I work in Northwood Health and Fitness in Santry, Co.Dublin. In my years there, I have noticed many things but among the primary things I've noticed is how much people know about nutrition and weight loss. They have read South Beach and Atkins and know about carbs, fats and proteins. Yet still they fail. Their weight yoyo's and they never make any real progress. I used to get a little confused by this but then I realised it's not their knowledge or their diet in general. It is their inability to do the shopping!

'Huh? Shopping's easy'

That's what I thought! But it turns out that people, in their wisdom, know what they should be buying and still they buy the opposite. They know they SHOULD buy veggies and lean meat and minimise grains and sugary processed foods. But still, they persist in buying them! I think it is ingrained into people these days that when they go to the shop they must buy bread and milk. It must stem from childhood or something but it needs to stop if you really want improve your body, lose fat, gain muscle or whatever the case may be. In order to get real results your nutrition must be in order. For your nutrition to be in order your SHOPPING list must be planned and arranged in advance. DON'T stray from it! If you buy junk you will eat junk. Simple as that!

Here's an example of what an average Dublin shopping list looks like:

Bread, Milk, Eggs, Cereal, Cereal Bars, Yogurt, Biscuits, Rice, Pasta, Hamburger patties, Hamburger Buns, Coleslaw, Tomato Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Oven Fries, Chocolate, Ben and Jerrys ice cream.

Total : ?60 approx

Now Lets look at the 'so called' healthy option!

Brown Bread, Low Fat Milk, Free range Eggs, Cereal, 'Low fat' Cereal Bars, Low Fat Yogurt, Weight Watchers Biscuits, Brown Rice, Whole Wheat Pasta, 100% beef Hamburger patties, Sesame Seed Hamburger Buns, Low Fat Coleslaw, Low Carb Tomato Ketchup, Reduced Fat Mayonnaise, 'Low Fat' Oven Fries, 'only 100 calorie' packets of Oreo Cookies, Small Tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Total: ?85

It's exactly the same just more expensive! In order to get the point across I made this generic shopping list but I'd say it looks awfully familiar to 90% of people! You have fallen into a trap set by the confectionary companies that's literally costing you 100's of euros a month and costing you your health. Too many people think that the 'low calorie option is the way forward! Think of it like this; if a product (I have chosen Oreos because the 100 calorie packet thing cracks me up) has 'only 100 calories in each packet. You are definitely not going to feel as guilty, and what is the result? You EAT 3 PACKETS!!! Its inevitable! And plus the fact is the product hasn't changed it's still JUNK just in a smaller more expensive packet! I think it's hilarious! Anyway back to the shopping lists!

Number 2 looks a lot better than list one yea? At a glance anyway! But when you really look into it you realise that everything is EXACTLY the same. The only difference is:

1) The packaging is more lightly coloured and labelled with '100 calorie' claims

2) The packaging is smaller

3) You receive less of the product

4) It is more expensive

5) It may be 'a little' lower in fat but this is replaced with sugar! (which is worse)

Neither lists have anything lean and healthy in there (with the exception of the eggs).

1) No Lean Meat

2) No green Vegetables

3) Too many sources of processed carbohydrate

4) Too much carbohydrate period! (Unless this person is a marathon runner or a triathlete they definitely do need all of this FUEL)

5) Too much SUGAR

6) Sesame seed Buns? (Oh like that's your problem. . not enough sesame seeds in our diet) 7) Cereal bars (aka bars of sugar)

Garbage 'low fat' gimmicky products that will actually make you fatter than their 'unhealthy' counterparts.

Now here's how a shopping list SHOULD look (its not perfect but its an improvement!) And guess where i done my shopping? Superquinn, Dunnes, Tesco's? Nope. ALDI. .Thats right, the quality of the meat and vegetables in there is unrivaled! I'm telling you; If you want to eat healthily, and save money. . go to Aldi for your shopping! you cant beat it! I've been going there for over a year now and I have saved 100's if not 1000's of Euro since then!

Here it goes!

Turkey Breasts x 2, Turkey Mince (lean), Vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower mix), Roast chicken tikka pieces (diced fillet) (x3), Cottage cheese (x 4), Bacon bits (lean cuts for my omelettes), Frikadellen meat balls, Peppers 3 pack (x 2), Natural Yogurt, Cashews/ Salted nuts x 2, Salmon Fillets x 5.

Total ?47.42 ($55)

So whats so special about this? Well there's. . .

1) Plenty of lean meats

2) Plenty of fresh vegetables

3) Natural yogurt not nuisance yoplait or ambrosia that is full of sugar! (if you must use artificial sweetener to sweeten it up)

4) Sides like cottage cheese and low fat soft cheese (naturally high protein, low fat, low carb)

5) Nuts (buy small bags so you don't eat them all!)

Now it is by no means perfect to look at and I did go to another store to get the following:

1) Blueberries

2) Inulin (fibre) rich sweetener

3) Spinach

4) Tuna

5) Omega 3 eggs

This should give you a few ideas for your next shopping trip!

Thanks for reading!

Copyright (c) 2009 Athleticbodysystem