Fit Friday: Grocery trip could sabotage your diet

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Exercise is just part of the war in your battle to stay fit.  How you shop at a grocery store could sabotage your best intentions.

On this Fit Friday, learn how to win the fitness battle when you load up your shopping cart. Registered dietitian Noah Alldredge rolled through the aisles with us.  His number one strategy is to stay close to the outside walls, or the perimeter of the grocery store.

"So, we're camped out in the produce section.  The other parts of that would be the lean meats, the low fat dairy, the herbs and spices, the food that's not been processed or altered," Alldredge said.

In the produce section, Aldredge says not all veggies are created equal. 

"I'm all about non-starchy vegetables because they provide high volume of food but low density.  If you're trying to lose weight, those are great to fill you up but not provide a lot of calories."

So, what's the difference between the starchy and non-starchy foods?  The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) classifies white potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and peas as starchy veggies. Everything else -- lettuce, green beans, carrots, for example -- that's the really good stuff.

Staying in the produce section, some fruits are better than others.

"Whole fruit, where you can eat the outside of the fruit, the inside of the fruit, the peel of the fruit, is the fiber source."

Alldredge doesn't tell people they have to stay away from meat.  They don't have to stick with fish, turkey and chicken.

"Meat is great because it increases the thermic effect of food, which basically means the amount of work your body has to do to metabolize that, so have protein with your meals," he said.  "You want to look for the words filet or loin cuts.  Those are going to be the leaner cuts than cuts like rib or rib-eye."

If you don't remember the name of the cut of the meat.  You can just look at it to see what more marbled.  The less marbled (fat) cuts are the better choices.

Staying on the perimeter of the store, yogurt is all good for you, right?

"Not exactly.  This is one of those things where you want to compare and contrast labels a lot of times," said Alldredge.

The basic recommendation is to look for 6 ounces of Greek yogurt with no more than 100 calories.  On cheese, 2 percent milkfat is what he recommends, not the fat-free cheese, because jis clients don't like it and won't eat it.

"I want you to enjoy eating healthy.  It has to be delicious, nutritious, low on prep time.  Guys don't want to spend a lot of time camping out in the kitchen, so it has to be quick easy fixes," he said.

That's why he'll tell those scared of the kitchen -- or just plain lazy -- to go for flash frozen veggies and fruits.

"A lot of people don't cook vegetables today because they don't want to take the time.  They don't know how to cook them.  They don't know how to make them taste good.  You can eliminate all those excuses with these steamable bags that are pre-flavored, and just throw them in the microwave for 5 minutes."

The bottom line is to take small steps to fill your cart with good but tasty stuff.

"That cheese is a great example, how a small change can have a big effect.  It saves you 22,000 calories over the course of a year, seven pounds of fat," said Alldredge.

Here's one more recommendation for hamburger lovers.  Go ahead and buy 90- to 93-percent lean meat.  Alldredge says it's okay to stay away from 98 percent lean.  He's found it's too dry and people just don't like it.

If you'd like to see an extended trip through the grocery store with more tips, Alldredge has a video posted on his website. He also has a number of recipes on his website.