That's Fit

I have not stepped foot in a Sam's Club wholesale food warehouse in at least three years. We don't have much shelf space for 30 rolls of toilet paper. But when a neighbor called today and invited me along on her Sam's Club adventure, curiosity bit.

Beyond the row of plasma TVs awaiting the eyes of entering customers -- the cheapest was $999, there goes half the tax stimulus -- everything appeared the same. I was already facing the fact a trip to Sam's Club meant walking in with money and walking out with no money and a cart piled with junk food. Today proved me wrong.

Here are the heart-healthier items I picked up at Sam's. Food I felt proud to buy for my family:

• A bag of frozen tilapia fillets. Physically I feel like a winner when I eat grilled or baked fish.
• A double box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal -- I was excited to see Kashi products at Sam's!
• 34 Go-Gurts which will probably last the kids a month.
• A plastic barrel of Snyder Snap pretzels -- we can use that barrel for arts and crafts post-snacking.
• Parmesan-encrusted chicken breasts -- higher in fat than I prefer (9 g per breast), but not bad if served up with a double portion of fresh veggies or a salad.
• One 48 oz whoppin' bag of trail mix -- 10 g of fat per serving is high, but a preferred snack over that big box of chocolatey granola bars I nearly pulled the trigger on.

Warehouse shopping is not as scary as I remember, just stick to the healthier items and try and avoid the pastry creme puff sample lady if at all possible. If you can't resist, pop the puff in whole or the creme will squirt on your shirt. Just ask my neighbor. Also, don't miss AOL Body's Diet Basics to learn a few nutritional tips. Armed with healthy diet information, march on over and join AOL Body's America Takes It Off weight loss challenge today!

Hormone-free milk is one product I consistently invest in for my kids. At $6.00 or $7.00 a gallon, it's not cheap. While I can't control milk purchased in restaurants, there's no bovine growth hormone milk in our fridge unless we run dry and are forced to pick up a gallon at the corner pharmacy.

Wal-Mart's jumping into the no-hormone milk zone -- they're now selling milk free of bovine growth hormone under their own Great Value brand in Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores.

Ooh la la, a discount chain sporting a hormone-free milk mustache! Let's see if Wal-Mart can rollback the price, too.