Healthy Eating Begins at the Grocery Store
This article was originally published on the Change Tribune.
Our best and worst eating habits start long before the food ends up in our kitchens and on our plates. If you want the most leverage in influencing your eating habits, look to the hour you spend each week at your local grocery store. What you buy at the store ends up in your home, and what ends up in your home, ends up in your stomach!
We shop the same way we eat: mindlessly. We wander the grocery store aisles, throw things in our carts, and then check out.
Most advice on shopping smarter usually revolves around planning meals for the week, creating a shopping list, and using willpower at the grocery store to stick to your list.
The problem with that plan is that willpower doesn’t work.
The Problem: Food Cravings
Most food cravings are largely mental; caused when we imagine the texture, taste, and other sensory details of eating a food we love. Barraged by the sight of thousands of tasty treats at the grocery store, it doesn’t take long before at least a few of them end up in our carts. It’s even worse if you’re hungry… research has shown that hungry shoppers buy less healthy foods containing more calories [1].
As humans, we often overestimate our ability to control our impulses. If you’ve ever made a solemn promise to avoid sugary treats, only to find yourself reaching for them during a moment of hunger, stress, or anger, then you’ve experienced “the restraint bias.”
The restraint bias: our tendency to overestimate our control over impulsive behavior [2].
The key to understanding the restraint bias is to imagine your day split up into two mind-states:
- “Cold” — Your everyday self in a reasonably relaxed state of mind
- “Hot” — Experiencing visceral impulses like hunger, fatigue, or physical pain
When you’re in a “cold” state, it’s really tough to predict how we will act in a “hot” state. We’re unable to empathize with our stressed self and we consistently underestimate just how powerfully a visceral impulse will affect our behavior.
With this in mind, we can look for ways to avoid shopping in a “Hot” state to reduce the challenge.
Three Strategies to Shopping Success
Dr. Brian Wansink, author of Slim By Design, has been studying shoppers since 1995. His research has uncovered the three most effective tips for sticking to your shopping list.
- Arrive on a full stomach. Whenever possible, plan your trip when you’re more likely to be full, like after a meal. In case of emergency, keep your car stocked with healthy snacks to avoid shopping while hungry.
- Chew a piece of gum while shopping. If you end up hungry at the grocery store just before dinner, simply pop in a stick of chewing gum! Whether you’re hungry or full, chewing gum makes it hard to imagine the taste of a crispy potato chip or creamy ice cream. In research by Dr. Wansink and Aner Tal, shoppers chewing gum rated themselves as less hungry and less tempted by food — and they bought 7% less junk food — than those who weren’t chewing gum [3]. In another study, people chewing gum while shopping purchased 21% fewer bags of chips and 17% more fruits and vegetables compared to those who were not [4].
- Eat an apple while you shop. Other research from Dr. Wansink’s Cornell Food and Brand Lab showed that shoppers who were “primed” with a sample apple purchased significantly more fruits and vegetables [5]. Quick tip: It’s OK to pick up an apple at the supermarket and eat it while shopping — just leave the apple core in your cart to remind you to pay for it. (Do note: you may get a sideways look from the cashier if you put the half-eaten apple on the conveyer belt.)
Eating healthy begins at the grocery store. These three simple strategies will help you mindlessly shop healthier and resist the urge of any food craving temptations. For more tips like these, check out the full Slim By Design course!
This article was originally published on the Change Tribune. Change Collective is a behavior change course platform that includes expert-led daily lessons and personal coaching to help you improve your fitness, productivity, mindfulness, and more.
Authored By Joe Johnson
Joe is a certified personal trainer & health coach and has been passionate about nutrition and fitness for the past 15 years. Joe loves to help people create vibrant health and also have as much fun as possible while doing it! Joe is a coach for Slim by Design,Made to Move, and Lean & Mean Bodyweight Routine.
