It's a Jungle Out There..... in your grocery aisle.

Walking through the grocery store yesterday, I was bombarded by all kinds of things that want to jump in my cart and go home with me..... some are better choices than others. Walking through the bakery aisle, cupcakes and brownies and other delights said, 'Pick Me! Pick Me!'...... and the frozen food aisle has ice cream... and funny the cookies are situated opposite the ice cream! Arriving at the check out, the magazines are strategically placed.... Cosmo flashes a overly thin model of the month, magazine for diabetics talks about better eating choices, and the various other periodicals flash pictures of thin people and headlines stating how you can lose x in x days.

It's a jungle out there!

Now take the journey in your mind's eye through your grocery store. What makes it in the shopping cart and what stays in the store? Do you travel with a shopping list or do you shop on impulse? Do you plan what you are eating that week? or Is your week scattered with more impulse and unpredictability?

Failing to plan is planning to fail. As we embark on National Nutrition Month (www.eatright.org/nnm), I wanted to take a moment and reemphasize how eating influences your overall day. Our relationship with food is extremely important in our overall health.

When we eat junk, we feel like junk. Remember the last time you indulged on a day of junk (your definition, please). How did you feel at the end of the day? Lethargic, perhaps. Bloated. You just didn't feel right.

Now compare that to a day, where you ate fresh fruits and veggies, had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and enjoyed a dinner of lean meat or fish with steamed veggies. Much different feeling?

The food we put in our body influences us overall. The buzz word in the industry is 'eating clean' or clean-eating. I always think of a raccoon cleaning his food. But imagine the simplicity in that.

Let's define eating clean..... minimal intake of processed food, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, and cold-pressed oils (non-processed)......

By eating cleanly, your body is able to be healthy from the inside out. Taking care of your inside, will take care of the outside.

As for your grocery store, all of the clean foods (give or take a few that have been moved for marketing strategies) are on the outside of the store...... shop the walls, stay out of the aisles (except for spices and other seasonings, sometimes nuts, etc...) and you will be able to fill your cart with better choices for your overall nutritional needs.

Have a great week.... it's a jungle out there.