Managing Grocery Store Chaos During Your Whole Foods Diet

Eating a whole-foods diet is one of the best ways to improve your health, but let’s be honest: our modern mega grocery stores can feel like a battleground. Between the tempting processed foods, confusing labels, and crowded aisles, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. 

That’s where Meridith Womick, MD, and our team of doctors and health coaches at the Metabolic Medical Center come in. 

With our stress-free strategies for healthy eating, you can navigate the chaos and stick to your whole foods weight loss plan.

Lean on your list

Before you head out to the store, make a detailed shopping list based on your meal plan for the week, and don’t deviate from it once you start shopping. This can help you stay focused and prevent impulse buys.

Shop the perimeters

The outer aisles of the store usually contain the freshest, least-processed foods. Spend most of your time there, and you can avoid filling your cart with junk. 

Don’t always trust ‘healthy’ foods

Even foods marketed as ‘healthy’ can be loaded with additives, preservatives, tons of sugars, unhealthy seed oils, etc. Find the foods with short ingredient lists with items you can recognize and pronounce. 

Don’t shop hungry

If you walk into the grocery with a growling stomach and cravings, you are likely to load up on unhealthy snacks. Drink a large glass of water and eat a high-protein snack before you go to the grocery to keep your mind on healthy ingredients.

Consider using a basket

It’s tempting to fill the empty spaces of a large shopping cart with your favorite guilty pleasures. Try using a handheld basket to prevent junk from making its way home with you. 

Shop local when you can

Want to stick to your whole foods diet? Cut out the middleman and head straight to the source. Find a great local butcher, ask for a family who sells eggs, and take advantage of farmers' markets where you know everything is fresh. 

Remember your ‘why’

You started this whole food journey for a reason (or maybe multiple reasons). You want to lose weight, improve your health, ward off disease, minimize the junk in your pantry — whatever it is, remind yourself why you started eating healthy. 

Eating healthy often goes against the grain of our convenience-first, instant-gratification society. 

You’re up against expert marketing teams who care more about their bottom line than your long-term health — and it looks like they’re winning. 

But when you take a stand against the processed food giants, you make a decision to put your and your family’s health first. We want to be there with you every step of the way. 

Whether you’re new to whole food eating or you need a refresher course, call the Metabolic Medical Center location closest to you or request an appointment online. We proudly serve patients in Mount Pleasant, Charleston, Murrells Inlet, Columbia, and Bluffton, South Carolina.