A Healthy Grocery List For Weight Loss

If you want to start losing weight and doing meal prep, you’ll need to make some trips to the grocery store and buy some food! However, just because you buy food at the store doesn’t mean it’s healthy!

To eat healthy, you must know what type of diet food to buy to make the most of your shopping trip. This article will show you what foods should be on a weight loss shopping list.

How To Build A Grocery List For Weight Loss?

Building your grocery list with healthy foods for weight loss is pretty easy. We’re going to give you a few guidelines on buying clean foods and foods that will support your weight loss.

What Are Clean Foods?

People who speak about “clean” foods generally refer to whole or minimally processed foods.

A whole food is eaten naturally, apart from being cooked. This includes things like;

• Chicken breast
• Eggs
• Nuts
• Vegetables
• Fruits

If you’ve ever heard the advice of sticking to the outside of the grocery store, that’s generally talking about where you find whole foods.

However, it can get a bit more convoluted than that. For example, many clean foods are technically processed. Processed can refer to a food that undergoes any type of processing; for example,

• Milk is technically a processed food as it undergoes pasteurization.
• Yogurt is a processed food that undergoes a process in which culture is added. Flavored yogurt undergoes even more.
• Rice can be considered processed, especially white rice, as its husk is removed.

You get the point.

There have been debates about this topic for days, but we don’t think it needs to be so complicated.

As long as you stick to minimally processed foods, especially those that deliver essential nutrients, you’re good to go. 

What Are Healthy Foods For Weight Loss?

Regarding weight loss, as mentioned, your first goal is to primarily eat whole or minimally processed foods. In fact, this is one of the primary diets we promote is the 80/20 diet.

The 80/20 diet is more of a guide as it simply says to get at least 80% of your diet from whole foods. Doing this will ensure you reach your nutrient needs while keeping you full. You can then use the other 20% for foods of your choice.

Many people’s diets are full of processed foods that are high calorie yet unfilling; this causes overeating. On the contrary, whole foods are nutrient-dense with low calories, especially when compared to processed foods.

When many people go on a whole-food diet, they find they don’t even need to count calories as they get so full!

High Protein Foods

Other than that, we also promote high-protein diets.

High protein diets have been found to promote weight loss through several mechanisms, including;

• Creates higher satiety 
• Mitigates muscle loss
• Has higher TEF (thermic effect of food)

Therefore, be sure to buy enough protein to eat at least 1.6g grams per kilogram of body weight. This can include;

• Chicken breast
• Greek yogurt
• Eggs
• Ground beef (90/10)

High-Fiber Foods

Another food to be sure to stock up on is high-fiber foods.

Fiber is basically a type of carbohydrate that your body can not fully digest. As a result, it forms a gel or adds bulk to your stools and can help keep you feeling full.

Specifically, there are two types of fiber including;

• Soluble fiber—Soluble fiber breaks down in water and turns into a gel-like substance. It can improve digestion, slow down carbohydrate digestion, and mitigate blood spikes.
• Insoluble fiber- Insoluble fiber is not digested in water and acts as a bulking agent. It helps improve digestion and bowel movements.

While both fibers are important for health and can promote weight loss, soluble fiber is generally thought to have a greater effect.

Good sources of soluble fiber include;

• Beans and legumes
• Flaxseeds
• Asparagus
• Brussels sprouts
• Oats

What Do Nutrition Labels (Natural, Organic) Mean?

You’ll often see many labels used to describe food, and they’re often accompanied by a higher price. These labels can be confusing, and even after learning about them, it can still be unclear as to what they mean.

With that said, we’ll give you a quick summary of what these labels mean so that you don’t get confused on your next shopping trip.

1. Natural: “Natural” doesn’t mean much, as there’s no strict definition. It alludes to a food with no artificial sweeteners or other synthetics. However, this doesn’t apply to the processing methods, so it could actually contain things like pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or other synthetic ingredients. For example, it can include corn syrup. Further, it does not need

2. All Natural: “All natural” is similar to natural, but it’s supposed to be stricter. However, it doesn’t mean the entire product is all natural; you see this in juice a lot.

3. Organic: Organic holds more weight and uses methods “that preserve the environment and avoid most synthetic materials, such as pesticides and antibiotics.” 

• “100% Organic” means all ingredients are organic
• “Organic” means 95% of ingredients are organic
• “Made With Organic Ingredients” means 70% of ingredients are organic.

4. Free Range: Free range means that animals are allowed some access to the outdoors. However, the amount of time is not set, and the space can be limited. 

5. Grass-fed: Grass-fed means that the cattle are fed a diet of grass and forage rather than grains. This is believed to produce a healthier animal, which in turn delivers healthier meat.

Either way, if you purchase packaged food, you’ll need to check the label to get more details on the food.

Healthy Foods For Fat Loss To Buy At The Grocery Store

So, now that you have a basic idea of what clean foods you should buy at the grocery store, we’re going to go over some of the most important health foods you should pick up on your next grocery store trip.

Proteins

When we say “protein,” we’re referring to foods that are going to provide the majority of your daily protein intake. 

• Chicken breast
• Chicken thighs
• Ground beef
• Ground turkey
• Ground pork
• Steak
• Pork chops
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Shrimp

Dairy

In this situation, we’re going to use dairy to refer to eggs and milk products (even plant-based milk). 

• Eggs
• Greek yogurt
• Cheese
• Milk
• Cottage cheese

Carbohydrates

For carbohydrates, we’re going to list your primary carbohydrates

• Idaho potato
• Sweet potato
• Rice
• Brown rice
• Quinoa 
• Cauliflower rice
• Oats
• Noodles
• Bread/wraps

Fruit And Vegetables

Next up, fruits and vegetables! There are a ton of vegetables and onions out there, and you can purchase any you want! Therefore, this won’t be a full list but rather the fruits and vegetables that we tend to use the most.

• Onions
• Peppers
• Mushrooms 
• Tomato
• Bell peppers
• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Carrot sticks (baby carrots)
• Apple
• Mixed berries
• Orange
• Green beans
• Frozen mixed vegetables 

Nuts And Seeds

We love nuts! In fact, they’re one of our favorite snack foods! Of course, you need to be cautious when eating them as they are high in calories.

However, when used strategically, they can be used to greatly improve your diet. In fact, mixed nuts for snacks have been found to be an effective method in losing weight!³

• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pistachios 
• Cashew
• Macadamia 
• Flax seeds
• Chia seeds
• Sunflower seeds

Beans And Legumes

Beans and soups are a great option to have in the house. Beans are great sources of plant protein and fiber, along with essential minerals and vitamins. 

• Pinto beans
• Black beans
• Diced Tomato
• Chili
• Lentils
• Kidney beans
• Chickpeas
• Edamame 

Soups And Broths

Soups and broths are great additions to any meal plan. They can be used as their own meal or added to various recipes. For example, an awesome tip for cooking rice is to cook in broth rather than water!

Be careful with the amount of sodium, so try to get low-sodium options when possible. 

Further, be aware of creamy soups such as clam chowder or cream of mushroom. These are usually high in calories, sodium, and artificial ingredients. This doesn’t mean they can’t fit into a healthy diet, but just be aware. 

Further, you can often find healthier versions, so keep an eye out! Whenever you buy packaged food, you need to be extra cautious and check the ingredient list.

• Chicken broth
• Bone broth
• Chili
• Diced tomatoes
• Vegetable minestrone 
• Tomato soup
• Bisque (tomato, squash, pumpkin) *Just be careful!*

Condiments And Spreads

Condiments and spreads are various toppings and sauces you may use. Remember to always be careful with these as some can have high caloric content.

Again, just be mindful and check the nutrition label.

• Nut butter
• Butter
• Hummus
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salsa
• Low-fat sour cream
• Low salt soy sauce
• Jelly
• Honey

Seasoning, Spices, And Herbs

Seasonings, spices and herbs are what can take a basic food and make it a delicious dinner! Plus, spices and herbs don’t have calories! Now, this doesn’t mean eating as much as you want, but learning about spices is a great way to flavor your food without consuming too many calories.

• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Parsley
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Oregano 
• Italian mix
• Cumin
• Chile powder
• Mustard seed

Snacks

This list will include some healthy snacks that you can pick up. We’ve actually already gone over several healthy snacks above, so these will include snacks not found above. With that said, be sure to check out this article for our other ideas for low-calorie snacks. 

• Cheese sticks
• Jerky
• Skinny Popcorn
• Protein bar/Protein powder
• Veggie chips
• Roasted chickpeas 

Get Your Health Grocery List Ready!

Above, we gave you a sneak peek at what a healthy grocery list is going to consist of. As you can see, there are actually a ton of awesome foods! Learning a few recipes to make at home is an essential part of any healthy fat-loss meal plan.

If you need recipes for healthy meals or meal prep, be sure to check out some of our other articles. Find some recipes, plan your meals, and buy your ingredients!

• 21 Healthy Recipes (For Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
• 10 Meal Prep Ideas!
• High-Protein Meal Prep Recipes!

References

1. Pesta, D.H., Samuel, V.T. A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats. Nutr Metab (Lond) 11, 53 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-7075-11-53
2. Barber TM, Kabisch S, Pfeiffer AFH, Weickert MO. The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 21;12(10):3209. doi: 10.3390/nu12103209. PMID: 33096647; PMCID: PMC7589116. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7589116/
3. Wang J, Wang S, Henning SM, Qin T, Pan Y, Yang J, Huang J, Tseng C-H, Heber D, Li Z. Mixed Tree Nut Snacks Compared to Refined Carbohydrate Snacks Resulted in Weight Loss and Increased Satiety during Both Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance: A 24-Week Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2021; 13(5):1512. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051512
4. Berkman, N. D. (n.d.). Table 1, DSM-IV and DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for binge-eating disorder - management and outcomes of binge-eating disorder - NCBI bookshelf. Management and Outcomes of Binge-Eating Disorder [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK338301/table/introduction.t1/