Diet Plateau: A Shopping List to Get You Back on Track

After exercising religiously for two to three months, the fourth month may bring you to a plateau. Your current diet and exercise routine may be done working for you. Now before you let your gym bag collect dust and put away your good intentions, know that it happens. Also know you can fix it.

When you stop seeing changes and results and hit a plateau where what you are doing is maintaining your current weight or fitness level, you need to surprise your body, in a good way. Change your choice of cardio. Mix it up. Add a new class or a new piece of equipment to your work out schedule. Put away that same cardio DVD and switch to something else.

Because you may be slightly discouraged by your plateau, although you should be praising yourself for your recent accomplishments, you may need a healthy grocery list for your next week of shopping. Keep these healthy foods on hand and you can continue to make nutritious meals and snacks.

Fresh or Frozen?

Note: this is not seasonal, so do your best to shop seasonally and locally for the best and freshest produce near you. Some items, including strawberries, which tend to triple in price off-season can be purchased frozen. Look for frozen fruits and vegetables that have nothing added to them. You can usually find frozen pineapple and berries, as well as any kind of vegetable.

Frozen or Canned?

Canned if you must, but you will be skipping the added sodium when you choose frozen or fresh.

Buy your normal grocery items and any items you need due to dietary restrictions. These are nutritious foods you can add to your grocery list. It is not meant to be exclusive, but supplementary to your normal list. Of course, you could trade out some less healthy staples for these.

Apples
Asparagus
Avocado
Bananas
Broccoli
Celery
Cucumber
Garlic bulb
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kale (fresh or frozen)
Melon - cantaloupe or honey dew
Orange
Pepper - green, yellow or red
Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach
Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Tomatoes

Dairy /Meat/Refrigerated

Tofu
Boneless, skinless chicken
Deli turkey
Hummus
Fish - salmon, tuna, fillet

Feta cheese
Low-fat cottage cheese
Skim milk
Plain yogurt

Grocery

Brown rice
Chickpeas
Couscous
Nuts, unsalted: walnuts, pecans, almonds for snacking
Peanut butter
Pita bread
Popcorn (kernels, not microwave boxes)
Kidney beans
Marinara sauce
Multigrain waffles
Steel-cut oats
Tea, decaf or herbal
Tuna in water
Whole grain bread
Whole grain cereal (look for low-sugar, high nutrition)
Whole wheat pasta