grocery shopping

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Oh reality TV. We love you because after a crazy day at work, you make our own problems seem manageable . . . at least compared to Real Housewives drama-fests.

But when it comes to the new TLC show Extreme Couponing, we watch the participants with a mixture of interest and — dare we say it — envy.

The new show features coupon clipping professionals who pull off feats like bringing $1,900 of merchandise to the grocery store checkout and paying only $103. That’s a 95 percent discount!

And they do this normally-frumpy coupon clipping with panache. There’s the sassy and adorable “Double Saving Diva” twins, who do their grocery store shopping with matching pink and purple sweaters. There’s the “super mom,” who feeds her brood of seven on $160 a month while sporting heels and a pair of size two jeans. And there’s the 24-year-old who paid off her $10,000 credit card bill with the savings.

This isn’t just for grandmas anymore.

But, could this work for a normal person? Ask yourself whether you have:

A Lot Of Time.

Six hours clipping and sorting, five hours at the checkout counter, and midnight trips to the store . . . say goodbye to free time.

Instead: Make it a party. Six hours is a bit much, but we loved that the 24-year-old threw a party for 20 of her friends on $26. If there is one time when a few hours of preparation might be worth it, this is it. (It also helps to budget for your party.)

To see if the extreme couponing lifestyle suits you, read on.

As a rule of thumb, we try to stick to the perimeter of grocery stores when grocery shopping. Because unless you're in a natural grocery store, the middle aisles are stacked with processed foods, sweets, and items filled with artificial ingredients, sugar, and empty calories.

We're already cleaning up our overall health and closets for Spring, so why don't we also re-examine our shopping habits and try to give our grocery carts a makeover, too?

In his newsletter this week, Dr. Weil offers some simple suggestions for shopping for foods that support an anti-inflammatory diet that includes:

1. Produce Section: Choose fresh, whole organic produce whenever possible. Fruits and vegetables from all parts of the color spectrum should make up most of your grocery items.
2. Canned or Packaged Foods: Choose no or low-sodium varieties. And, to avoid BPA-leaching canned goods, look for items packaged in glass, paper, or freezer bags, or shop from companies making BPA-free canned goods.
3. Grains, Breads, Cereals, and Legumes: Choose products made of whole, intact grains, not white or whole wheat-flour products. Stock up on healthy, inexpensive staples like dried beans, lentils, and other legumes.

As mentioned above, try to stick to the outside perimeter of your local grocery store so that you aren't tempted to load your cart with unhealthy processed items. When you're at the checkout, have a look at your cart — you'll know you had a successful shopping trip when you see an abundance of whole natural foods. Bon appétit!

Eating healthy isn't always as easy as it seems — especially when navigating your way down the grocery aisle. Our tip is to shop the perimeter because it's usually where whole, unprocessed foods are kept like produce and meat. This chart from the healthy eating blog Summer Tomato will make things even easier to decipher. Darya Pino, a food scientist, put together this "supermarket GPS" chart as a way to steer consumers toward the good stuff and away from the crap.

My favorite tips on the chart are to avoid foods that contain more than five ingredients and those with ingredients that you cannot pronounce. It all sort of goes back to Michael Pollan's mantra, which I love: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Source: Summer Tomato

I don't know if any of you remember back in the early 2000s when grocery carts had little computers on them, telling you where items were in the store? I don't know what happened to those, but they were super helpful. All you needed was a little digital shopping list and you'd be all set.

Apparently Nintendo thought the same thing since it recently filed a patent for a DS application that would not only keep track of your must-have items, but it would also wirelessly sync up with your grocery store and give you a birds-eye view of your location, and where to find the ingredients you need fast. It's like gaming, only, it's real life.

OnSugar blogger Running Nina shared with us this picture of her recent trip to the grocery store. Looks good, Running Nina!

Today I went to Jewel because we desperately needed some groceries in the house. I took my big green lululemon bag and decided that once the bag was full, that would be it! Look at all those goodies! I did take out the bananas and bread from the bag so they wouldn't get squished, but they would have fit in there! Loads of deals to be had here . . . I got all of this for a mere $40.

To see the stylish lululemon bag that she fit all of her groceries in, head over to Running Nina. And why not start your own OnSugar blog, and show us what's in your grocery bag? Your posts could be featured here on FitSugar.

• Get smart about grocery shopping. — Huffington Post Food
• Meet the chefs who will compete in a West Coast vs. East Coast showdown. — Inside Scoop
• Roof-to-table is the new farm-to-table. — Eatocracy
• Must make: beef chopped salad. — Food 52
• On guys ordering food for their female companions. — Chow
• A year of oatmeal toppings. — The Epi-Log
• A recipe Harry Potter would approve of: butterbeer. — Feast
• Tom Colicchio speaks to the House Hearing on School Lunches. — Eater
• How to host a make-ahead brunch. — Serious Eats