Let’s face it, student athletes are BUSY. And while grocery shopping can seem like a daunting task, it is foundational.
Without food at home, there’s just no way student athletes can be successful in their nutrition.
Thus, I’ve come up with this effective, efficient strategy for navigating a grocery store. By following these steps, student athletes can make their trips to the grocery store quick and easy!
Steps:
- Find a grocery store. Get familiar with the layout, commit to that one. Pick one that’s close and affordable! Walmart and Kroger stores are great options. Saving pennies on certain items isn’t worth the time it takes to travel, YOU’RE BUSY! Make it easy. Commit to one store.
- Choose a department starting point. And work your way to the other side of the store. Is it starting at produce and working your way around? Or maybe starting at the refrigerated area. Whatever it is, make that your go-to starting point.
- Make a categories list TEMPLATE and write them in the order of your voyage throughout the grocery store. Here are some to get you started:
- Produce
- Bulk Bins
- Seafood
- Meat
- Dairy, Eggs, Cheese
- Lunch Meat
- Bakery
- Deli and prepared foods
- Frozen
- Dressings and condiments
- Breakfast Food
- Baking Ingredients
- Oils
- Coffee
- Snack foods
- Canned fruits and vegetables
- Juice and Water, Ready-to-drink Beverages
- Once you make a template, save it to google docs, notes on your phone…whatever you want.
- When you go to make your grocery list, write the things you need under your categories. And it’s okay if you need to update categories, adding/changing/etc as you go along.
- Other tips
- Establish a grocery trip routine either weekly or every other week.
- If you buy ingredients and run out of it between grocery trips, then make sure to make a note on your grocery list to buy more the next time
- Produce sections sometimes have “damaged” discounted produce like bananas, which are great for smoothies! Or other things you can chop and incorporate into soups, freeze for later, etc.
- If you use reusable shopping bags, make a habit of keeping them in your car
- Sign up for free incentive programs with your grocery store (for example, Kroger gives you fuel points when you use their rewards), plus you’ll get the cheaper prices
- If you are shopping for an apartment full of roommates or for you and your partner, then make the list together. Then, split up the grocery visit to divide and conquer. One of you start at the end of the list, and one of you start at the top, and meet in the middle.
- For advice on how to build a grocery list, check out the article below:
https://nicolebiancodietitian.com/2020/12/16/the-best-approach-to-making-a-grocery-shopping-list/
Like we said, student athletes are busy…but it’s not an excuse to not eat! Following the steps above will ensure an effective and efficient grocery trip.
If you are a sports medicine or performance professional, and you are looking for ways to make nutrition a part of your student athletes’ training, then let’s connect! Click the link below to schedule a call.