Grocery shopping.
Love it or Hate it – it’s a part of our life, and an essential part of any transformation journey.
Personally, I don’t like grocery shopping, but I like it a lot more than the chopping and cooking part.
I HATE that part!!
Food prep is so important for many reasons including;
- It’s easy to be temped when there is not good food in the house.
- We are often time poor and will eat whenever we can – if there is no prepared food, we will often turn to take away.
- The last thing many of us want to do after a long day at work is decide what to have for dinner and come home to cook and prepare it.
There are so many examples I could keep going – but I think we have all faced one of these in the past and can understand where it can all go wrong.
When you're trying to achieve a weight loss goal, we need to eliminate factors which can hold us back. The above examples are just that.
So what can you do? How do you go about doing food prep?
I’m sure you have seen on social media people posting photos of their food prep. I’m also sure a lot of you look at that and think, “How in the world am I going to be able to do that?”
That is totally understandable. It can be a daunting process. Made even more daunting because no one tells you there is more than one way to do it.
Yes, that right. You need to find the way that suits you and your lifestyle. I’m going to share with you what I did this week in my grocery shopping. Where I go and what I do when I get home.
But please remember – You need to find what works for YOU!
It took me a few goes at it to find the right way for Matt and I.
You will make some mistakes and it may go wrong – but that’s ok. That just means that it did not work for you, and you will need to try a different way.
Take the pressure off yourself to get this right straight away.
My shopping day!
I have recently decided that doing my grocery shopping on a Sunday morning is great for me. So, Sunday morning Matt and I headed to Chermside Shopping Centre.
I chose this centre not because it’s the closest supermarket to where I live, but because it has everything I want in the one centre.
I started with Coles;
- Here I got cat food (my cats are very fussy eaters), rice and seasoning to flavour the meat I would buy.
Next the Butcher;
- Beef chucks for the slow cooker and chicken fillets
Right next to the butcher is the fresh fruit and veg store;
- Obviously, I got my fruit and vegetables here
And finally, two stores up is Aldi;
- Here is where I get Frozen berries, beef mince, fetta cheese, and cleaning products I need, any veggies that the previous store may have been out of and beef stock.
That is my shopping adventure. Yes, multiple shops but in one place.
So, for me – this is what’s sustainable. I get everything I need and save a bit of money in the process. Winning!!!
I come home and straight away I start to wash and chop my veggies. I got the slow cooker on. I put the pumpkin in the oven to roast. I cooked the beef mince in my electric fry-pan followed by the chicken fillets. Finally I mixed a big container of delicious salad together.
This all took me a couple of hours - I did stop for lunch before getting back to it - but finally I was done!
This process is not for everyone. It’s what works for me. I don’t eat the exact same things every week so when I get home, I will often do things in a different order. It would depend on what I’m making.
I put all my food in big containers. I do not portion them out in to smaller ones. I portion my food out as I get it ready to eat.
This works for us!
As I use fresh vegetables I do have to top up during the week. So, I will often freeze some protein uncooked (chicken, beef etc.) and cook it up when I restock my fresh produce, during the week.
This gives you a brief overview on what Matt and I do each week.
This is what we are currently doing – it doesn't mean that we'll always do it this way.
Next month we may figure out a different way, a better way.
Grocery shopping and food prep must work in with YOUR life. Since, our lives tend to change on us from time to time, it’s important to not put limitations on yourself.
Key points to remember;
- Experiment and work out what is best for you.
- If you do the shopping and cooking alone – try having something to keep you entertained. Music, a podcast, an audio book.
These are all things which can make the process a little more bearable. I personally love audio books J
- Do all your washing and chopping when you get home. Even if you can’t cook it straight away. You will thank yourself later.
- Use multiple cooking methods,
For example; slower cooker, electric fry-pan, oven, wok, etc. This will allow you to cook more at once and cut down the
cooking time.
- Remember there is no right or wrong, and don’t compare what you do to others.
I hope this helps and I hope you all have a great week of grocery shopping and food prep J
Court
