The 5 Foods I Won’t Leave the Grocery Store Without

That pretty much sums up 90% of what I eat from home and use to make myself lunch every day. We make a Costco run every other week for the big items and I make a trip to Trader Joe’s every week to stock up on everything else. In general, we save splurging and meals considered “unhealthy” for when we dine out since it’s usually difficult to make a meal out both healthy and delicious. We try to eat out only 1-2 nights a week and have lunch out just one time each weekend and rarely during the week. My Toblerone bar purchase is how I satisfy my sweet tooth. I usually have 1-3 pieces which satisfies my sweet tooth in only 42.5 calories per piece.

5 years ago I was 22 years old and still a college student. I was careful about watching my weight and I thought that I ate healthy. I usually sabotaged any healthful attempts during the week by eating greasy food and drinking every weekend, oftentimes ending the night with a big burrito or a couple slices of pizza. I tried to balance out my weekend drink and food binges with healthy eating during the week but at the time I thought healthy just meant low calorie or low fat, and I didnt pay attention to labels or care a thing about eating organic, whole foods. My top 5:

1. Sourdough bread & sliced deli turkey (i.e. nitrate and sodium filled mix of meat and soy)
2. Diet Coke (empty calories that will make me hungry later)
3. Lean Cuisines (unsatisfying salt bomb)
4. 100 calorie pack cookies or granola bars (corn syrup and artificial sweeteners)
5. Yoplait non-fat yogurt (artificial sweeteners)

Although most of the items I ate throughout the week were low calorie (a typical day would consist of non-fat flavored yogurt with a banana for breakfast, a turkey breast sandwich with fruit and a 100 calorie pack of cookies for lunch, a sugar free vanilla latte for a snack, and a Lean Cuisine for dinner, Weight Watchers bar for dessert), most things I ate were processed. I was afraid of fat and tried to eat as little as possible. I ate an abundance of artificial sweeteners in my food and I was drinking 2-4 diet sodas a day. Additionally, my canned soups and Lean Cuisines were packing tons of salt and in the end weren’t satisfying. I’d often eat a Lean Cuisine for dinner and then dig into my Baked Lays stash for a snack while I watched TV with my roommates.

Studies have shown that artificial sweeteners lead to binges later on. The mind tastes the sweetness but doesn’t get the calories it expects and instead makes you crave carbohydrates and sweets later on. I definitely believe that this was a big reason for my weekend splurges, not to mention that I’d restrict my calorie intake  during the week so much that by Friday there was no way I was saying no to a late night burrito (especially if all I ate for dinner was a meager Lean Cuisine).

My Grocery List 10 Years Ago

At least my 22 year old self was eating healthy five days a week. My 17 year old self rarely touched a vegetable or fruit. My grocery list (purchased by my mom, not me) back then was more like this:

1. Rootbeer or Diet Coke
2. Bread & butter
3. Sugary cereal and 2% milk
4. Plain noodles and tomato sauce
5. Deli turkey and white bread

It was hard for me to even remember what I ate at home when I was 17 but the above was the things I remember most. I wouldn’t touch vegetables except for corn on the cob, which I wouldn’t even consider a vegetable anymore. The funny thing about looking back at my diet is that two things have remained the same: my love of turkey sandwiches and my love of sweets. My turkey sandwiches have evolved from white bread and mayo(absolutely no vegetables) to wheat bread and avocado and my love of frozen yogurt is unwavering (I eat a mini now instead of a medium with topping).

My diet has changed so dramatically in the last 10 years and even in the last year. Instead of tricking my taste buds with diet sodas and sweet yogurt and avoiding fat like the plague, I eat minimally processed foods and fill up on healthy fats like almonds and my favorite, avocados. When I want something sweet, I don’t hesitate to indulge in 100 calories worth of real chocolate – it is certainly more satisfying than my meager 100 calorie packs.

I hope that keeping up with my newfound habits can make up for the damage I did to my body and metabolism for so many years of unhealthful eating. At least one thing has been consistent for the last 14 years since I got my 24 Hour Fitness gym membership at age 13 – fitness! Although I’ve never been as dedicated as I am now, I played sports in high school and have been a regular gym goer since I got my first gym pass. Fitness will always be part of my life. If it weren’t, I’d have to lock down my nutrition a bit more, but for now, I’m lucky enough to indulge in the occasional pizza or cupcake and pretend that “calories don’t count” on all major holidays, my birthday and all vacations.