In one of my previous blog posts, Prep for Success (& Your Lunch), I talk about how I meal prep, and what my Sundays looks like every week. Grocery shopping is a huge component as to what I eat weekly, and surprisingly, I receive a lot of questions about my routine. 

First of all, when I am grocery shopping, there are three things that I live by that have stopped me from buying a lot of unnecessary things.

1. I don’t ever go to the grocery store hungry…ever.period.
2. I make the list BEFORE I go into the store.
3. If I don’t buy it, I won’t eat it. 

The thing is, I know myself better than anyone, and those three things have been my biggest downfall countless times. It turns out that I can control them, so I stopped doing them. 

When I go to the store, I shop for two things, the meals I am making that week (hence why I make the list beforehand), and the snacks that I will inevitably eat (& so will you). My husband and I share a Google Keep document so we are both able to add our ingredients for dinners. That way, we are both on the same page when we go to the store. Some of the items are the same every week, some of them change due to our recipes. What I usually get weekly and how I use them are listed below-

Breakfast

• Bananas–>breakfast, oatmeal, snacks
• Eggs—>boiled for breakfast
• Oats
• English Muffins (I usually top them with almond butter, banana, honey, and cinnamon)

Fruit

• Apples–>sliced for a snack
• Blackberries–>berry bowl
• Blueberries–>berry bowl
• Strawberries–>berry bowl
• Melon (any type)—>after school snack

Vegetables

• Carrots–>snack bags
• Celery—>snack bags
• Spinach—>for smoothies or eggs in the morning
• Romaine Lettuce–>side salads
• Tomatoes—>side salads
• Cucumbers—>side salads
• Avocados —>side salads
• Brussel Sprouts–>To bake and snack on
• Organic baby carrots–>To bake and snack on
• Onion–>To bake and snack on
• Okra—> To bake and snack on

Other

• Rice Cakes–> snacks
• RX Bars/ Larabars
• Pop Chips
• Almond butter–> for apples or rice cakes
• Kombucha

This list with my dinner ingredients included will typically end up being $70-$90 every week. Produce is so cheap at Sprouts, and that is the majority of our bill. I am no longer tempted by unhealthy snacks, and can easily get my vegetable and fruit serving in. 

Planning my meals has easily been one of the best habits I have adopted. I feel like I have so much control over what I eat, and it really keeps me accountable! Let me know if there are any snacks that I can add to my list- I would love to know. Otherwise, copy this list to your own and enjoy feeling 100X better about what you’re eating every day!