Monday, February 3, 2014

AIM: What's In My Cart

 
When this topic first came up, I thought it sounded fun - sure, take a few pictures of what I buy on a random grocery store trip, write up a little description, and post it.  After all, I'm curious to see what other people shop for, and who knows, I might get some good ideas from their carts.  But then, I started to second-guess this idea.  I began to worry that people were going to judge what I was buying, and would get comments ranging from "how can you still be eating THAT" to "must be nice to be able to spend money on (fill in the blank)" to "where are the vegetables?" and then I got all defensive and basically had an argument with you guys in my head.  Oh it's fun to be me.  Anyway, this is just one trip out of many.  Obviously, after so many years of not ballooning back up to my former 256 pound self, I am doing something right.  So here's some pictures, and some reasoning behind a few of the purchases:
Ingredients to make Jeff's Famous Frittatas (this time he added some baby spinach) and also ground beef and onion to make a pizza for the Superbowl.  Chopped fresh onions (which in my opinion is one of the greatest things you can buy in a grocery store...no more burning tears while cutting them myself).  Unsweetened coconut flakes and chopped pecans to have on hand for my hippie granola that I make about every two weeks.  Pint of ice cream we bought for a Superbowl dessert treat as well. 
Mostly standard stuff, although we've been on a hot chocolate/marshmallow kick since Christmas and needed to replenish the supply (the hot chocolate only has 90 calories per cup...I measure out the marshmallows so I don't end up with too much of an indulgence).  Half sticks of butter - we don't eat butter all that often, but it's nice to have for certain things (like French toast).  The Bolthouse Farms juice drink was something I thought I'd try, just to see if I could stand drinking some green veggies.  Limonata drink is Jeff's favorite, and since I got him off of drinking diet Coke, he requests this occasionally.  I might drink one, out of the six-pack, but I pretty much stick to water these days.
Partial fruit purchase - Cuties (or Halos, as they seem to be called this year), cantaloupe, bananas.

We also do some food shopping at Sam's Club and regularly buy these items:
Milton's multi-grain bread - mostly for Jeff, but I'll have toast or a sandwich occasionally.  Two pounds of strawberries and boy were they good!  We always have apples on hand.  Peanut butter and jelly are for Jeff, Craisins for both of us (I put them in my yogurt when I'm out of fresh berries and he loves to top peanut butter toast with them), and dried cherries for a sweet treat for me - usually in lieu of a couple Dove dark chocolate Promises for dessert.

This was just one grocery/Sam's Club trip.  Jeff was planning on being out of town shortly after we shopped, and I don't cook much when he's gone (let's face it, I don't cook much when he's home, either).  I still had carrots from a previous trip and ended up roasting them for this week.  Plus I had some Jenni-O turkey burgers and some 100-calorie packs of guacamole in my freezer, so I'm good for a few easy, fairly healthy dinners with those three items.  Or, I'll have my Greek yogurt/fresh fruit/granola combo for dinner...easy and satisfying.  I'm not a foodie by any means and seem to mostly assemble my meals with single ingredients. 

I hope by showing you what I buy at the grocery store demystifies some of the questions I get about how I do this/what I eat.  Throw in some restaurant meals (chicken kebabs with baba ganoush and naan are a current favorite, cheese enchiladas for "linner" on Saturday afternoons, half a burger on Friday nights, chicken Caesar salad occasionally) and there you go.  Maintenance, Shelley-style.


AIM: Adventures in Maintenance is Lynn, Lori, Debby, Shelley, and Cammy, former weight-loss bloggers who now write about life in maintenance. We formed AIM to work together to turn up the volume on the issues facing people in weight maintenance. We publish a post on the same topic on the first Monday of each month. Let us know if there is a topic you'd like us to address - here's the link to our Ask Us (almost) Anything form - click here and ask away!

35 comments:

  1. I love this, I always love looking in the shopping carts of other people. If you see mine nowadays you won't find much fruits and vegetables because I have the Beebox.
    I am often amazed how much unhealthy food people buy. If you look at most shopping carts it's no wonder overweight is such a big problem in most countries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, that's what I've observed seeing other carts...full of boxed meals, huge packages of cookies and crackers and sweetened cereals - it would be really difficult to have a healthy diet with that kind of food in the house. At least for me, it would be!

      Delete
  2. huh
    there are 100calpacks of GUAC? the husband would love. I caint stand the guac :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wholly Guacamole - in the meat/deli section at HEB.

      Delete
  3. If I ever work my way through the pound of butter in my freezer, I am definitely going to see if my Kroger sells half-sticks of butter. They sell half-loaves of bread now, so I'm hopeful! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the half sticks - and I still end up keeping the package in the freezer, with only one out at a time.

      Delete
  4. I'm laughing at the part where you started worrying about being judged and had the argument with us in your head... but I totally get that. When I was a WW leader I HATED running into members at the grocery store or when we were out to eat. I could just feel the scrutiny lol!

    I think most of us are adult enough to realize that you can't necessarily judge a book by it's cover, or a maintainer by their grocery cart. Or at least I hope so. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I had to put the argument out there. Little bit crazy over here. ;)

      Delete
  5. I thought about you as I packed my lunch this morning. Fage, blackberries, and granola. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love that you ladies are willing to let us all look in your shopping baskets..but I have to say the first thing I noticed wasn't that you were buying ice cream, but that awesome grocery cart...I've never seen one of those before..would love to have that little extra basket for fruits & veggies. I pile the front section so high it's normally falling out when I take the corners too fast ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the extra parts on the basket - our store also has these cute small baskets that I love to grab most of the time. The bigger carts are so deep that I have a hard time reaching in to take stuff out of the bottom!

      Delete
  7. I laughed at the judging. We were checking out one day and the bagger was commenting on all the "awesome stuff'" we had in our cart. He kept saying 'These are great". You guys have got it going on". John and I were like "WTF??" Thank goodness I wasn't buying pads or something like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I took a picture of the food on the conveyer belt at checkout, and the cashier asked me if I was "doing this for a class" - because in a college town, everything is done for a class. LOL - nope, I really eat this way.

      Delete
  8. Love this breakdown Shelley! I think you should be proud of how long you've kept the weight off - who cares if you don't fix gourmet meals for just yourself - you do what works for you and that's all that matters. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOL on doing it for a class. Also, LOVED your artfully arranged grocery cart. So fun to see what other people buy. Jeff is becoming quite the fritatta king! Did you like them with the spinach? I really like spinach or other veggies in my eggs. Because I really don't want to taste the eggs that much.

    Wow, that's a lot of fruit. Hahahahah. Had to make a judgey comment there. But really, what I wanted to ask is how you get good cantaloupe at this time of year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We did like them with spinach! Didn't add too much the first time, but I just made them again (my chef is working late) and put in quite a bit of spinach.

      The cantaloupe have been really good lately - I think they come from Guatemala. Obviously I'm not as concerned with shopping local as I am with eating what I want. LOLOLOL on your comment, Judgey McJudgerson! ;)

      Delete
  10. I feel like a bit of a voyeur, because I LOVE looking at what people buy at the grocery store. Not to judge at all, I just love to see what other people buy, and wonder what they do with some of the ingredients. So glad you and the AIM girls have shared.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I also love to peek at other's carts, thanks for sharing!

    The one that always makes me self conscious is the pricey natural foods place when we're on the east coast. I can't afford their outrageous produce or meat or fish, and the local grocery store has decent organics, so when I go into the natural food place there is nothing in my basket but convenience and snack foods--nothing whole and straight from the ground! I feel like explaining each time that I actually do eat real foods on occasion!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL - why oh why do we feel like we have to justify? I do the same thing, though.

      Delete
  12. This is such a fun post! I often share with my mom what I get at the store (so proud of my good deals I get..haha), but never thought of posting about it! Thanks for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love that grocery cart double basket. Love your very orderly arrangement. And MUST FIND those pre-chopped onions. Thanks for letting us take a gander at your grocery haul. You should have said it was for a class (life class).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm orderly, but that was even more orderly than normal, just so I could get most of the food in the shot, lol!

      Delete
  14. Replies
    1. Sure! I think Oregon has some great stuff in their grocery stores! :)

      Delete
  15. I LOVE limonata! Have you had the blood orange flavor? Its also very good. How was the Bolthouse Farms juice drink?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't tried that flavor, nor the lime...but we will branch out one of these days. I surprised myself by liking the Bolthouse Farms drink! It was SO GREEN, but tasted great. Yippee...nice way to sneak in some veggies when I'm too lazy to cook them!

      Delete
  16. I love this post. Because I love to see what other people shop for. I think this is great and it's a wonderful idea to give others an insight on what to eat or what they can buy to change up their shopping list and still remain healthy.
    The bolthouse farms green goodness is amazing, I love it and I hope you do too. I find it as a good way to get all your green veggies in without having to cook once in awhile!

    -KS :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, and I agree with you on the Bolthouse Farms drink - it was very tasty and nice to get some veggie goodness in without cooking them! :)

      Delete
  17. I recently made my first frittata--it's been in my computer folder of recipes to try for some time. Mm it was good. It's going to be nice to have it ready made in the mornings.
    I did spinach, mushrooms, & feta w/basil.
    I'm so glad you've learned what works for you to maintain; you seem to have a good handle on it, & be doing well.

    ReplyDelete
  18. A lot of colorful goodness in your cart! Eating fresh fruits and veggies requires more trips to the store, but so worth it!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks for sharing!! Its nice to know that youre normal!! Or maybe that Im normal!!! :)

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!