Peek Inside My Grocery Cart, Please!

[roundcoconut]

Morning trip to the grocery store was almost exactly like yesterday, except different fruit.
- one pound bag of carrots
- package of “constellation” tomatoes
- humongous organic cucumber
- bottle of dijon mustard
- bag of frozen fruit (mango, pineapple, strawberry) -- the one-pound bag

Yesterday I felt a little beyond full on what I ate at lunch, so I make a specific effort not to buy more food or heavier food than yesterday. I seem not to need very rich food for lunch, since I am not terribly active (about 12,000 steps a day, but increasing it!)

[EllenR]

I don't see much starch in your grocery cart. It looks like mostly fruits and vegetables.

[roundcoconut]

That's true. It IS fruits and vegetables for lunch!

[roundcoconut]

1. Eliminate All Animal Foods -- check!
2. Eliminate All Oils -- check!
3. Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods: Nuts, Nut Butters, Seeds, Seed Butters, Avocados, Coconut, & Olives -- check!
4. Eliminate All Flour Products -- check!
5. Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes --
6. Eat Legumes --
7. Make Green & Yellow Vegetables One-Half to One-Third of your meal
8. Eat Uncooked Foods -- check!
9a. Restrict Fresh Fruit to No More Than Two Servings a Day --
9b. Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree, and Fruit Juice -- check!
10a. Use Simple Sugar Sparingly -- check!
10b. Get some exercise every day -- I've been at 12,000 steps, and would like to hit 13,000 steps today.
11. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.

So, for those of you monitoring how close I am to dr McDougall's recommendations, I am hitting the mark in some ways, and off the mark in other ways. If you are counting my indiscretions, feel free:

- I will likely have a potato OR some beans with dinner, but not both.
- I already ate slightly over the mark for fruit
- I ate a large lunch, but cucumbers were the only truly calorie dilute veg by my calculation, carrots are somewhat more dense; and i don't even know what tomatoes are considered!
- I probably stuffed myself a little too full with that lunch.

So that is my batting average! Probably others here are doing much better. I don't know if that makes anyone feel better? Comparisons don't usually help anyone, but feel free to make lots of comparisons if that's the way anyone here rolls! It honestly wouldn't affect me any.

[EllenR]

That's true. It IS fruits and vegetables for lunch!

Thank You.

I don't see much starch in any of your grocery carts.

[Lyndzie]

Since you go to the grocery daily, how much do you spend on food on a daily basis? Is it pretty consistent, or does it vary?

[roundcoconut]

That's true. It IS fruits and vegetables for lunch!

Thank You.

I don't see much starch in any of your grocery carts.

The day before yesterday it was a can of beans, a can of corn, and oats in my morning grocery purchase, plus two moderately large yukon golds with my evening grocery purchase. Altogether, too much starch and not enough vegetables that day, relative to what has worked well for me in the past!

I often find that when I go too heavy one day (too much, too rich), I do best to course-correct the next day.

So, maybe a moderately large potato with tonight's dinner, but I am definitely planning to make some soup where the vegetables are 3/4 of the volume or so -- about 3/4 veg (by volume), 1/4 starch.

Also, I would be lying if I didn't mention that I am never a starch-heavy eater. I just prefer the trade-off of eating more vegetables, and that crowds out my starch consumption.

Some people consider that a real no-no, but I just don't argue with whatever seems to be working for me. Call it "sequencing" or call it "calorie density principles" -- it has kept my weight within my preferred range for over five years now, and I pretty much know what kinds of proportions to go back to, when I start to lose my way!

[roundcoconut]

Since you go to the grocery daily, how much do you spend on food on a daily basis? Is it pretty consistent, or does it vary?

Yeah, that's the thing, is I've had some REALLY pricey grocery store purchases when I was eating "ad libitum" fresh vegetables (uh, and going way past full on a regular basis). But when I'm being somewhat more moderate in my purchases, then i'm also somewhat moderate in my intake, which is win-win.

My grocery store purchase for this morning was $11.78, which is fine by me. I don't always buy organic but today I DID buy some organic and premium items:
- frozen fruit blend ($2.99)
- cherry tomatoes ($3.99)
- organic cucumber ($1.29)
- organic carrots (1.29)
- store brand dijon mustard (1.69)

Pretty boring and not that extravagant!

[Idgie]

Today's haul:

Baby bok choy
Sweet potatoes (orange and white)
Kabocha squash
Butternut squash
Spring onions
Lemons
Frozen hash browns (no fat)
Canned new potatoes
Canned lentil soup

(Partner got bread)

[roundcoconut]

Evening groceries:
Fresh Ginger
Two onions
1 green bell pepper
1 can no salt added fire roasted tomatoes
Parsnips - 2
1 yukon gold
1 can no salt added chickpeas

Odd note: I came home with even more groceries than that, only because I (airhead!?) overshot my exit on the way home from work, and (always making lemonade out of lemons!) visited the thrift store at that exit.

And the market near the thrift store had donated some discontinued canned items, free for the taking, including no-salt pinto beans and no-salt canned tomatoes. I also took home a box of green tea.

Other odd note: my intake did not include either starch last night. I ate the soup, and it was delicious. I had a salad and it was amazing. I have beans and potatoes left over, to work with today.

The good news is, I’m getting closer to the “don’t stuff yourself’ idea. Like, I ended the meal a little overly full — a little bit too stuffed. I am definitely not inclined to starve myself, so no worries there.

[roundcoconut]

My morning grocery receipt yesterday was:
- 1 lb bag of mixed fruit (frozen bag of mango/strawberry/banana)
- also ziploc baggies
- also tin foil

Total A+ on that puppy!

My evening grocery receipt was:
- a thing of constellation tomatoes (3.99)
- a discounted pack of starting-to-rot organic zucchini (0.99)
- a discounted pack of starting-to-rot bell peppers (0.99)
- one pound pack of carrots (0.79)
- two onions (0.62)
- ginger root (0.12)
- small can of no-salt tomato sauce (0.39)
- head of lettuce - organic (1.99)
- navel orange (.89)

I did eat both cans of beans with this dinner from the previous evening's purchase. Yeah, that's a little over the top!

[roundcoconut]

So, there was actually one MORE trip to the grocery store last night, and that was the part where you wouldn't have wanted to see what was in my grocery cart. It was pretty crappy!

I was having all kinds of binge ideation, and I decided to go to the freaking store -- y'know, after a huge dinner, because I was so "hungry", right? (That wasn't the brightest decision I've ever made.)

And I'll tell you what was in that grocery cart (embarrassing myself now!):
- 3 bananas
- a whole one-pound bag of frozen blueberries
- cashew-based ice cream?

Well, being a professional binge eater, I knew that the thing to do, was to start with the bananas, and use the cashew ice cream as a condiment. So, I did that.

Then, as a true binge whisperer, I knew to move onto the blueberries, and still use the cashew ice cream as a condiment.

By that time, I had eaten way too much, and no longer wanted to continue the binge, so I did a smart thing, which is that the rest of the cashew ice cream went down the garbage disposal. (I love having a garbage disposal, because there are no take-backs with that option!) Also, I was able to put the rest of the blueberries in the freezer, and go brush my teeth.

Well, I ate till I was at an 11, but I believe the recovery from that kind of thing doesn't take as long.

So, now y'know!

[roundcoconut]

And quickly moving on to this morning's visit to the grocery store, which I feel good about!

This morning I bought:
- a one-pound bag of frozen fruit (bananas, strawberries, mangoes)
- two organic squashes
- one container of constellation tomatoes

I'm working off the gross overage of starch from last night (two cans of beans and a potato) -- no starch planned with today's lunch!

I'm planning another soup for tonight. Soup is wonderful!

[roundcoconut]

This was my soup for tonight — pic to prove I got SOME starch in my dinner!

Grocery receipt is as follows (things that went into the soup):
White button mushrooms, sliced (1.89)
Kidney beans (no added salt) (0.69)

Scraps that were lying around the house that went into the soup:
Celery
Cabbage
Parsnips
Ginger

There were other things that I didn’t wind up using, that I bought today: a large potato (0.57 pound), 3 bell peppers (they were on the about-to-rot rack, and I never pass up a discounted bell pepper), limes (they were on the about-to-rot rack, and I never pass up discounted citrus). I also bought some discounted spice (berberre) — I can’t wait to use the spice!

It made a lot of food, but wasn’t extremely filling. This was good for me, because I am (for the first time of my life) ending the meal at about an 8 on the hunger scale. Mostly, I’ve been in the pattern of eating till I’m at about a 10.5. (Out of a possible 10)

So I’ve done something right! Yay!!!! Woo-hoo.

Oh, and i actually started my meal at about a 6, which is pure crazy. Also, probably a first! Also, something i’m super proud of.

[AlwaysAgnes]

When there are really good deals on bell peppers, I like to buy some to chop up and freeze. Then they're handy to toss into various stir-fries, soups, or chili. One of our favorite soups is a peasant soup. It's basically onions, celery, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and kidney beans. Sometimes there might also be corn, peas, and/or green beans in there. I really like cabbage in soup.

It's interesting to read others' shopping/food experiences. The meal-by-meal shopping thing is not really something I'd do. I have more of the "stocked pantry" mindset. I don't know if that would be different if I were single. I tend to doubt it.