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NUTRITION HABIT

Shopping

Less impulse buys

WHAT:

This habit involves planning your grocery shopping trips to minimise impulse purchases of unhealthy foods.

WHY:

Your trips to the shop may have a much bigger impact on your eating habits and overall health than you might think.

  • The more healthy food you have at home, the more healthy food you are likely to eat.
  • The more unhealthy food you have at home, the more unhealthy food you are likely to eat.

This isn’t about willpower, motivation, genetics, or whether you’ve found the “right diet” for you – it’s environment design and whether you are setting yourself up for success or failure with the foods that you buy at the shops.

Taking just 5-10 minutes of strategic planning at the shops will help save you hours of willpower at home trying to resist temptations.

A clear plan or shopping list helps you stay focused on purchasing nutritious foods and avoiding less healthy temptations. Shopping with a list can lead to better dietary practices, including increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, and reduced frequency of buying unhealthy, impulse-driven snack foods. By sticking to a planned list, you not only save money but also time spent in the store, making your shopping experience more efficient and less stressful.

HOW:

If you learn one strategy from this habit, let it be this: Avoid going to the shops while hungry and/or tired. This will dramatically improve your chances of making smart healthy choices while shopping.

Next, always shop with a list. If it’s not on the list, you don’t buy it. That saves you time AND money. We recommend keeping a notepad on your kitchen counter or using a mobile app specifically for grocery lists, and writing items down as soon as you realise you need them.

Each week, set aside time to roughly plan your meals for the week ahead and list the ingredients required for each meal (even if you don’t stick to this list 100%, it’s better than going to the shops and buying a bunch of things “just in case”).

Know your supermarket geography and try to organise your shopping list by store sections to streamline your shopping trip. Most supermarkets are laid out the same way: The healthy stuff is generally around the edges while most of the stuff to avoid is in the inner aisles and at the checkout points. Stick mostly to the perimeter and be cautious when venturing deeper down the aisles or when checking out (waiting in the queue is the perfect time to pull out your phone and browse Sleekgeek for a bit as a distraction from tempting, well-positioned sweets).

While shopping, commit to buying only the items on your list, resisting the temptation to add extra snacks or treats that catch your eye. Remember, not shopping on an empty stomach or while tired will significantly increase your success rate here.

If you do intend to buy junk food, consider buying the smallest individual servings possible so that there are no leftovers or excessive portions.

Finally, get in and get out. The strategies above will likely help you to speed things up, but a bit of intention and focus on getting your shopping done as quickly as possible rather than browsing can go a long way to making your shopping trip something that successfully helps your health goals rather than hinders it.

TIPS:

✅ Try to avoid going to the shops while hungry and/or tired.

✅ Treat planning as a pre-shopping ritual. Enjoy the process of meal planning and list-making, perhaps with a favourite drink or music in the background. Setting aside enough time and not leaving it until the last minute is crucial.

✅ Use a template for your shopping list that’s categorised by food types or store layout. Reuse lists for common items to save time.

✅ Reward yourself after completing a shopping trip that sticks to the list. This could be a small non-food reward, like taking time to read, a walk in a park, or a relaxing bath.

RESOURCES:

Back to #21STRONG Habit Library
Take the 21-Day Nutrition Challenge