Grocery Cleaning For Healthy Eating

Feb 24, 2017
3 min read

What is grocery cleaning?

When it comes to healthy eating the food you store and where you store them are vital in developing good habits.

Grocery cleaning is a term I use to describe the chores involved in getting rid of the bad food products at home or storing them in less prominent places..

Who Would Benefit

Anyone who is serious about making healthy eating a part of a lifestyle change would benefit from a grocery clean.

When the decision is made to make a change to healthier eating habits it could be difficult, many don't succeed. A grocery clean can help them make the transition. It can be a period of awareness about their eating habits giving them a better direction. It gets the person involved and motivated.

Objective

To clean out your grocery storage areas of unhealthy food products
To move food products to more suitable storage areas
To make space for the healthy food you will be adding to your diet

The areas for cleaning are any places where food products are stored:

Kitchen
Dinning room
Refrigerator
Freezer
Pantry
Cupboards

You may start your grocery cleaning wherever you choose, no need to alter your routine. The amount of work involved would depend on your shopping and eating habits and knowledge of healthy eating.

The products you are watching out for during your clean are those with salt, sugar, oil and fat. Watch out for any canned, package or frozen products with high content of them. Check the nutrition labels as you clean.

You may discard the ones you think have too much fat, salt or sugar per serving.

Not sure of what you need on a daily basis?

You may use this Healthy Eating Guide.

CLEANING CHORES

Remove salt and sugar from dinning tables, kitchen counters, serving trays, and kitchen tables altogether. You will not be adding them to your meals. Store packages of sugar or salt away from eye level, you will be cutting down on their use for cooking. You will not be buying as much and as often.

Remove all sweetened beverages from the refrigerator, they are not part of a health eating pattern.

Use any pop or soda drinks with caution until used up, store them outside of the refrigerator and out of sight. You may put them away for special occasions.

You will be replacing them with healthier alternatives and will need the space. Remove all junk, salted or sugary snacks from prominent places and store them away from eye level areas, at the top or back . You will not be replacing them or indulging; you may discard them.

Discard any shortening, lard or hydrogenated fat. Discard any with trans fat above 0.5%. Discard any meat with a lot of fat if in the freezer for more than 2 months.

Trim off excess fat from other meat before preparing. You will be shopping for leaner cuts and you need the space. Store cookies, cakes mixes, pie fillings, and desserts with high sugar content at the top and back of cupboards. You will need the easy-to-reach places for healthier stuff. You can use them for special occasions only, but not as part of your daily or weekly diet plans. Discard those that are close to expiry date.

Keeping Records