What is a weight loss plan or a diet? It is losing weight. I believe it should be done my way, which is the right way. Of course that is my opinion, and I am sure there are some that say otherwise. My way in a nut shell is taking it off slowly, the way it was put on, eating the right foods, healthy foods, and reduce the number of calories consumed while still giving you all the carbohydrates, fats, proteins, nutrients, and vitamins to keep your body and metabolism in perfect running order. Mix that with some exercise and you have a good plan.

So what is the most important part of that plan? Again in a nut shell it is eating the right healthy foods. So here it is, the most important part is the GROCERY SHOPPING. You need to shop right. You need to have the right kinds of food in your refrigerator. Having good healthy meals and snakes is 90 percent of the battle. If you don't have foods with low calories available to quickly grab and eat, you will end up eating something that adds to your calorie intake. You need a good supply of things you can grab on your way out the door to snack on while you are at work, or just running errands. If you are in the office and are between meals and get hungry, do you have something with you to suppress your appetite that is low cal and good for you? I always have a bag of dried fruit, or an apple, orange, peach or something like that to eat between meals. I do because when I go grocery shopping I buy a good supply of those kinds of food and they sit on my kitchen counter or in the refrigerator so I can quickly grab them on my way out the door.

When you go grocery shopping you must have a list, and eat a good snack before you enter the store. This way you are not hungry and that list has all your meals planed out at least for the week. Stick to that list. That should be easy because you are not hungry and tempted by the smells coming from the bakery section.

Don't pick up anything without reading the nutrient label. Compare like items and see which one has the lowest calories, fats, especially saturated and trans fats, sodium, sugars, fructose, etc. Learn how to read labels; it is a very important part of weight loss. That is part of learning how to grocery shop. You need to eat 5 times a day minimum, 3 main meals and a snack between those. If you skip a snack, more that likely you will overeat at the next meal. So have those snacks on that list, at least 2 for each day for each person.

That is another part of grocery shopping. If you are a mother of one or more teenagers then it is hard to have enough food to keep them happy in the house. You always don't have the right food or snacks, I know, I am a father of 2 boys. It is important to teach our kids how to eat too. Obesity is a big problem with kids nowadays and we must be the teachers. If we always feed them cookies, soda, cake, ice cream, candy, and potato chips, what are we teaching them? We need to start teaching them what foods are unhealthy and will make them fat, and which foods they should eat. If you have kids that sit at the computer all day and play games while eating chips and drinking soda, then you have a problem. That is not healthy for them. Kids do need snacks and to eat more often. Try and find something healthy for them to eat that they like. Stock up on that but I do know you have to have flavored drinks and sweets around to keep them happy. Just look at the labels try and find something they like with low sugars and calories. There are many products like that available now. Do be very careful about the added sweeteners though. Read up on those added sweeteners, they are not good for us. That was just touched on in my last article.

Grocery shopping should not be an every day occurrence, but should be a once a week thing. The trip to the grocery store can not be an unplanned event. It is a very important event that must be well planned out if you want to eat healthy, stay healthy and lose weight. Some of the things that are in our foods are slowly killing us. My last article touched on that subject. You need to know how to shop and what to avoid. The way you grocery shop is a major contributor of a healthy and long life.