When trying to make healthy decisions, shopping can often be a pain. What should I get? How much should I get? Is this good for me? – Are some of the questions you may ask yourself as you go through the grocery store. There are hundreds of different products, with different ingredients in them, that may have different effects on your body. Here are a few quick tips to help you out, and help you make good choices.
      When shopping, the best place to stay is on the outside section of the store. Normally the outer edge of the store is where the most natural food items are placed. Typically when you walk into a grocery store, the first thing you see is fresh produce. There is also the chilled section with dairy, eggs, etc. and also the meat/poultry section. As you go more to the inner part of the store, you find many boxed items, more than not with many different ingredients. There are some quality products in these areas, but the percentage of items that are not quality is high. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, if sugar is one of the first ingredients listed, if there are partially hydrogenated oils, if the ingredient list has fifty items, then it is not good. Try to pick items from the outside section of the store.
      Always find out where items you are getting are from, especially meat. Butcher shops are great places to get meat, and we have a great local one at Catullo Prime Meats. Butchers can tell you exactly where the meat is from, the information about it, and it’s fresh. You want to avoid meat with solutions added to it, antibiotics added to it, and hormones added to it. Many of the times the problem isn’t meat in the diet, it’s what is done to the meat beforehand, and then it’s added into a diet. Type in a major chicken company, and read the truth about farms. The best way to go is local when it comes to meat shopping.
      Fruits and vegetables are great, and locally bought are even better. It’s getting close to the end of the season, unfortunately, so make sure you get out and get fresh produce from our local friends. When the time comes to have to purchase from groceries stores, always try to find produce grown in the United States. It will be the freshest, and normally the safest bet. Organic is a great choice, but only for certain items. If the skin is thick and you don’t consume it, such as bananas, oranges, pineapple, etc. then organic doesn’t necessarily need to be purchased. Always make sure to wash your produce before you eat it as well.
      The most important thing you can do is ask questions. People are normally more than happy to help you, if they aren’t then you don’t need to be dealing with them. It only takes a few seconds to ask, and a few seconds to provide a helpful answer. Always be sure to know where your food is coming from, what is in it, and how it was prepared. These are a few simple, easy tips, that can help you out in tremendously in becoming healthier.
      Jack Wilkins is a personal trainer and owner of Four Point Fitness, 8391 Market St., Boardman, a one-on-one, appointment only, training facility. Cardio-kickboxing classes are one of the many specialties offered. For more information visit www.fourpointfitness.net or call 330-565-0352. Check out Jack’s weekly blog at http://jackshealthandfitnessspot.blogspot.com/