Your diet is at least 80% of your success/failure when it comes to getting in shape.

Muscles are made in the kitchen and not in the gym, so I wanted to do an article on what I buy at the grocery store.  I’m a picky eater, and I don’t have time to prepare extravagant meals all day long.

Between having a full time job, exercising, playing piano or the occasional video game, and running this blog, the amount of time I have to prepare, eat, and clean up six meals a day.  I checked my past receipts, and I realized that I’ve been buying the same thing over and over and over, so I wanted to pass along what I actually buy:

• 3 Gallons of 1% Milk - I mix all of my shakes with milk, so I go through a LOT of this stuff.  I drink two Muscle Milk (Collegiate Edition) shakes a day, each with two cups of milk – one after I work out/for breakfast, and then another one in the afternoon between lunch and dinner.  Before I go to bed, I drink a protein shake mixed with one cup of milk.
• 1 Bag of Romain Lettuce and Lite Caesar Dressing - Salad prepared in 30 seconds.  I’m not a big fan of salads but I know I need to eat them, so why waste more time preparing them than I need to?
• Sarah Lee Whole Grain Wheat Bread and 2 Jars of Skippy Natural Peanut Butter. Peanut butter sandwiches, 2 a day. Carbs, protein, good fats.
• 1 Bag of Tyson Chicken – Frozen Chicken Tenderloins - coat with Pam cooking spray, add some spices, stick in over on cookie sheet for 30 minutes.  Easy.
• 1 Bag of Whole Wheat Tortillas (Cut up 4 chicken tenderloins, add some cheese, and bam you got yourself a 5 minute chicken quesadilla.
• 1 Box of Boil-in-a-bag Brown Rice Packets. Good Carbs!
• 2 Lbs of 90% Lean Ground Beef, 1 BIG Jar of Prego, 1 Box of Angel Hair Pasta (along with some spices, Worcestershire sauce, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil to make the spaghetti sauce).  I’ll write a blog soon on how I make a week’s worth of spaghetti.
• Box of Granola Bars/Protein Bars – I eat these first thing in the morning when I’m going to work out before work.
• Bag of apples, bag of raisins.  More fruit!

Notice anything missing? That’s right, there’s no junk food on this list!  If you don’t want to be tempted with eating it, don’t put it in your house.  No Oreos, no chocolate chip cookies, no Twinkies, no soda, no candy bars, etc.  I don’t have a lot of money, and I have to buy a LOT of food to eat 4000 calories a day, so every penny I spend needs to be good for me.

I realize I don’t eat 100% healthy foods and I certainly don’t eat enough vegetables, but I make sure I don’t eat any crap.  Also, I’m always trying to get better, making my trips to the grocery store a constant work in progress.  Over the past few year and a half I’ve made the transition from white rice to brown, white bread to wheat, and flour tortillas to whole wheat tortillas.  Each week I try to make one change or mix something up to make my meals even healthier.  I know I still don’t eat enough vegetables, I want to start eating more natural foods, etc.; I always try to be better.

I challenge you to do the same. Every time you go to the store, buy one less junk food item, buy one more healthy thing, or take something you normally buy and find a healthier version of it.

-Steve