Yesterday afternoon was by far the longest time I have spent on a very short grocery list. It took me an hour and a half and I was not even able to buy all. Talk about wasting so much time, but not totally. I count the walking as exercise, although my recently injured left knee was already ready to buckle. So what's on my list? Just these few items:
- Cereal
- Milk (ugh! Coffee drinkers like me repel milk. Just the thought of drinking a glass of it makes me squirm, or worse gag)
- Pineapple Juice
- Pitted Prunes
- Fresh fruit (I was able to buy sliced and cut melon....that was my dinner later)
- Salad (you know, Caesar's and the likes. No pre-packed ones so I skipped it. You had to choose the ingredients. Will do that another day as I was already tired from walking)
- Cucumber
See? Normally that list could have taken me no more than 15 minutes. The thing is, I had to read the labels, particularly for low sodium content. Having a good amount of potassium is a great bonus. The good thing about doing this is I realized that even if I don't shop at Healthy Options (kind of expensive also), I could find healthy choices at a regular grocery store.
Here are some of the items that I bought, minus the melon (gone in 360 seconds), the cucumber (camera-shy), the milk and a few items not on the original list :
I was hoping you wouldn't notice but yes, I bought a box of pancake mix. It's not for me actually but for my nephews. I figured I could also choose healthier food for them. I didn't buy them the regular maple syrup (too much on the high-fructose corn syrup...another bad thing). I substituted that with honey. Auntie is beaming with pride for a smart choice.
A closer look at the front labels provides some points of interest, and half of the reason why I purchased them.
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| Reducol = Reduce cholesterol (right?) |
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| The Muscovado Sugar got me! |
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| Read: No sodium! |
The other half of the story is found at the back where one can read the nutrition facts. I love it when I read that the product is low in sodium and a big bonus if it is loaded with potassium that I need to lower my blood pressure.
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| Potassium in the pineapple juice made me want to drink it right away |
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| I gotta love prunes! |
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| Pancake Mix and Wheat Cereal side by side |
All in all, it cost me more than 500 Pesos for these items. It's more expensive than when I just grab the first thing I see, but knowing that I am making a health investment gives me peace of mind. My wallet is lighter too...less baggage hahaha! I just hope I can keep up with this. And maybe next time, I'll be more speedy doing this. Practice makes perfect? No, practice makes for a good habit in this case.
