber even though it is a type of a carbohydrate, which is why this is good for your diabetic diet. You should try to look for products that have at least 5 grams of dietary fiber.
A third way to shop for food on a diabetic diet is to look for products that have as little sugar as possible. Sugar, as with carbohydrates, are a diabetics worse nightmare because they help raise our blood sugar levels to a dangerous level. Our body still needs these carbohydrates and sugars to help it function. You have to be very careful though, as some sugar free products actually may seem like they have less sugar but they will have a higher amount of carbohydrates which eventually turns into sugar. A good guide to follow is to try to purchase products that have 5 grams or less of sugar.
A fourth way is to stock up on what the experts call free foods for diabetics. These are foods that have less than 20 total calories and have less than 5 grams of total carbohydrates per serving. Just because they are labeled free food does not mean you can eat them all day long. All it means is you can eat them up to 3 servings per day. Also be sure to spread them throughout the day as eating them all at one time will make your blood sugar rise too high. Some examples of free foods are decaf coffee, a dill pickle (which also helps lower your blood sugar), sugar free drink mixes, sugar free gelatin, diet soda, lettuce, and water.
A fifth way to shop for food on a diabetic diet is to look for products that are low in fat or contain no fat at all. You should try to purchase meats that contain at least 7 percent or less in fat. Some good meats that you can buy are skinless poultry, shellfish, and fish.
Going on a diabetic diet does not mean you have to give up the foods you love and be forever trapped eating bland boring foods. You can still enjoy eating all the foods you love by learning how to shop for a diabetic diet and reading labels carefully. You should aim at finding products that contain 10 grams of carbohydrates or less, 5 grams of dietary fiber or more, 5 grams of sugar or less, free foods that have 20 calories and 5 grams of total carbohydrates or less, and at most 7 percent of fat in meat or less. If you follow these shopping guidelines, you will surely succeed at your new diabetic diet because it will not feel like a diet at all.
Both Pat Brill & Delynda Lardone are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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