So the calendar has switched over and it’s 2010. You’re interested in losing weight and think you should buy the latest supplement or give a new weight loss infomercial a try.

But what if we told you the secret to losing weight is right around the corner at your local grocery store?

[I can't remember the last time I went down the "pop" aisle? You shouldn't be going down it either!]

This is where it all starts – The input to the output. The snap of the ball before the touchdown pass. How you go about something as routine as grocery shopping could be holding you back from the fat loss goals you deserve to achieve.

Here are three important strategies to keep in mind the next time you’re heading out to the grocery store to “pick-up” a few things.

Shop With a List

Failure to plan is a plan for failure – and in grocery shopping terms that plan starts with a list. If you have no list then don’t even bother shopping for food.

When you take the time to put a list together before you go, your chances of sticking to it improve immensely. No extras falling into your cart, no specials or gimmicks to fool you. It’s just you and the list!

Eat Before You Grocery Shop

Don’t go to the grocery store if you’re hungry. Making nutritional decisions is no fun when your stomach is barking at the moon at anything that doesn’t require more then a rip of a bag.

While feeling hunger, you are also more sensitive to the smells around you which combined with the drop in your blood glucose can make your cravings impossible to ignore.

Therefore, before you set foot inside of a grocery store grab a quick snack that incorporates vegetables, healthy fats or protein.

Inside the Grocery Store

Take a good hard look at the layout of a grocery store. The center aisles are bursting with frozen or processed food items. The perimeter is where the produce, dairy and meat (protein) live and that is where you should be spending the majority of your time.

If by chance you do enter a center aisle (cans of tuna or spices are acceptable reasons) then get what you need and proceed to the perimeter. Do not make eye contact with the Dorittos!

Be wary of the head and the foot of the aisles as well. You’ll find these stocked with sale-of-the-week items that almost always do more damage then good.

If you’re shopping with a list you should be in and out of grocery store in 30 minutes or less. Any more time and chances are you’re letting the wrong foods hitch a ride in your cart and all the way into your kitchen.

For ideas on putting together your grocery shopping list take a look at the Every Other Day Diet book by Jon Benson. With five different food plans to choose, there is no weight loss or muscle building goal forgotten.

We’ve all had our fair share of stressful moments in life. Looking back, some events may seem silly now (a grade 10 science exam, who cares about memorizing the periodic table?) while others were monumental like a driving test or your first job interview.

It doesn’t get any easier as we grow older with financial burdens, relationships, or a loved one’s illness making life particularly challenging and frustrating along the way.

[Oh my god... this poor girl is so stressed her tongue turned into a...remote control? What the hell is that thing?] 

The idea for this article was conceived during my last trip to the grocery store and walking by the magazine stands. September is “back-to-school” season in most parts of the world and there was no shortage of article headlines talking about stress: how to cope with stress or try these stress blasting workouts or the best stress busting exercises uncovered and well… you get the picture.

The Reality of Stress and Weight Gain

There is a fundamental misconception when it comes to the topic of stress and weight gain. It’s not so much the stress itself that causes us to put on extra weight but it’s how we choose to respond to stress that really is the culprit.

When we feel “stressed”, we’re actually experiencing what is called a “sympathetic nervous response” to a challenge (mental, physical, etc.) in our life. This nervous system response could be something as simple as an elevated heart rate or as complicated as a hormone called cortisol being released by our body.

During stressful times people usually miss out on sleep and regular meals because our body’s nervous system is out-of-whack (I can see Dr. House describing it in these terms) and masks the feeling of hunger. Once our system comes back to its senses, we then make up for it by binging typically on unhealthy food like processed meats, breads, and high sugar items because they require less time to prepare and are readily accessible.

Strategies to Minimize Stress Now and Later

Now that we have a better understanding of how stress can lead us down a path of nutritional self destruction (how we choose to respond), we can improve our chances of minimizing stressful situations and most importantly prevent more of these moments in the future. Here are some strategies to review and consider for your lifestyle:

1. Bring Calm to your System
Yoga, Pilates, tai chi, meditation, breathing techniques, biofeedback, music, journal writing and other forms of self-expression have been talked about here and other publications for their multiple benefits including dealing with stress. Pick one and stick with it for 30 days to see if it works for you.

[Speaking of music, I had to dig up "Changes" by Tupac Shakur. Always inspires me to do better especially with lines like this: Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live, and let's change the way we treat each other...]
 

2. Exercise Regularly
Exercise is a powerful proactive approach to stress management. A fitness program that includes cardio-respiratory activity and strength training can help you lose body fat, build confidence, alleviate anxiety and depression, and boost self-esteem. (There are some great programs out there so check out our reviews if want to make an informed decision.)

Notice how I said proactive approach above? If your feeling stressed, don’t add more with a high intensity workout because you’re simply compounding the issue. You can’t fight stress with more stress. Instead go with light physical activity such as the ones mentioned above or low intensity cardio such as walking.

3. Eat Healthy
Eating healthy meals and snacks will keep your blood sugar levels in check and prevent hunger. Research from the University of California has also showed foods high in fat and carbohydrate may actually fight stress by reducing cortisol levels in the body. Moderation and portion size are still critical here so put the Doritos bag away please! Also, occasional intermittent fasting or indulging in your favorite treats is a strategy that has proven to work very well for myself and others.

4. Monitor Your Eating
Self-monitoring is an effective way to manage and lose weight. The benefits of calorie counting are numerous but also try to keep tabs on what you eat and when you eat when stressful situations are upon you. Becoming more aware of how and when your emotions affect your eating patterns and food choices can lead to some very telling discoveries.

I’m a proactive person so I really believe in exercising regularly using strength and interval training. Turbulence Training is one of the best programs out there using this style of exercise. Check out our review for this popular fitness program to see if it’s right for you.

Have you ever started a diet and then become overwhelmed with the feeling of hunger, craving, and food deprivation? We all have!

Nothing can ruin a diet faster than the feeling of hunger or cravings of certain foods. Let’s be honest, it’s much easier to stay on track with a healthy eating plan when you’re feeling full and not hungry. Scientists have a name for this feeling: it’s called satiety. I’ve also heard satiety referred to as the ”craving-free” zone by various weight loss systems.

The concept of satiety is ever present in most eating plans and diets, except nobody takes the time to refer to it by name or explain what it actually means. If you understood the basic workings of satiety it would definitely make the food suggestions you see, hear, or read, make more sense and probably encourage you to follow it and your diet a lot more closely.

In order to lose weight, we have to eat less, particularly of the wrong foods, which often produce cravings and a sense of wanting more. However, when we eat less, we tend to feel hungry all the time. Most of us cannot resist hunger very long. That’s why the average weight loss diet lasts less than three weeks.

Great, I’m either craving chocolate bon bons all day or I’m starving like a character in Lost!

Enter the concept of satiety. If you’re not craving food and feeling deprived, it’s much easier to stay with your eating plan. Fortunately, nutrition researchers have learned it is possible to feel satisfied with a diet that still allows you to lose weight. But how?

It’s all about food selection.

The key practice in healthy satiety is eating small appetizers. Now, before you get excited about ordering the Jack Championship Slider Sampler from T.G.I. Friday’s or the Bloomin’ Onion from the Outback Steakhouse, it ain’t happening. Stop day dreaming and continue reading!

The appetizers I’m talking about contain specific satiety activators, or special nutrients that activate the body’s natural appetite control switch, so you eat smaller meals yet still feel satisfied. This eating strategy actually has a name and it’s called “healthy satiety.”

The most effective satiety activators are long-chain fatty acids, which are monounsaturated fats found in high concentrations in olive oil, macadamia nut oil, flaxseed oil, almond oil, peanut oil and other healthy cold-pressed oils. Consuming a small amount of foods rich in these oils will activate your appetite control switch before you begin eating a meal. Therfore, you will feel fuller even if you eat fewer calories.

Here are some high satiety appetizers. Because these oils are so effective in turning off your appetite, you only need a small amount:

• 2 cups of salad, dressed with one oz. olive oil

• 2 oz. turkey on a whole grain cracker

• 2 oz. mozzarella cheese on a whole grain cracker

• 2 oz. tuna in one oz. olive oil

• ½ teaspoon peanut butter on a piece of celery

Does this list of food options look familiar? Of course it does, but now you hopefully know why.

Certain oils trip the appetite control switch!

Studies have shown when the items above are consumed before a meal, it reduces food intake, slows the movement of food from the stomach, and extends the feeling of fullness for up to four hours after a meal.

If hunger was the main reason your last diet failed, you might want to try healthy satiety next time. Perhaps the best thing about it is, it can be used to make any reasonable diet more effective!

Mike Geary’s book The Truth About Six Pack Abs is currently the top selling abs program on the entire internet. But his nutrition guidelines and strategies is what sets him apart. Check out our review of this massive fat loss resource of eating habits, food choices, and so much more! 

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