Living Healthy in the Real World

I’ve become a little backlogged with the number of product reviews that I need to do, and normally my policy is that I write up my reviews in the same order that I receive the products in. Today I’m making an exception to that rule.

I don’t like to buy granola or cereal. I prefer to make my own instead. I like using my own modified version of DietGirl’s recipe for granola, in which mashed banana replaces all of the fats in the recipe. It tastes wonderful and it’s the perfect topping to a bowl of puffed wheat! I love it.

The problem with store-bought granola/cereal, besides being quite expensive, is that they tend to be loaded with sugar, fat, and calories. I like having a lot more control over the healthiness of the ingredients that I use, and I’m also quite picky: I don’t like nuts and seeds in my granola/cereal (and usually nuts and seeds are a key part of granola). I like eating them on their own rather than mixed in a bowl with grains. Call me crazy; that’s just the way it is.

When Jamie at Galaxy Granola Fruit Not Fat contacted me about being one of their company’s VIP bloggers, I was slightly hesitant. I really do not like to affiliate myself with food companies because often there is something in the product that I do not approve of. I just really prefer making food myself rather than buying pre-packaged versions because I know that my version is likely a lot healthier.

But I looked at the ingredient lists online and I was pleased with what I saw, so I agreed to at least taste-test the granola and figured we’d go from there.

I have never tasted granola this good. I will freely admit that it’s even better than my own homemade granola.

I received three large packages of Cranberry Orange, Vanilla Almond, and Not Sweet Vanilla granola. Each contains roughly 115 calories, 1.5 g fat, 22g carbs, 4 g fibre, 5 g sugar, and 4 g protein per 1/4 cup serving. The amount of fibre is roughly 16% of the recommended daily amount for the average adult. The amount of sugar is equal to about 1 tsp (per 1/4 cup). Not too shabby at all!

The ingredients are all natural and recognizable. Whole rolled oats, barley flakes, spelt flakes, agave nectar, crisp rice, apples, vanilla extract, and oat bran are the basics for each of these kinds of granola; the add-ins include simple ingredients such as almonds, cranberries, orange peel, and evaporated cane juice to personalize each flavour. Not Sweet Vanilla amusingly has agave nectar listed as the third ingredient, whereas the other two flavours don’t have sugar until the fifth ingredient. Even so, there is not a lot of sugar in this granola- just enough to lightly sweeten it. In each of these packages, whole rolled oats is the first ingredients and apples, the second. This also means that part of that 1 tsp of sugar per serving is natural, good sugar from the fruit. So, there is less than 1 tsp of added sugar per serving, and it is added sugars that we want to limit our consumption of (naturally occurring sugars, such as the sugar in fruit and vegetables, is quite healthy for you).

I love that this granola uses apples in place of oils and other fats. You can’t even taste a hint of apple flavour (unlike the granola that I make, in which you can definitely detect the banana flavour). The Vanilla Almond flavour was far and away my favourite; I picked out all of the almonds (of course!), but the hint of almond extract and vanilla extract in the granola is swoon-worthy. The orange peel flavour in Cranberry Orange was very subtle; I bet that a Blueberry Lemon granola flavour would taste just as delicious (maybe we can convince Galaxy Granola to come out with that flavour, too? ).

Galaxy Granola would taste great on its own or mixed with cereal and topped with milk. It’s not particularly high in protein or calcium and other micronutrients, but it is a fantastic alternative to just about any other kind of granola or cereal, and the combination of different kinds of flakes (barley, spelt, rolled oats) offers a variety of nutrients rather than if all of the flakes were just rolled oats. I’m hoping to see a further variety of oats and flakes in future flavours for added nutrients.

This product has also been tested, approved, and wow-ed by the mother dear. Check out the Fruit Not Fat website and get inspired to do your own cooking/baking by replacing unnecessary added fats with all-natural fruit!

Don’t forget to answer this month’s poll about lifestyle activity!

Last month’s poll

Last month we examined competitive sports and the Olympic Games. We were talking about whether or not we approve of the Olympics, taking into consideration the detriment to the economy and, more importantly, to the people displaced from their homes for the duration of the Games. Out of 35 voters, 46% like the idea of the Olympics but feel that things have taken a turn for the worse in recent years, 0% were boycotting the Olympics this year (which I guess means that all 46% of us sort of care but not really enough to protest, heh), 49% are avid fans of the Olympics and were watching the Games this year, and 6% don’t care much about sports and wouldn’t have been watching the Olympics anyways.

I suppose I should be celebrating Canada’s gold in hockey, but I figure there’s enough Canadians going wild over it that it doesn’t matter if I’m not all ra-ra Olympics. Admittedly the 2010 Vancouver Olympics red mittens that the mother dear bought for me are incredibly warm and comfy. I’ve turned into a walking advertisement for the Olympics just because I wear the mittens everywhere. I don’t approve of the Olympics, but I guess being warm triumphs my disapproval in this case (what? I’m human!).

This month’s poll: Lifestyle Activity

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I don’t remember the last time I went to the gym.

I own a couple sets of dumbbells, two yoga mats, a stability ball, and a resistance band, so I do strength training a few times a week in the comfort of my own home. I also like to go out for long walks whenever I can. But even though I do those things, I know that they are just supplements to my lifestyle activity.

Lifestyle activity is the amount of activity you do during the day for lifestyle purposes rather than for “exercise” purposes. When we walk to work instead of driving, that’s lifestyle activity. The amount of moving around that we do on the job is lifestyle activity. Most construction workers are likely in top condition without ever needing to go to the gym, just because they move around so much while they’re working.

Unfortunately most people in Western society walk out their doors, jump into their car, drive to work, take the elevator up to the office, sit in front of a computer, drive home, and then sit in front of the TV before going to bed. Even if you do happen to get to the gym for half an hour to an hour during the day (or some other form of exercise), it’s scary to think that so much of our day is spent in a sedentary position.

I walk to work and to school. Just from the walking to and from my destinations, I get about an hour of walking in each day. If I go grocery shopping I walk as well, and carrying those heavy bags acts as a form of “strength training”. Taking the stairs instead of escalators or elevators helps to make the legs strong. Because I’m a receptionist at my workplace, I also am in charge of cleaning, so I vacuum and mop the floors every day that I work. That, too, is lifestyle activity. If you’re an office assistant, you probably get a bit more exercise as well from running around doing errands. Waiters and waitresses get a great arm workout by carrying trays full of heavy plates. That’s all lifestyle activity.

This month’s poll asks the following question: How much lifestyle activity do you do on a daily basis? Exclude the yoga you do in the morning, or your time at the gym, or your power walk at lunch time. I want to know how much lifestyle activity your job and life enables you to do. Do you take the stairs or the escalator? Do you walk or drive to work? Then, let me know in the comments what kind of activities you do to supplement your lifestyle if you don’t get in as much activity as you like. Share your ideas for “sneaking in” a little extra activity!

My tips: If you drive to work, try walking or biking instead. If that’s not an option, take the bus: walking to the bus stop (and getting off the bus a couple stops before your stop) adds up over time! If your only option is the car, park in the farthest parking spot from the building entrance to add even five minutes of extra lifestyle activity into your day. Also, if you work on the 17th floor of an office building, take the elevator up for the first ten floors and walk up the stairs for the last seven. And always walk down the stairs rather than taking a ride on the elevator!

Check out my guest post (and cracker recipe) at Snack Girl!

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Philip Goglia over the phone. As a nutritionist and trainer for celebrities, elite athletes, and regular citizens, Dr. Goglia has seen many people who have a variety of health needs. Dr. Goglia is funny (he had me giggling throughout much of our interview) and passionate about health. He was inspiring to speak with and I’m honoured that I was able to hear his thoughts on health, especially his perspective on motivation. Enjoy!

Living Healthy: What first got you interested in nutrition, fitness, and health?

Dr. G: I have a PhD in metabolic nutrition. I’m a three-time cancer survivor and I weighed 270 lbs in the seventh grade, so health has always been a concern of mine. I started wrestling in the seventh grade and I lost a lot of matches but I had a great coach who encouraged me to keep going. Later on, I managed to get a wrestling scholarship.

When I got injured, I began lifting weights for rehab. But I realized that although I was strong, I wasn’t in shape, so I started doing cardiovascular activity… at first, 110 lbs girls could easily overtake me! I’ve since been climbing mountains and cycling. The most important thing is to have a balance of both aerobic and anaerobic exercises.

Did you come across any drug-abuse issues during your wrestling career?

At the time that I as a wrestler, no one did drugs. We used sensible food programs and moderated our diets to lose weight in a healthy way.

Glad to hear it! I get the impression that you’re not big into quick fixes- what are your thoughts on supplements and processed food?

Simple is better! We should be eating one-ingredient (whole) foods.

What is the main goal for the majority of your clients?

Nobody wants to diet. They want programs to suit their lifestyle, so we meet on a weekly basis to assess how well everything is going for them. It’s all very individual.

For the celebrities that you train, what is the best way to reduce bloat when they need to walk the red carpet?

The ultimate umbrella is always appropriate hydration! We should drink about 1/2 oz to 1 oz of water per pound of body weight. Water releases fat as an energy source; when we’re properly hydrated, we don’t need fat to help control our body temperature.

What’s your advice for people trying to motivate themselves to get (and stay!) healthy?

Don’t expect a particular result! It’s different for everyone, and if you aim for one particular result, the passion of the journey is lost. The journey should never end; benchmarks are important but ultimately, it’s a journey and it suits you in terms of performance, physique, and self-value.

Maintaining a positive outlook is really important. Take a day off from time to time and don’t get caught up in what the crowd is telling you. If we want to be a certain way, then we should live like that now, rather than thinking about it as something that we’ll eventually be doing. When you see someone that has characteristics you aspire to, figure out what they are doing to be that way.

And no matter how crazy your personal goals are, keep the attitude of reaching beyond those stars. Even if it’s a constant re-do; just try harder next time! That’s the ebb and flow of life. Life is very consequential and our actions will dictate that.

Thanks again to Dr. Goglia and to Abbie at Chandler Chicco Agency for making this interview happen!

This is the final installment of the Living Healthy in the Real World Guide to Grocery Shopping. I hope you have enjoyed! Be sure to check out the rest of this Grocery Shopping mini-series:

Part One: Preparation to Grocery Shopping

Part Two: Building the Basics

Part Three: Grocery Shopping for the Time-Restricted

Part Four: Where to Shop

Part Five: On a Budget

Advice for the Reluctant Shopper/Cook and Healthy Shopping Tips

Fun for some, a nightmare for others: shopping and cooking can be a pleasure or a hassle depending on the mindset with which we approach them. For this reason, I would advise that anyone who does not enjoy cooking or shopping should try to alter their attitude. Get to the bottom of it and figure out why you don’t like it. The more we know about ourselves, the better equipped we will be to overcoming those obstacles.

As I’ve said earlier, shopping and cooking go hand-in-hand when you’re living a healthy lifestyle. Using real, whole food means that you’re likely buying the majority of your food as single ingredients and compiling them together yourself, rather than buying pre-made food. Bearing that in mind, I’d like to address the obstacles that we might come up against in living healthy when it’s time for a grocery shopping trip:

- If you don’t enjoy shopping: Stick to the produce section. Know which aisles contain the dried/canned goods and only go to those aisles; walk right past the rest of the aisles at the store. Find a couple of good grocery stores nearby and stick with them; do your grocery shopping once a week so you can get it all over with in one go. Figure out ahead of time which brands and items contain healthy ingredients and write them down on a list to keep in your wallet so you don’t have to spend a lot of time comparing ingredient lists between different products.

- If you don’t enjoy cooking: Bypass the frozen meals! Instead choose a variety of fresh vegetables, a couple different kinds of dried beans, and perhaps some potatoes and meat, and make use of the crockpot: chop it all up and throw it into the crockpot to cook overnight. By morning, you’ll have a delicious stew, with little to no effort on your part. Also, buy pre-cut veggies so you don’t have to do the prep-work if you really hate doing it.

- If you don’t know how to shop for healthy items: Don’t believe it when an item is labelled as “good for you”. Most yogurts, for example, are just glorified candy bars (the same way cereal is). You really have to spend a long time at the store, at least at first, in order to understand the differences between brands. You can also check out some great websites like eBrandAid and Nutrition Action, where they have easy-to-understand guides and advice for how to read nutrition labels and navigate your way through the grocery store. As much as possible, choose “one-ingredient foods” (for example, dried beans- which you will then turn into a meal by adding other ingredients- rather than a can of Chef Boyardee).

- If you don’t know how to cook healthy items: Invest in a good cookbook (check out my list on my Healthy Recommendations page). Think about the kinds of food that you normally like to eat and break it down. For example, if you enjoy frozen meals which are some kind of pasta dish with chicken, make each of those things yourself! Boil the (whole wheat!) pasta, grill up the chicken on your George Foreman (or poach it in boiling water), steam a bag of mixed vegetables, and voila! Season the chicken when you put it on the grill to add flavour, and then make a quick pasta sauce. Pasta sauce is really easy to make. If you look on any can of pasta sauce, it will usually say that there is tomato, water, and some different spices. Heat up a can of diced tomatoes, experiment with adding honey or vinegar or oil or a variety of herbs and spices, and you’ll create your very own sauce. If you can’t be bothered to make a sauce, just top your pasta with grated cheese or a sprinkle of hot sauce or soy sauce. The important thing, if you don’t know how to cook healthy, is to just think about the kinds of meals that you like to eat and how you can re-create them using whole foods. Macaroni and cheese is a whole lot better for you if you use real cheese and real butter than if you take a box of Kraft Dinner and top it with powdered “cheese product”.

More Healthy Tips

Don’t be intimated by the grocery store. If you’re just starting out, it can seem like an overwhelming amount of information that you need to deal with, but once you’ve grasped the basics it’s really quite easy to make healthy options fast. These are the three top things to remember when you’re grocery shopping for your healthy lifestyle:

1. “Ignore” the front label, health claims, brand name, nutrition facts table, and any checks of approval (such as the Smart Spot or Health Check symbols). Okay, by this I don’t really mean to ignore it all- but what I do mean is to take it all with a grain of salt! You cannot trust any of these parts of the package. Food manufacturers will deceive you. Even if it says “100% natural”, or “organic”, or “trans fat free”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the product really is any of those things. Food manufacturers are deceptive. Don’t trust them.

2. Read the ingredients list. This is something that you can trust. Food manufacturers can’t trick you by leaving out ingredients that they use! Always read the ingredients list. If you recognize all of the ingredients, that’s usually a good sign. As a general rule, the shorter the ingredient list, the better (but this isn’t always the case). Avoid anything that has the ingredients “high fructose corn syrup”, “hydrogenated oil”, “partially hydrogenated oil”, “sugar glucose-fructose”, “artificial colour” or “artificial flavour”. Likewise, any colours followed by a number (such as “Red 30″) should also definitely be avoided. If you’re unsure about an ingredient, do some research to find out what it is before you buy the food. Or ask me about it and I’ll do the research for you! I’d be only too happy to do so

3. Have a few fall-backs. It’s nice to have some cooked meals that you throw in the freezer for emergencies, but sometimes even the best of intentions fall by the wayside and we find that there is nothing to eat in the house. It’s good to have a few go-to meals that you can fall back on when you need to make a quick trip to the grocery store. They should include a fairly balanced protein-carb-fat ratio so that you are getting all of the macronutrients. A few of my favourite in-a-hurry meals when I want to run in and out of the store really quick are:

- Carton of eggs and a loaf of bread (to make poached eggs on toast)

- Apples or bananas, a carton of milk, and a container of nut butter (slice up the fruit and smear them with the nut butter; eat alongside a glass of milk)

- Frozen mixed vegetables, a can of chickpeas and a box of rice (boil the rice, steam the veggies, and add the rinsed chickpeas to the mix: toss on some soy sauce, hot sauce, or herbs/spices and you’re good to go)

If you have a few go-to meals, you won’t even have to “think” when you go to the grocery store. Run in, grab your couple of items, and then run right back out again. Even just picking up some carrots and a package of hummus, or a chicken breast to grill on the George Foreman, are quick and healthy ways to satisfy a growling stomach.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this mini-series as much as I have! If there’s anything I’ve forgotten, or if you have anything that you’d like to add yourself, or if you have any questions at all, please leave them in the comments.

Be sure to check out the rest of this Grocery Shopping mini-series!

Part One: Preparation to Grocery Shopping

Part Two: Building the Basics

Part Three: Grocery Shopping for the Time-Restricted

Part Four: Where to Shop

Grocery Shopping on a Budget

Now that I’m a homeowner *jumps up and down with glee* (or rather, I will be, in exactly seven weeks), I have to be uber careful about how much money I spend. Food is something that we all spend a lot more money than we expect. For me, it would be reasonable to guess that I spend about $400 a month on food. I want to cut that to about $250, and it’s going to take some careful planning on my part.

When I say that I spend $400 a month on “food”, I mean everything that I consume: this includes groceries from the grocery store, but also any meals I eat outside of the house (going out for dinner with friends, buying tea at a cafe, getting a snack at the school cafeteria, etc), as well as any alcohol I might consume. For the most part I drink very little (at most a glass or two of wine on the weekend), but I like to have a box of wine in the house; that’s $30 right there. If I go out for a drink a couple times a month with friends, that’s easily $5 per drink. And most people drink two or three times what I do, at least, so it’s easy to imagine that most people spend a considerable amount of money on alcohol. If you use tobacco (which I also consider to be a “food item”), then you’re spending that much more.

Groceries also include other odds and ends that we all use: toilet paper, Kleenex, paper towels, tea towels, dish soap, laundry detergent, etc. etc. It all adds up, and most of us can’t really afford to spend extra money. Fear not; we can still live healthy while we’re budgeting our groceries!

1. Before you leave your house, estimate how much you’re willing to spend on groceries for the month. Be honest with yourself or you’ll get a real shock. I advise tracking what you spend on groceries, at least for a couple months, to get a realistic idea of how much you spend. Break down the monthly allowance into a weekly allowance (with some leeway; you never know what might come up to cause you to spend a bit more than you expected). You have your list of items that you need to buy, as discussed in Part One, so now you’ll want to think about how much each of these items cost. Figure out ahead of time the cost of each item.

2. If you find that the cost is simply more than you’re willing to shell out, cut down your list. This is relatively easy to do. I’m not suggesting that you give up milk, eggs, and bread, or that you opt for a bag of Crispy Minis instead of a pile of lettuce, but I am suggesting that you figure out what you need. Do you need a $7 box of Kashi cereal? No, no you do not. Reserve it for special occasions if you really love it. That stuff isn’t healthy; most Kashi products are merely glorified regular cereal. See through the front label and read the ingredient list. I admit, I think that Kashi cereal tastes great, and when I was recently given a gift card to Safeway I totally splurged and bought a box- but it was a rare splurge because the product is neither “healthy” nor cheap. You can make your own tasty cereal at home by buying a bag of no-name brand puffed wheat, making homemade granola, and then combining the puffed wheat with the granola (it gives really nice texture to your cereal), piling it with fruit, and topping it with milk.

A few more items you may consider “exchanging” to stay healthy and stick to your budget:

- Popcorn kernels instead of bags of chips or microwave popcorn

- Salad ingredients (a red pepper, romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes etc) instead of a pre-packaged salad

- Olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead of pre-made salad dressing

3. Following from our last point, start using no-name brands. For the most part, these items aren’t going to be any different than the fancy schmancy brands, except that they’ll be cheaper. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however, such as raisins. I only buy Sunmaid raisins, because a) they don’t have any added oils, which most other brands (including the no-names) do, and b) they are simply bursting with flavour. Make an educated decision about this. I get the cheapest dates I can find because I don’t eat them on their own; I only use them in pureed form for baking purposes. Therefore, I don’t need them to be super plump and fresh and juicy.

4. Compare prices. This is as important as reading ingredient lists if you want to spend your money wisely! Half of the reason I take so much time in the grocery store is because I’m comparing nutrition information, but the other half of the reason is that I’m comparing prices. If you look at the small print on the price label, you’ll find that it will say how much the food costs per 100 grams or another small increment. Go back and forth between foods to check the prices and figure out which is the cheapest.

5. Don’t forget to make use of coupons, club cards, store promotions, gift cards, and any other sales! Buy in bulk the food that will keep for longer. If you have a freezer, you can keep extra food in there to retain its freshness (I always store extra bread and homemade vegetable broth in the freezer). Fresh produce is trickier to buy in bulk because you might be afraid you won’t eat it as quickly. You’re going to have to go with your own judgment on this one. Keep food at the front of the fridge so you remember that it’s there, or plan meals which will include those foods. You can always make a big frittata or soup/stew if your produce is starting to turn.

6. Pick and choose your sacrifices. Organic food is expensive, but if the food you’re eating is particularly susceptible to pesticides, it’s worth the extra expense. Frozen blueberries are pricey but I like to keep them in the freezer at all times because they’re a great addition to smoothies and baked goods; I accommodate for this by buying the cheapest tomatoes and lettuce that I can find, for example.

Ultimately, budgeting does involve a little bit of sacrifice. You have to decide if it’s more important to save a couple minutes cutting carrots or spending a couple more dollars on the pre-cut baby carrots. You have to decide if you want to mix a few ingredients together and allow them to cook rather than spend money on something pre-made. Yes, your time is valuable, but I can almost guarantee that cooking can be pretty much painless once you’ve got everything chopped up and it’s cooking, and also that you probably wouldn’t have been that productive anyways even if you did “save time” by buying pre-cut vegetables (be honest now! If I bought pre-cut veggies, I’d just use that extra time to go on the Internet rather than do school work. It’s good to be aware of how we *really* spend our time ).

One last tip: 99% of the time, single-ingredient foods are less expensive than pre-made meals and processed foods. If you buy the ingredients to make soup, for example, per portion it is far cheaper than to buy a package of soup; this is the same for frozen meals and other processed foods. That’s the key to healthy budgeting: think about the cost per portion size rather than the cost per item. A frozen meal might appear to be cheaper than a bunch of vegetables and a chicken breast, but when you add up how many meals you can make out of the items, you’re saving tons of money by buying the separate ingredients and putting them together yourself.

Coming up next is Part Six: Advice for the Reluctant Shopper/Cook!

Living Healthy turns TWO!

That’s right: yesterday was my blog’s birthday! “We” turned two years old. I talked all about how my blog got started on last year’s anniversary, so you can just turn back the clock a year if you’re new to the blog and would like to hear all the details (or just click here). Other than that, I just want to say thank you for being a part of this health community, and for reading and sharing your thoughts here at Living Healthy! Please share in the comments what you would like to see happening here at Living Healthy in the Real World over the next year

The Living Healthy in the Real World Guide to Grocery Shopping will resume on Friday!

The people at YouBar generously agreed to let me sample and review some of their products recently. I was given the opportunity to try a variety of YouShakes, YouBars, and YouTrailMix. The great thing about the “You” line of products is that they use all-natural ingredients and custom-make a variety of products to meet your particulars. They also have some mixes already designed, and those were the ones that the YouBar company sent me.

The YouShakes (which is basically protein powder) were fantastic. I loved the Breakfast Shake. I added these powders to my morning green smoothie and it was delicious. The YouShake powder adds a very tasty flavour and also made the smoothie wonderfully frothy in a way that regular protein powder just doesn’t. This is my personal recipe for a fantastic Green YouShake:

Place in the blender 1.5 cups cold water, 2 cups fresh spinach, 0.5 frozen banana, and 0.5 portion YouShake powder. Blend for several minutes until it’s smooth and frothy. Enjoy! Note: One day I made this and took it to school. Several hours later I went to drink it; it had turned to room temperature and all the froth had disappeared. It was not good. Drink this within 15 minutes of making it- though it probably won’t last even that long!

I wasn’t quite as big a fan of the YouBars. The “Great Date with Chocolate” YouBar was chocolatey but tasted too much like an artificial, commercial bar for my liking (even though all the ingredients are all-natural). The “Honey Cashew”, on the other hand, was very tasty. I loved the creaminess from the combination of honey and cashews, as well as the crunch that came with the crispy rice cereal incorporated into the bar.

One of the popular trail mixes listed on the YouBar website is “The Best Trail Mix”, and that’s the perfect name for this trail mix. It combines just the right amount of almonds with chocolate candies and deliciously plump blueberries. I also quite liked the “Chocolate Trails” trail mix, though I think it was a tiny bit stingy on the pretzels- I would have liked more pretzels and less peanuts. There was an abundance of tasty chocolate-covered raisins, though, which I definitely approved of.

Overall, the concept of YouBar products is great. If you really love bars and shakes but hate the commercial aspect of a lot of them, then this is the way to go. You get to control what goes in there without the bother of cooking for yourself (hehe). I’m picky with my sugar so I found it a little bit high in some of their products (for example, that delicious Breakfast Shake I was telling you about has 9 grams of sugar- the equivalent to just a little over 2 tsp- per serving. It also provides 15 grams of protein, which is awesome, so I found it useful to cut the portion in half when you add it to your smoothie. You still get plenty of protein with a little less sugar). However, these products use all-natural ingredients, most of which are organic, so they are significantly healthier than what you’ll find on most grocery store shelves. And it’s always better if you’re the one determining what goes into your food.

And speaking of grocery stores… shopping for your food online is an easy way to do your shopping without the hassle of dragging yourself to the store! The YouBar website also sells custom-made cereals and cookies which look perfectly delectable.

Want to try YouBar products for yourself? Enter coupon code “livinghealthy” to receive 5% off your purchase! Happy mixing

Be sure to check out our previous installments of this Grocery Shopping mini-series:

Part One: Preparation for Grocery Shopping

Part Two: Building the Basics

Part Three: Grocery Shopping for the Time-Restricted

Where to Shop?

Safeway. Health food store. Sketchy corner shop. Bulk foods. There are so many different kinds of grocery stores, it can be daunting to try to choose one as your “go-to” place to shop. That’s why I recommend that you have multiple stores that you frequent! Each grocery store is very valuable in its own way.

Large chain stores: The nearest big chain store to me is Safeway. I guess I should feel like a sell-out, encouraging people to go to these big stores, but there’s good reason for why they’re so popular! These stores have a lot of variety in a clean environment. The food is fresh, the aisles are big, and the lighting is bright. These places are sometimes more expensive than the smaller stores, but they often have deals and promotions (such as club cards or week-long sales), and their products are generally of very good quality. These stores also tend to have organic sections if you’re so inclined. This is typically my go-to store for all of my basic needs.

Smaller corner stores: The products are liable to carry a layer of dust on them, but you can come here for herbs, spices, and fresh fruit when you need it. Plus, these are usually open at different hours from the larger chain stores, which is advantageous if you’re crunched for time. There may be several near your house closer than the larger chain stores (I have one at the end of my street), so you should absolutely maximize your use of that. The other plus to smaller corner stores is that when you buy from these places, you’re supporting the local economy!

Health food stores and local bakeries: I adore these stores the most. I have a few that I wander into on a regular basis; the people who work at these places know that I’m liable to spend half an hour perusing the aisles just for the fun of it. Here is where you’ll find all of those obscure items that you don’t get at any other store. These sell healthier versions of things like vegetable bouillon cubes, as well as many products for special dietary needs. I found tons of different kinds of flour and oat flakes here; these stores are also where I purchase my nutritional yeast, protein powder (usually far better ingredients than the protein powders from any other store), and my bread. Always buy fresh bakery bread! Commercial bread at the stores is full of ingredient lists a mile long. You don’t want that crap going into your body. Freshly baked bread made with local ingredients is also so delicious that you’ll never want commercial bread again. If you don’t bake your own, buy bakery bread. I cannot stress this enough. The extra dollar or two is absolutely without question completely worth it.

Drugstores: Probably the only place where you can buy “real” food 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you work a night shift and you’re clean out of eggs, drugstores like Shopper’s Drug Mart are your place to go! I don’t get much of my food from drugstores but it’s nice to have the option. This is where I buy my calcium/magnesium powder. I also enjoy looking at the wonderful displays of chocolate

Bulk food stores: I adore bulk food stores. Seriously adore. Where else can you come across a blend of 15 different kinds of beans all in one big tub? Or vegan and gluten-free pastas? The spice and herb selection is amazing, and you also have a huge choice of flour, nuts, and dried fruit. The Bulk Barn that I go to also sells different kinds of nut butter. Find a bulk barn near you and you’ll never look back.

Gas stations and cafes: The 7-11 across the street from my work has saved me countless times when I’ve been on the hunger prowl: they sell gigantic apples, oranges, and bananas. I’d never dream of buying anything else from there- even the sandwiches are full of horrible things- but when you need a piece of fruit, it’s fantastic. Cafes (both small local ones and larger chain ones like Starbucks) also often sell fruit or salads. I wouldn’t recommend getting the sandwiches unless you know what’s in there, but in a pinch, these places can be useful.

Online: The only thing I really order online is PB2. I can’t get enough of my powdered peanut butter. It’s an addiction and I can’t quite kick the habit. But there are many other wonderful products which you can only buy online. If grocery shopping is difficult to fit into your day, doing it online might be a really good option for you.

Can I really get to all of these stores?

Not all in one day, silly! The idea here is that you have to scope around and find out where these stores are in relation to where you live and where you work. That way you’ll be prepared for when you’re running low on something. You’ll know exactly where it is that you need to shop! The other nice thing about having a variety of stores to shop at is that if one is closed, or if it doesn’t have the product that you’re looking for, it’s ten to one that another store on this list is open and does have the product you want. Be aware of the places around you to make the best grocery shopping choices.

Next up is Part Five: Grocery Shopping on a Budget!

Please check out the first two parts to this Guide to Grocery Shopping mini-series:

Part One: Preparation for Grocery Shopping

Part Two: Building the Basics

When You’re Short on Time

Grocery shopping can be a hassle if you don’t have much time. You’re late for an appointment, you want to just get home and crawl into bed, or you have a million and one things to do this evening. You have no time to try to decipher nutrition labels, and it’s easier to grab a frozen meal to microwave, right?

Wrong! When we get to our Living Healthy in the Real World Guide to Cooking mini-series, I’ll share with you a ton of cooking secrets that will make life just as easy to cook something as it is to pop it in the microwave. For now, we’re going to look at how to navigate the grocery store when time is of the essence.

First, do your research! Grocery shopping doesn’t have to be done at the big stores like Safeway or Sobeys. Depending on where you live, there might be smaller stores just around the corner from you that you never even noticed before. There could also be some health food stores lurking quietly in the background. Find out where the nearest grocery stores are to you and make the best use of them that you can. Check if there is a grocery store near your workplace that you can stop at briefly on your way home. Keep a copy of the store’s opening and closing hours, too- there have been many times when I’ve walked a fair jaunt to one of my favourite stores, only to find out that it isn’t open on Sundays. Figure out a few places that are close to you to make life easier for yourself.

Second, keep to your list. If you don’t have much time, then this isn’t the best day for you to meander down the junk food section to stare in disbelief at an entire aisle full of different kinds of potato chips. You can do that another day. Stick to your list when you’re short on time. The only aisles you need are the dried/canned goods aisles (for beans and such- there’s only about two aisles of these items), plus the produce section. The grains, dairy, meats, and eggs sections are also likely to be where you’ll want to frequent.

Third, read the ingredient lists. So maybe you’re flummoxed by the front labels on a package, or a nutrition label looks like a foreign language, but the ingredient list is something that you can read and understand! It is usually found beneath the nutrition label in very fine print. The reason why you need to read these lists is because food manufacturers are sneaky. I have actually seen a bottle of ground cinnamon that included partially hydrogenated oil (aka trans fats). In a jar of cinnamon!

Even if it’s a bag of dried chickpeas, I don’t trust it until I’ve read the ingredient list. Who knows what could be in there. So: when you’re giving the ingredient list a quick scan in your haste to get in and out of the grocery store, make sure that the only ingredients in the package are specifically what you’re buying. Frozen fruits and vegetables should not have any sugar or salt added to them; they should be only the fruits and vegetables themselves. Canned goods are trickier: they have already been cooked, so they often contain salt and sometimes weird preservatives. Therefore, you’re better off choosing dried or fresh foods rather than canned (but, admittedly, I often have cans of tomatoes and beans kicking around my pantry). I’ll share some secrets in our Cooking mini-series for how you can remove a ton of the added preservatives from any canned food! Also check out eBrandAid for a list of the best brands out there on the shelves.

Fourth, keep your eyes open for deals. I always check the fliers in the mail and the advertisements in the newspaper that tell me which grocery stores in my vicinity are having sales. When I see that Spartan apples are on sale, I stock up, because those are my favourite kinds and I know that I’ll eat them all if I buy a pile of them. This helps you know ahead of time what you should be buying so that you don’t have to go down every aisle to see if this or that is on sale.

Fifth, work with the time you have. If you know that your weekdays are always runrunrun between home and work and goodness knows what else, then don’t go grocery shopping at this time! Schedule time to go grocery shopping. If you make time to take a shower, if you make time to go to work, if you make time to watch a TV show, then you can make time to go to the store. For myself, I find that it’s most useful to go on the weekends when I have a bit more flexibility. If you have your list, and you have your grocery store, then it will be a breeze as long as you schedule yourself some time to actually do the shopping. It’s really not that difficult: we just need to re-organize our priorities.

So, what should you buy if you don’t have much time to shop and/or cook? If money isn’t a concern, then by all means get the pre-cut veggies and salads of mixed baby greens. You’ll be far more likely to eat the food if it’s already cut up for you. If you’d rather buy the whole vegetables and fruit, then chop them up as soon as you get home and put them in separate containers. This will save you time later on in the week when you’re in a rush.

Big grocery stores will often sell whole roast chickens; all you have to do is pop them in the oven when you get home and they’ll be cooked in no time. You can also buy pita bread or tortillas to make pizzas, or buy pre-made dough (as always, read the ingredient list- I recommend you buy pre-made dough for a specialty food store where you know that the ingredients are all top quality). Buy dried beans and rice and throw them in the crockpot overnight with water, spices, and vegetables to create a nice stew. You can also pick up some chicken breasts or fish (try to get your meat locally-raised, free-range, grass-fed, organic etc etc to contribute to the environment/economy and to protect yourself from consuming antibiotics; this healthier meat will taste a million times better, too), grill them for less than 10 minutes on the George Foreman (I like sprinkling mine with some Herbs de Provence, but any herbs and spices will do), and bake a sweet potato to have on the side. These are all quick enough meals that you can just grab them at the store and then have them cooking with next to no effort on your part once you get home.

Resisting Impulse Buys

One of the biggest problems people have when they go shopping is the impulse-buy. We are more susceptible to impulse-buys if we see something on sale or if we are really hungry. Have a snack before you go shopping so that your growling tummy doesn’t convince you to buy a pile of things, and make sure you never go grocery shopping without your handy-dandy list!

You should also make allowances for yourself. If you see that, for example, bananas are on sale, and you are always eating bananas, then it’s probably a good idea to stock up. Similarly, if you suddenly remember that you’re running low on eggs, by all means buy a carton. If you see something and you think to yourself that you want to make a particular recipe with it, stop for a moment and ask yourself if you’re really going to make that recipe. If the answer is yes, then impulse-buy! If the answer is no- which it often is for me (“ooh I should get eggplant and cauliflower and make a delicious vegetable casserole. Wait. I never make casserole. Never mind then, on to the next item on my list!”)- then put that item down and keep shopping. Be realistic with yourself, or you’re going to wind up with a ton of food that you’ll never eat.

Lastly, if you really can’t trust yourself to go down the junk food aisle without buying something on a whim, then just don’t go down that aisle. It’s as simple as that!

Next up is Part Four: Where to Shop.

Welcome back to our first mini-series here at Living Healthy in the Real World, the Guide to Grocery Shopping! Before you read Part Two: Building the Basics, be sure to check out Part One: Preparation for Grocery Shopping.

You’ve cleared out your cupboards. You’ve got your lists handy. You’ve chosen some recipes. Now what?

Now, it’s time to build those basics.

1) The Equipment. To recap from and expand upon what we discussed in Part One, some of the essentials* you will need (or at least will make your life easier if you have them) are:

- Cookbooks: If you don’t own any, explore the Internet or check some books out of the library. My favourites include Better Homes & Gardens 14th edition (all of the basics), Veganomicon (vegan cooking), and Straight A’s College Cookbook: Quick Cooking for 1 or 2 (simple, fast, and easy recipes for beginners). You can check out a longer list of my go-to cookbooks on my Healthy Recommendations page.

- George Foreman Grill: I really don’t use any other piece of equipment when I’m cooking meat. It’s rare that I ever do cook meat these days, but George is great for grilling burgers (hello locally-raised grass-fed bison burgers!), fish, chicken, any kind of vegetables or fruit, and oh my goodness once you’ve had a veggie and hummus grilled sandwich on our boy George, you’ll never go back. He’s the ultimate for fast and healthy cooking.

- Blender: I use this primarily for smoothies/shakes, especially my morning green breakfast shakes (the blender gets used at least on a daily basis at my place between my roommate and I, if not several times a day), but it’s also useful for blending salad dressings or soup, or for making vegetable purees.

- Toaster Oven: My toaster is hidden in storage and what I’ve got on the counter instead is a toaster oven (it’s my sister’s toaster oven- once I’m living by myself in my new condo, she’ll be taking that toaster oven and I’ll be digging out my own toaster). Another piece of equipment that is used multiple times a day in my apartment, toaster ovens are perfect for when you’re making things for just one or two people. I most often simply use it for toasting bread, but it’s also great for making sweet potato fries or grilled corn on the cob.

- Pots and pans: Essential for soups, stir fries, scrambles, pilafs, the works! You need these. I especially like a non-stick pan; you don’t need any oil at all (or just a spritz of oil from a Misto). Woks can come in handy but they aren’t necessary if you’ve got a wide, deep pan instead. Make sure that you have lids for all of these; you can save on time and energy when you’ve got lids to trap the heat. A few different sizes of pots and pans are also a great idea: I use smaller saucepans for making sauces and eggs, and larger pots and pans for making big batches of soup or one-dish meals.

- Steamer: Definitely invest in this. I use it all the time, mostly to steam frozen vegetables which I then add to just about any dish. Mine is a very simple steamer that you just put directly into a pot (read: inexpensive!), but you can buy fancier rice steamers if you feel so inclined.

- Measuring cups and spoons: You can’t cook/bake without them! Well, you can, but the balance of flavours might be all off, and you won’t be able to control the health aspect of your cooking if you don’t use proper measuring utensils.

- Slotted spoon, ladle, and sharp knife: I didn’t realize the value of a sharp knife until I used one after my knife had been dull for months (and now I keep accidentally cutting my fingers because I forget that the blade is actually sharp. Ouch). I find my slotted spoon is essential for poaching eggs, although I have made poached eggs and used a ladle to scoop it out instead- but that’s not nearly as tidy as using a handy slotted spoon.

- Cutting board: Make that boards, plural. I own four and sometimes even that doesn’t seem like enough.

- Crockpot: It isn’t necessary, but it’s handy to have, especially if you’re short on time or don’t like slaving over a hot stove. I like piling in steel cut oats on Sunday evening; by Monday morning, I have a week’s worth of oats already cooked. I keep the cooked oats in the fridge and each morning I can mix in some banana, cinnamon, and nut butter, and I’m all set. Crockpots are also great for making stew, soup, and chili.

2) The Food. Dried and canned goods are fantastic because they will keep forever in your kitchen. These are what I always have on hand:

- Flour: Whole wheat, all-purpose white, whole wheat pastry, buckwheat, spelt. I also own chickpea flour, green pea flour, and soya flour, but I use these much less frequently than the rest. The white flour is used very sparingly (but it’s useful for thickening sauces and for sprinkling on the cutting board to prevent dough from sticking; whole wheat flour doesn’t work quite as well for that).

- Herbs/Spices: Black pepper, sea salt, cumin, cinnamon, crushed red pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram, and bay leaves are what I use the most interchangeably. It’s also nice to have nutmeg, ginger, garlic powder, turmeric, rosemary, and cayenne pepper on hand. Always keep whole garlic bulbs in the pantry, as well as onions; those are two items that really add a great kick to any dish (maybe not a dessert. You know what I mean).

- Canned/bottled goods: Tomato paste, diced tomatoes, chickpeas, mixed beans, honey, agave nectar, red kidney beans, olive oil (both in a bottle and in a Misto spray canister), balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar, white vinegar, grapeseed oil

- Dried and packaged goods: Wholegrain rice, wild rice, quinoa, brown basmati rice, whole wheat spaghetti, buckwheat soba noodles, brown rice pasta shells, vegetable fettuccine, dried chickpeas, dried Great Northern beans, dried 15-bean medley, green split peas, nutritional yeast flakes, whole buckwheat, steel-cut oats, rye flakes, spelt flakes, barley flakes, wheat flakes, rolled oats

- Condiments and refrigerated goods: Bragg’s soy sauce, wheat germ, ground flax seed, whole grain mustard, nut butters, applesauce, instant yeast, maple syrup, Earth Balance

Let’s hit the road! Armed with your list and all of your cooking equipment, we’re ready to go to the store and start shoppin’.

Don’t miss Part Three of our Grocery Shopping Mini-Series: Grocery Shopping for the Time-Restricted (plus tips to prevent impulse buys), coming up next!

*These lists are by no means exhaustive, but they are some of the things that I have found to be particularly valuable- my kitchen is always stocked full to the brim! These things are not all necessary to have, but I have found them to be very useful for the kind of cooking that I like to do.

This is Part One of our seven-part mini series about grocery shopping! First thing’s first: preparing your house for the grocery shopping experience.

If you go to the grocery store without a plan, you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. Here’s the problem: without knowing what you need, you’re liable to wander down the aisles picking up anything that strikes your fancy as you go along. This is how people wind up with a basket that contains a jar of peanut butter, 6 cans of tuna (“they were on sale!”), a bag of rice, a block of cheese, and a package of hot dog buns. Have fun with creating a meal out of those items (although I bet Sophia could rise to the challenge with her inventive cooking creations!).

I’ll be hosting a Living Healthy in the Real World Guide to Cooking after this Grocery Shopping mini-series, so I don’t want to go too much into the cooking aspect of things, but I do think that it’s very important to take cooking into consideration when you’re grocery shopping. With that in mind, I’m going to suggest that you prepare for grocery shopping and cooking simultaneously; it will broaden the scope for ingredients to buy at the grocery store if you know that you have the right equipment necessary back at home.

Preparing for the Grocery Shopping Experience:

1) Do an inventory. This is going to take a little bit of time if you have things lurking in your pantry and/or fridge from weeks ago (me!), but it’s totally worth it. Go through all of your cupboards and every shelf; throw out the moldy stuff or whatever else has gone rancid or that you are never going to eat. I’m sure there’s something in there that shouldn’t be. While you’re going through everything, organize. Place canned goods on one shelf, dried goods on another; put your fruit in one container and your vegetables in the one beside it, and group your condiments together in one area.

As you do this, write down the essentials: make a list of all of the herbs and spices that you own. Keep the list in your kitchen. I also like to keep another list with all of my “health food” items, such as different kinds of flour or oats, in case I forget what I’ve got in there. Once you’ve got it all written down, the next time you go grocery shopping and you know that you’ll need a specific spice to *make* the dish, you can just briefly skim your list without having to sort through all the jars and packets that are scattered on your herbs/spices shelf.

2) Decide what basics you need. I’m within walking distance of several really great grocery stores, so if I forget something, it’s easy to run over to the store and grab a couple items. However, it’s also cold at this time of year, and I’m a wimp, so going outside in the evening is not appealing if I’m already hunkered down. I make it to the grocery store a couple times each week, and as the days pass, I make a note on a piece of paper of what I notice I’m missing in the kitchen or would like to stock up on. Keep the ongoing list in your jacket pocket, wallet, or purse so that you always have it on hand. Typically, my list includes specific fruit, vegetables, and beans that I am very fond of- those are what I tend to run out of the fastest.

3) Choose recipes. If you go to the grocery store once a week, have some kind of plan for what you will eat during the week. You don’t have to sit down and deliberate every single meal, but if you decide to get the ingredients to make a few dishes- for example, pasta, stir fry, and an omelet- then you can check over the recipes and buy those ingredients. For example, I don’t eat mushrooms on a regular basis, but every once in a while I come across a recipe that calls for them, so that’s when I know I have to buy mushrooms (besides, mushrooms are one of those foods that you can’t leave in your cupboard for any longer than a day or two before they start to go bad. Some items you should only buy when you have a specific plan in mind for what you’re going to actually do with them).

Cookbooks are a great guide to figuring out recipes. If you don’t own any, I would recommend your basic Better Homes & Gardens cookbook; it tells you how to make all kinds of meals from the beginner “how to poach an egg” to gourmet dishes. In this day and age, cookbooks aren’t even necessary to purchase: check out YouTube or any number of recipe blogs and websites for great ideas. The Peanut Butter Boy and 101 Cookbooks haven’t failed me yet. And you always have my list of recipes if you need ideas!

4) Get the equipment. Invest in a few durable cloth bags. We all know that plastic is the devil’s spawn (or something like that), but most of the cloth bags that they sell at grocery stores are also of very poor quality. I’ve broken many of them from the weight of apples and potatoes, and that really defeats the purpose of reusable bags if you have to keep replacing them. Whole Foods, POM, and Oikos all have really good quality reusable bags. I also find that the cloth bags from veterinary conferences (the kinds of bags that are full of freebies) are excellent for carrying heavy loads, so if you happen to go to any conference- I’m assuming that it’s not just veterinarians who get all the fun of durable bags- be sure to reuse the bags that they give you! These bags are easy to scrunch up in a small ball to keep in your purse, or you can keep a couple on the inside door knob of your front door to remind you to take them on your way to the store.

Other equipment that I find essential in my kitchen is a sharp knife, several cutting boards, a marble rolling pin (marble beats any other material by a long shot and it completely worth it), a quality blender, a crockpot, a baking sheet, and a couple pots and pans (including a non-stick pan). Having a ladle and a slotted spoon on hand, plus measuring cups and measuring spoons, are crucial. Toasters (or toaster ovens) and microwaves are very useful as well, and while you can get away without having them, it makes life far better when you have them. Vegetable peelers, food processors, and casserole dishes are all nice to have, but they aren’t essential.

It’s likely that you already have this equipment (or at least some of it), but if you don’t, this could seem like a crazy-expensive investment. But it’s worth it. Most of the basic pots and pans that I own are old hand-me-downs from my parents, and they have had them for as long as I can remember- these pots are 20 years old and they’re still in great working condition. Get the good quality equipment and you won’t have any regrets.

Next up is Part Two: Building the Basics (an expansion on the Equipment section of this post, plus advice for basic ingredients to add to your shopping list).