Don’t Shop Hungry
This may well be one of the most cliche tips we’ve heard in terms of not making impulse purchases at the grocery store. Going food shopping when you’re feeling starving is far more likely to result in bringing home all kinds of food-stuff that, were you in a rational (i.e. satiated from a balanced Paleo meal) state of mind, you never would have given a second, or first, thought of buying. But what happens when the schedule doesn’t go according to plan and you do end up arriving at the market feeling like you’re ready to gnaw off your fingers? This, my friends, does not have to end with terrible consequences. Below are a few strategies that can help you bring your blood sugar back into balance and save your shopping trip from turning into one filled with chips, cookies and candies!
- First, hydrate. If your day has been that hectic so far, it’s a safe bet you also haven’t had enough water, let alone food.
- Take ten minutes and grab a snack. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy- just head to produce and choose an apple, some pre-washed lettuce then zip over to the bulk bins, add some raw walnuts and finally, stop by the meat counter and order a small portion of natural turkey breast. Then sit down and eat it.
- Alternatively, see if there’s a juice bar. Don’t get a juice made with a pound of fruit, but if there’s an option for a green smoothie with some good fat, this is another great idea. Just today, at Whole Foods, I ordered a cucumber, celery, kale, ginger and beet juice which they then whipped together with some avocado, creating a more blood-sugar stabilizing drink versus the a sugary fruit juice.
- Even a handful of raw nuts on their own can be the deal maker in preventing you from choosing a food that will create a sugar spike and subsequent dip.
Just as we want to make sure our kids aren’t grouchy and hungry at the grocery store, and having a temper tantrum, we have to hedge our bets that we won’t suffer the same consequences. Not that we’d have a temper tantrum… or I suppose it would depend on how hungry we were! Admittedly, I probably would if I were deprived of kale and avocado and wild salmon for too long.
