Top shopping tips for a weight control diet

I guess you've read all the hype about why French women aren't fat, as opposed to cuddly non-continental female types. French women, and German, Swiss and Italian women do not generally seem to have the hangs ups about food that many of the rest of us have. These people tend to concentrate on enjoying food as something great to eat, not as a salve for boredom or anger or unhappiness.

Our emotional relationship to food has to become a positive one or we will never lose weight and keep it off.

We have to think of mealtimes as opportunities to indulge in the freshest, tastiest and most nutritious food we can lay our hands on. We need to enjoy the whole process of preparing food with love, whether for a crowd or for the one most important person in your life - no not the potential boyfriend with the bulging biceps and matching wallet - you. You have to look after yourself before you care about anyone else. Truly.

Mealtimes must be occasions to enjoy. Enjoy the food, enjoy the company, enjoy the experience. Enjoy the solitude if that's what you have. Mindless scoffing in front of the TV or while charging out the door has to be a distant and unpleasant memory.

Now, in preparing your meals for the week, do as the French (allegedly) do. Why else would they have such fantastic street markets? Plan your meals and shop at least once every couple of days, every day if possible.

Why so often? Two reasons. Firstly because if you shop every day, you get to choose the freshest selection on offer. Attractive food will tempt your tastebuds to eat well (old European saying - "first you must eat with your eyes")

Secondly if you shop every day, you will buy what you feel like eating that day. Buy enough for that day only and you will not be confronted with hoary leftovers leering at you every time you peek in the fridge.

If you shop only once a week and "economise" because you've invested in 2 and a half kilos of lean pork sausages at a never to be repeated bargain price, you are doomed to either live on grilled sausies, then curried sausies, then sausage sandwiches for the rest of the week or to tip the sausies down the gullet of the nearest unsuspecting dog or cat and replace them with something even more crippling for your weight control diet aspirations.

Now, have a go at these 3 basic shopping tips to support your diet.

1. Check your fridge, check your pantry. Work out before you leave home what items you need buy in order to put great food on the table, make a list and buy only what you need.

2. Your once a week shopping should only consist of the items that you need a lot of to get through the week. Items that will not age significantly during a 7 day period. Each week, I buy several litre containers of skim milk. I buy butter and yoghurt and eggs and coffee and not much else.

3. Every day or so, buy what you are going to eat that day. Every day or two I buy sliced ham or turkey and rye breads for sandwich lunches, lean meat or fish fillets, vegetables or pre-packaged salads, apples and grapes for snacks, berries and cherries to mix with the yoghurt for deserts.

Don't think that shopping every day or two is a waste of time or petrol money (unless you live 2 hours out of town on a dirt road in the Queensland outback as I used to - but in that situation you can gather your own fresh eggs, dig a vege patch and butcher your own meat, but that's another story).

The benefits of eating fresh and taking an interest in your daily food purchases will do so much for improving your diet that you will soon see daily shopping as a pleasure rather than a chore. And you will see a positive change in your body size and shape, which is just what we are after.

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Rosie Peters gives common sense advice, encouragement and tips for weight loss, sensible diet and lifelong fitness. Sometimes it's not what you want to hear, but what you need to know. Visit Rosie at weight-control-diet-advice.com. Rosie's ebook, Weight Loss is Simple may be the inspiration you need.

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