The Shopping Cart Challenge

If you can learn to discipline yourself during the time you spend picking out the food you're going to eat for the week ahead, you can improve your mind and body TREMENDOUSLY. I'm talking about the 1-2 hours per week you spend AT THE GROCERY STORE. This is what will make or break your body. What's great is that if you can be FORCE yourself to buy real food during this precious time, you will FORCE yourself to eat healthy for the rest of the week because you WON'T HAVE ANY BAD FOOD around. It's not like you'll go to the store, buy all kinds of real, delicious foods, pack it into your cupboards, and then when you open them the next morning it's all turned into cinnamon rolls and potato chips. NO! If you put real foods into your shopping cart, you leave the store with real foods, real foods go into the trunk of your car, real foods go into your cupboards, and finally, real foods go INTO YOUR BELLY! See how clever that is? WHAT GOES INTO YOUR CART GOES INTO YOU! And for those of you smartasses who say "But what if instead of cooking at home I go to McDonald's and order a big, greasy burger?", come a little closer so I can slap you!

Obviously, I'm setting you up for a mission of sorts: put only REAL food into your shopping cart. Even though this task seems incredibly simple, millions of Americans fail to do it every day, and I'm sure you have too. Before you go the store, you might even make a list of a bunch of good, wholesome foods you're going to buy for the coming week, but for some reason when you actually walk into the store you go into "Indiscretionary Grabbing Mode", IGM for short. I think IGM is a medical condition - your eyes glaze over, the pleasure centers in your brain start talking to you, your fingers get twitchy, you begin salivating, and your arms just fly out from the sides of your body randomly grabbing things in pretty bags and boxes sitting nicely on the shelves and screaming out to your subconscious "EAT ME!" By the time you reach the fresh breeze outside the store and come back to your senses it's too late, your cart is already full of boxed foods rich with preservatives, cookies, cupcakes, frozen TV dinners, and that four pound bag of gummy bears. I understand this condition, I used to have IGM. Okay I still sort of do, but it's about 10% as problematic as it once was. And I think I've found a cure for it! It's a two-step program:

Only buy groceries after you've eaten a meal within the last couple of hours
Put one of the following signs on your shopping cart:

What goes into my shopping cart goes into me. Word, PDF
What goes into my shopping cart goes into my kids. Word, PDF
Real foods will make me smarter, healthier, and more energetic. Word, PDF
Real foods help me wake up closer to my potential. Word, PDF
What part of me will that become? Word, PDF

Just download one, print it out, fold it in half and hang it over the child's seat or front of the cart so it's staring you in the face. Every time you look down or put something into your cart you'll be forced to see it. Maybe even print out two. You might need to bring a bit of tape if you drive your cart like Jeff Gordon or your store is a bit breezy. Even though this seems absurb, just remember that you've failed to put only real foods into your shopping cart for years now and this will help you change that! It will help change YOU! And maybe it'll be a good conversation starter if someone else see's it on your cart in the grocery store. You can help THEM change too. Feel free to make your own sign if you can think of something that hit's closer to home for you.

Now back to Step 1. Why go grocery shopping only after you've eaten? Because then you're not starving and that four pound bag of gummy bears won't be screaming your name so loudly. Eating helps alleviate the symptoms of IGM. If you're full, your body doesn't think it's going to starve, so it won't be yelling to your brain "BUY IT! IT TASTES SO GOOD! WE WANT IT! WE NEED IT!" every time you pass a bag of tortilla chips or the tempting baked goods table sporting those whirlpool-sized bismarks with sprinkles, creamy frosting, and jelly filling.

If you follow this two-step program to cure IGM you'll be amazed at how much healthier you'll start eating. Remember, all it takes is a disciplined 1-2 HOURS at the grocery store to help you eat healthy for the REST OF THE WEEK. I would still recommend writing out a list of foods that you'd like to buy so you have something to help you snap out of your daze when you begin twitching and IGM starts setting in.

So here's The Shopping Cart Challenge:

Next time you shop, print out one of the signs I've made, go AFTER eating, and put only REAL foods into your cart.

If you're not sure what real foods are, read the breakfast articles I've written and check the Food Guide for some really good information. To help you judge your success, I've created a printout where you list all the foods that made it BACK TO YOUR HOUSE, NOT what you INTEND to buy. This is a post-shopping evaluation! Put a "check" next to foods that you know fit the criteria for being a REAL food, and an "X" next to the foods that don't. Tally the scores, and try to beat it next time!