That's Fit

Blame your supermarket for leading you into temptation -- all those bakery goods, chips, dips, and beverages galore are bound to cause the best of us to cave on our best diet intentions. That's why we should order our groceries online, says a new multi-university study.

Researchers assigned 28 people to either a standard weight-loss program or a program with grocery delivery and found after eight weeks that online buyers had fewer fattening products and less total food in their cupboards.

The bottom line for your bottom line: Virtual shopping carts make it easier to stick to your list. They eliminate last-minute grocery store grabs too. So ditch the traditional cart and go online for for your food -- and for your body too.

Buy your cheese in the dairy aisle and not the deli and you could save up to 30 percent since you're not paying someone to slice it for you. Buy your oranges, onions, and potatoes in the bag and not individually and you'll pay half the price.

Real Simple magazine lists some other supermarket-saving tips in their May 2008 issue. Like this: Purchase your seafood frozen, not fresh, and you'll be 20 to 40 percent richer. Remember this: Most "fresh" fish has been frozen for transport so essentially, both options are very similar.

Buy ground beef and chicken in bulk or in family portion sizes. You'll save about 20 percent on beef and 50 percent on chicken by going this route. And don't buy non-grocery items in a supermarket. Pick up your health and beauty items, for example, at Target or other mass marketers. They're cheaper at these locations.

For a quick lesson in smarter shopping, healthier eating, and better living, visit supermarketguru.com.

There are lots of good reasons to eat organic--your health and the health of your family being the most important one. But there are also a few good reasons to not eat organic--it's expensive, it can be difficult to find, and when you do find organic products, the choices are sometimes limited compared to the non-organic brands.

Myself, I eat organic about 65% of the time. I live in a big city and it's not difficult to find organic choices, but cost is sometimes a factor, so I stick to buying organic for the important items--the fruits and veggies, the meats and some of the dairy products.

But I'm curious -- what about you?

I don't buy snacks from check-out lines. That's only because I haven't been eating candy and chips and drinking soda for the past year. Otherwise, I'd surely be reaching for those perfectly-placed diet spoilers. I'd likely be gaining weight too.

Women eat 14,300 calories a year thanks to impulse buys at check-out counters, according to IHL Group, a global research and advisory firm providing market analysis and business consulting services for retailers. All those impulses equal about four pounds per year for the female persuasion. For men, indulging in line translates to roughly three pounds. Although women have an overall higher average of impulse buying, men under 25 are the biggest consumers of caloric items. This group actually consumes enough to gain eight pounds per year.

If you an impulse indulger and just can't seem to help yourself, opt for self-checkout systems when available. IHL's study showed that impulse purchases drop dramatically at these stations. Why? Because self-checkout lanes are not as heavily merchandised as staffed lanes. There are usually shorter lines too which minimizes the opportunity for a captive and tempted audience.

Just a quick tidbit of information to help you out during your next trip to the supermarket ...

You're just about done with your shopping; you've picked up your healthy fruits and vegetables, did your best to stay in the perimeter of the store (because you've learned that most of the healthy food is located there, whereas much of the junk food can be found shelved in the middle area of the store), and now you're looking for some healthy, whole wheat bread.

"Oh, look at that one," you say to yourself. "It's a nice, rich, brown color. That must be very healthy." Is it? Maybe, but maybe not. The trick that many food manufacturers are playing these days when it comes to bread is that they will label their product as being Whole Wheat, when in fact it only contains a small amount of whole wheat flour. Instead, it is made from enriched flour (the same kind found in white bread) and is colored with a caramelized dye -- hence the rich, brown color.

Grocery shopping can be expensive. And cooking can take up precious time that sometimes isn't always available. So what's someone on a money and time budget to do? Here are some tips from Everyday Health:

• Buy foods that are easy to prepare. Canned tuna, pasta, beans, canned vegetables and rice are all easy to make.
  
• Cook lots of food. That way, you can store some as leftovers for a quick meal later.
  
• Buy fruits and veggies that are in season, and only buy what you're certain you will use -- it goes bad so quickly and you can always go back for more.
  
• If there's not a lot in season, buy canned and frozen veggies. They're cheap and nutritious. Just make sure you get the low-sodium version.
  
• Try canned beans for protein. They're less expensive than meat, and they low-fat, high-protein.
  
• Shop around. You might not be getting the best deal at your nearest grocery store. Scope out some deals elsewhere.

Ever notice how when you go into the Supermarket, you end up with waaaaaaay more than you came for? This happens to me all the time -- I went on Saturday for yogurt and ended up spending $30 (and that was me being thrifty.) There are mysterious forces at the supermarket, forces that want you to spend more money on food that will expand your waistline. Here are some tricks they use, according to this article from eDiets:

• All the necessities -- bread, dairy, meat, produce -- are spread out, which means you usually have to walk across the whole store to get from one to the other. Which means, of course, that you see all those carefully-placed displays.
• The food manufacturers who pay the most get the prime spot in the store -- on the shelves at eye-level.
  
• The climate is often comfortable so you're less inclined to rush out of there.
  

To find out more supermarket tips, click here.

There's a simple thing you can do every day to help clean up the environment -- take re-usable, eco-friendly bags grocery shopping with you. Finding one shouldn't be hard -- many stores carry them these days, and they're selling them for cheap to make sure people are using them. When I travelled to Australia early this year, everyone carried these 'green' bags everywhere, and I was really inspired by their efforts.

But the tricky part about re-usable bags, as I've found, is remembering to bring them to the supermarket. For me, I have to make sure you keep them in the trunk of my car -- how do you remember to take your bags when you go shopping?

If you are as skeptical about genetically-modified foods as I am, then you probably want a way to be sure you aren't unknowingly purchasing GMO foods. And if you aren't skeptical, then maybe knowing that GM foods caused lung damage and cancer in laboratory rats might make you take a second look at eating GM foods.

The True Foods Network has created a list of common GM foods that you can print out and take with you to the supermarket.

The list has twenty categories, including baby foods, cereals and snack foods.

Did you know that if you buy any conventional cereals, such as Cheerios, Frosted Flakes and Raisin Bran, that you'll be eating GM foods. You are in danger with almost any processed food, which is just another reason to eat whole foods.

It will be worth your time to get to know the GMO Food Guide.

Where do you stand on the GMO foods issue?

These days you've really got to have your game face on when you head out to buy groceries. Supermarkets have quite a few tricks they use to get you to buy what they want to sell, to keep you in the store as long as possible, and to encourage impulse purchases. Here are just a few of the methods they use so you can be ready and shop smart:

• Eye candy Tempting impulse items aren't just located by the cash register. Many stores put the candy/sweets aisle directly opposite the cereal aisle so a must-have (cereal) easily leads to a must-avoid (candy), especially if your kids are along.
  
• End-caps People often assume (I'm guilty of this one) that because something is featured and stacked up at the end of the aisle that it must be on sale or new or on some other kind of special. Rarely the case, but then you've already got it in your head that you want one.
  
• Shelf shuffles Supermarkets often rearrange the order and location of basic items in a blatant effort to keep customers looking longer and spending more time in the store shopping.
  
• Cozy spots to relax By incorporating comfortable places to relax like cafes and coffee shops grocery stores make it easy for you to make shopping almost an all-morning or all-afternoon event. The more time you spend the more you're going to buy.
  
• Tantalizing smells Stores often position the bakery or deli near the entrance so the first thing you smell and think of when you walk in is freshly baked sweets and rotisserie chicken.
  

I remember when I was a kid and my family banned tuna because dolphins were getting caught in the nets. Well that's not an issue these days as I can't remember the last time I saw a brand that wasn't labeled "dolphin safe." But buying a can of tuna is still more complicated than just brand name versus store brand and big can versus little can. It's all about whether it's packed in water, broth, or oil and if it's the cheaper chunk light pink tuna or the more expensive albacore white. Looking for help sorting out the differences? Check this out -- it's got all the types broken down into handy charts so you can shop smart and get exactly what you want and what's best for your situation.

It seems like the more health-conscious we all get the more confusing grocery shopping becomes because food manufacturers keep coming up with new gimmicks and catch phrases to try and trick us into buying their not-so-healthy products. One area that can be especially confusing is whole grains. Whole grains are great for you because of all the nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants that are left intact due to less processing, but finding them can be tricky due to terms like 'wheat' and 'multigrain' that are intended to be misleading.

The best way to get around all the hype is to go straight for the ingredient list, and in the case of whole grains you'll want to see 'whole wheat flour' at the top as the #1 ingredient (as opposed to'wheat flour' and 'unbleached enriched wheat flour' which are the refined versions). Of course you can also look to the nutrition label and get a fiber reading -- whole grain foods will have at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving in most cases.

Most supermarkets may appear like straightforward places, but you may be surprised to learn what goes on behind the scenes. Like when it comes to how your meat is packaged and priced, and why you have those few items in your cart at the checkout that weren't on your list when you walked in. Grocery stores and supermarkets are big business, and there's a lot of planning that goes into seemingly simple things. Like did you know that cartoony packages and other kid-friendly items are usually stocked at children's eye level, while healthier items are put in harder to reach locations that may require inconvenient bending and stretching?

That's just the tip of the ice berg -- for the rest check out this list of the 10 things supermarkets don't want you to know. Shifty bunch, those supermarkets.

It may seem like since we're hearing about trans fat bans on new products on an almost daily basis, there must be practically none left out there. It seems like no company would dare have trans fats at this point, would they?

Well they would dare, and they do. Grocery stores are still full of products that are loaded with unhealthy trans fats such as pot pies, frozen pizzas, pastries, cookies, and various convenience foods (all the good stuff!).

Just because we keep seeing so many "Trans Fat Free" and "0% Trans Fat" labels doesn't mean the problem is solved. Even brand name foods like Pepperidge Farm and Campbell's still have high trans fat content in some of their products. Reading labels and finding brands and products you know are healthy is more important thane ever!

No, this isn't some exotic foreign delicacy, nor is it an offbeat culinary trend in a high-end LA restaurants. In fact, it was from a regular-old UK supermarket that Jessane De'Ath purchased an ordinary salad bag -- complete with a live toad.

"I really couldn't believe that there was something alive and jumping about inside my salad," De'Ath told the Daily Mail.

She then poked some holes in the bag, and took it took her local environmental health officers -- where, presumably, the toad was set free.

Of course both the health regulators and the supermarket are calling this a freak accident (and it almost certainly is), but it's definitely a little creepy. I'm very lazy when it comes to food prep, so when I eat salad, it's usually because someone else made it for me, or I bought it pre-packaged.

I'll be paying a little extra attention to those packages from now on, however. As much as I'd like to consider myself an adventurous eater, I don't think live frog will ever be on the menu.