Win at the Grocery Store, Win at Life
The grocery store is where your health is won or lost. Every item you put in your cart shapes your future self. After two years of rebuilding my health, I’ve learned how to shop smarter and make every trip count. Follow this guide, and your health will have no choice but to improve.
Always Have a Plan
Walking into a grocery store without a plan is like walking into a jungle without a map, except the predators are buy-one-get-one-free Oreos. You’re gonna get cooked. Instead, make a list of a handful of your go-to healthy recipes and stick to them. Reusing your favorite meals saves time, ensures solid nutrition, and makes shopping easier.
Sometimes, you don’t even need a recipe, just a simple framework. Most of my meals follow a basic structure: protein + carb + veggie. When I shop, I grab a few of each:
Protein: Ground beef, chicken breast, ground turkey, salmon
Carbs: Rice, potatoes, quinoa
Veggies: Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
This approach gives you a solid foundation for healthy meals. Mix and match any protein, carb, or veggie you like. The foods listed above are just examples. Get creative and customize your meals with options that work for you. With the right seasonings at home, you can turn these simple ingredients into something that slaps.
If It’s Packaged, Check the Ingredients
In America, most ingredient lists are a crime scene, so investigate it before you take a bite. Think of every packaged food as guilty until proven innocent. Food companies often sneak in additives that can harm your health. If you want to win, you need to know what’s in your food.
Use these two simple rules to make smarter choices:
1. If it has more than five ingredients, be cautious.
There are exceptions, but a long ingredient list is a red flag. The more ingredients, the higher the chance of additives, preservatives, and processed junk that can hurt you. Stick to foods with fewer, recognizable ingredients for a better chance at making a healthy choice.
2. If you can’t pronounce it or don’t know what it is, don’t eat it.
Most unrecognizable ingredients are lab-made chemicals, far removed from the real, whole foods your body thrives on. The further a food is from its natural source, the worse it tends to be for your health.
Look below at the ingredients list for a Smucker’s Uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s long, filled with hard-to-pronounce ingredients, and packed with sugar, seed oils, and trans fats. Labels like these set you up to lose, and I’m not okay with that.
The ingredients in this Lara Bar below are simple, whole foods. You recognize every one of them. A solid choice for a snack and a W for your future health.
Don’t Keep Junk Food at Home
If you put junk food in your kitchen, you’ll probably eat it. It could only take one long day at work, an emotional issue, or one too many beers for your willpower to fade. So make it easy on yourself. Only buy healthy foods when grocery shopping. If you want a cheat meal or snack, make it an intentional choice. Go out and get it, but don’t keep it stocked at home.
You’ll never give in when there are only healthy foods in your kitchen. This simple rule transforms most of your diet. Plus, adding the extra step of having to leave the house for a treat makes you less likely to indulge.
Keep a Running Grocery List
Use the notes app on your phone or keep a list on your kitchen counter. Every time you run out of something, write it down. This simple habit prevents those frustrating last-minute trips to the store. Coming back from a packed store on a Sunday and realizing you forgot half of your breakfast ingredients for the next morning sucks.
Keeping a running list saves you so much time in the long run. Plus, a well-stocked fridge and pantry mean you’ll always have healthy options on hand, making you less likely to resort to takeout when food at home is running low.
Action Steps
✅ Choose a handful of your favorite healthy recipes to shop for.
✅ If you prefer flexibility, build meals around a protein + carb + veggie framework.
✅ Always check ingredient labels on packaged foods.
✅ Only buy healthy, whole foods for your home.
✅ The moment you run out of something, write it down.
