• Shop and Chop

  Filed under Healthy Eating, Healthy Habits
  Mar 26

  All the tools for healthy living and weight management ~ eating more fruits and vegetables, fitting in exercise into your day, finding ways to portion-control certain foods ~ do not happen by accident. It will take learning to plan ahead, setting aside time in your schedule and learning the reasons why you should make these activities a priority. These new habits don’t form overnight however. Much like the “10 minute strategy” to build momentum with exercise, building small changes into your routine will help you problem-solve bigger changes down the road.

   

  What is Shop and Chop?

  One of the strategies for making sure that you have ready-to-go fruits and vegetables in your environment is to plan for and practice “shop and chop.”  This means choosing a day that you will shop for fruits and veggies and then as soon as you get them home, you prep them for the next couple of days or the week. Prepping them includes cleaning, chopping, cooking and then packaging them in a way that makes it easy for you to grab it and go about your busy week.

   

  My own personal example involves grapes. If I don’t rinse the grapes in a colander as soon as I get home and put them in a new resealable bag to put in the fridge (or leave them in the colander if I’m being extra lazy!) then it’s more likely that every time I open the fridge to eat some grapes, I think about all the steps I have to take to prep them… find the colander, rinse them off, clean up the little mess, find the resealable bags… it’s just enough in the middle of a hectic week to have me reaching for something that doesn’t require any work at all and that’s the danger of not having a supportive environment for your health. Does it sound lazy to not want to wash the grapes? Yes. But it happens, so I have to combat my own laziness. And honestly, I’ve let grapes rot in the fridge because I kept putting off washing them.

   

  How to practice Shop and Chop

  Save yourself from your own laziness if you’re anything like me and take a few simple steps to set up a Shop and Chop routine. If you don’t normally use this strategy, then start with only ONE fruit or veggie to prep this week.

  1. Plan your Shop and Chop day and schedule in the trip to the store and all the prep time you need.
  2. Make a list of the fruits and veggies you’re going to prep. If it’s just one, that’s perfect. Fruits are an easy way to start the habit.
  3. Buy storage containers if you need them.
  4. Rinse, chop and cook the fruits and veggies on your list as soon as you get home!
  5. Store fruits and veggies in the fridge or on the counter if appropriate for easy access.
  6. Now you have to eat them! You have one less excuse to leave them in the fridge to waste. Good job!

  5 easy fruits and veggies to add to your environment for the week

  1. Grapes - no chopping involved, just rinsing and repackaging.
  2. Cherry tomatoes - remember, tomatoes are best stored on the counter, not in the fridge as long as you’re planning to eat them within a week.
  3. Potatoes - rinse them off, poke a few holes in them with a fork and bake them in the oven. These are great to have ready to go in the fridge as a base for other foods, like Health Valley Chili!
  4. Melons - Cantaloupe, honeydew or watermelon are all good choices to keep chopped and ready to go in the fridge.
  5. Baby spinach - rinse it in a salad spinner and use it as a quick, healthy addition to frozen entrees when you’re running short on time during the week. I love Amy’s Kitchen organic frozen entrees!

   

  Now’s the time for commitment!

  What day will you practice Shop and Chop this week?
  Which fruits and/or veggies are part of your list?

  
  Tagged as: Habits
  

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