Shop healthy anywhere

Shopping healthy at a normal grocery store is easier than you might think. Bloomingfoods and Sahara Mart are wonderful places, but for some college students on a tight budget, they can get expensive.

However, just because you’re stuck with Kroger doesn’t mean you’re stuck with unhealthy food. Here are tips for the budget grocery shopper who wants to keep eating healthy in the winter months.

1) Stick to the outer areas of the store. Most groceries are organized the same way: outer areas for fresh foods, inner aisles for processed foods. Ideally, the bulk of your shopping trip should be conducted in these outer areas.

This is where you’ll find fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh dairy and fresh protein, among other fresh foods. Check out which fruits and veggies are on sale, and be flexible with your shopping list — sometimes buying a vegetable that’s on special can force you to be creative, and you may stumble on to something delicious.

2) Buy fresh. It’s tempting to buy cheap, frozen fruits, vegetables and dinners from the inner aisles. But let’s be honest: half the time you buy frozen vegetables, they stay that way.

Having fresh ingredients on hand, sitting in your refrigerator, staring at you every time you open it, will guilt you into eating them, if anything. They’ll taste better than their frozen counterparts, they’re more full of good vitamins and minerals and you’ll be more motivated to eat them before they go bad.

3) Read labels before buying the super cheap foods, and don’t buy things just because they’re on sale. Some processed foods can be fine, but make sure you know what’s in them. The fewer ingredients, the better.

If you can’t pronounce a chemical or additive, think about the fact that said chemical is going into your body when you eat that food. Lots of the additives found in processed foods today haven’t been researched for long-term effects. They might not be bad for you, but keep in mind they probably aren’t doing much good for you either.

4) In the inner aisles, stock up on brown rice. If you’re low on cash, brown rice can serve as a filler for whatever else you make.

It can help you stretch your meals a little more, and it’s better for you than bleached, enriched white rice.  Buying a few tasty, slightly more expensive dressings and sauces can also help stretch your fresh ingredients. Just remember to look at the labels.

5) If you’re buying meat of any kind, splurge a little. You don’t want the cheap meat from who knows where. That’s what gets you sick.

Meat is probably one of the sketchier things to buy at the grocery, so it’s OK to shell out a little more for the organic, fancy lean beef or the super fresh fish, just for your peace of mind. Fresh meat is better for you than its processed counterparts, even if it’s pricier.