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I don’t know of very many people who accidentally lose weight.

Success requires planning! If weight loss is your goal, then it is time to plan for success. Let’s start off simple by preparing our grocery list in advanced.

I am all about time-management and I just don’t have time to go to the store more than once/week. I also don’t like food to go to waste (or money for that matter), so I plan my shopping list by getting only what I need for the week and nothing more.

If you stick to your list, then you shouldn’t ever have to worry about binging on unhealthy foods. Chances are, such foods will not be on your list. Most importantly,

don’t ever go to the store on an empty stomach; this can lead to poor decision-making when it comes to food choices.

Shop the perimeter.

Fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, dairy, and superfoods are generally located around the perimeter of the grocery store, while frozen, preservative-filled foods, sweets, and more processed foods are kept in the center isles and in the freezers.

Read Labels.

Avoid products with trans-fats, artificial ingredients, sugar alcohols, sucrose, glucose, sugar, and corn syrup.

My weekly grocery list:

105 oz OR 6.5 lbs of raw assorted veggies.

I need 5 servings of vegetables per day (3 oz or 1 cup= 1 serving)

7-14 servings of fresh fruit

I focus to maintain low sugar levels, so I only allow myself 1 serving of fruit per day.  I usually buy 4 bananas (and eat them first so they don’t spoil) and 12 oz of berries to divide up among the last 3 days of the week. In order to achieve weight loss, I do not recommend having more than 2 servings of fruit/day.

2-3 dozen eggs

I eat 4 egg whites every morning, so I need 28 eggs per week. I usually get a few extra, just in case I make a mistake by adding any yoke.

I eat 4oz of lean meat 2x per day, so I buy 3.5 lbs of lean meat for the week

My favorite meats include chicken breast, turkey breast, 96/4% lean ground beef, 99% lean ground turkey, shrimp, pork-chops, filet mignon or skirt steak, and salmon. (sometimes I use plain frozen chicken so I don’t worry about it spoiling).

I have 1 serving of dairy per day as a protein source, so I usually buy either 2-35 oz tubs of plain, fat-free Fage Greek yogurt or 1-32 oz tub of fat-free cottage cheese for the week.

Nuts are my primary fat source and I try to go for walnuts because they are higher in Omega 3 Fatty Acids than any other nut. I only have to buy 1 bag ever 3-4 weeks in order to snack on 1-2 servings/day

I buy 2-.7 oz containers of hummus because sometimes I prefer dipping my raw veggies in hummus instead of cooking them.  I allow myself 1-2 servings of hummus per day.

I buy 2-4 oz containers of crumbled goats cheese for topping my lean-meat and veggie stir fry dinners. I use one serving per day.