Why I shop at Walmart

In my previous blog, "When you know better," I talk about voting with your groceries. Every time you place an item in your cart, you're casting a vote for the kinds of products you want to see carried in that store. 

Well, let's talk about where more votes are cast than probably any grocer in the country--Walmart. And I happen to cast A LOT of votes at my local Walmart Neighborhood Market. Do I enjoy the experience? Not particularly, but because I, like most fitness professionals, don't earn Gillian Michaels' salary, and because food is my largest monthly purchase, I go where I can save. I also shop at other mass grocers, and occasionally at Whole Foods and a natural foods market when I feel like splurging and wasting a lot of time driving. But by and large, Walmart it is, because I'm frugal, because it's on the way home, and because I've learned to find healthy options there.

I realize that each Walmart (superstores and neighborhood markets) offers a slightly different assortment of products, so some of the items I highlight may not yet have reached your store. But use these finds as a guide, and don't be afraid to ask a manager to stock similar items. 

As you take a look at these products and read the captions, I'd like to remind everyone that locally-sourced, fresh, unprocessed, homemade food is best. We're all on the same page with that, right? Good. But I'm a realist and don't take an elitist attitude about my food or its source. I'm a busy mom with two kids and a husband with a demanding job, so I do what works best for my life. The point of this blog is simply to show you that healthy options are available, even at Walmart, and if we want to keep seeing more good stuff, we have to buy the good stuff. 

Do all of these items cost more than other options in the store? Yes. Are they worth it? To my family, absolutely. If we are what we eat--down to a cellular level--how can I accept less than quality food? And we have made adjustments in our budget to afford these items. As such, we only consume bison or grass fed beef once every 7-10 days, chicken once or twice a week, salmon (I buy the wild caught frozen filets from either Wal-Mart or Target) once a week and tuna once or twice a week. Other days, we have a vegetarian or bean-based meal, and every Sunday, we consume a family ritual of popcorn, cheese and fruit for dinner. And we rarely eat fast food, or eat out for that matter.

If the idea of incorporating more organic, high quality--and thus, more expensive--foods into your diet seems daunting, start small. Little by little, start swapping bad stuff for good, and good stuff for better. And make the healthier stuff go farther. For instance, I buy organic milk, which is stupid expensive, so I only allow my boys to consume it at breakfast and dinner. To bulk up a pound of ground bison, I add cooked quinoa, brown rice or black beans. To turn organic vegetable soups into a heftier, protein enhanced meal, I blend in cottage cheese (or tofu, which I haven't found at Walmart). You get the idea (and if not, leave a comment and I'll help you out!). 

I'd like to leave you with a simple challenge: take a look in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboard and determine one item in each that you will replace with something healthier the next time you shop. That's just three small changes...and a great start!

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One pound of lean ground bison with no antibiotics or hormones. I haven't seen lean grassfed beef in my local Wal-Mart yet, but this is an encouraging new option.

Harvestland chicken breasts are "99% fat free, no antiobotics ever, fed all vegetarian diet, no animal by-products, humanely raised, raised cage free, no hormones or steroids added."

I am a HUGE fan of KIND products, Curiously, only my Walmart superstore carries a broad assortment of healthy grains bars, which are safe for my son with peanut allergy.

Organic frozen broccoli. Frozen organic yellow squash is also available. I actually prefer frozen veggies and fruits because I don't have to worry about them going bad in the fridge.

Are dogs too hard to resist? This is your best bet at Wal-Mart. It's still mechanically separated turkey, and the sodium is high, but it's the lesser of evils in the franks category.

These organic beans were less than $1 per can. Hard to beat!

These soups aren't perfect, and the sodium is high, but I can pronounce all the ingredients and like that they're organic.

We don't purchase artificial sweetners. Instead, we use organic sugars, honey and stevia products.

My oldest son has a peanut allergy, so this non-GMO soy butter is a palatable alternative. That whole GMO issue is important to us, so we look for items that are not genetically modified.

If you have young kids, you probably are familiar with this line of organic kids yogurts. My boys love 'em.

We use the organic corn chips in my tuna nachos recipe, and my boys love Cheetos. Chips should be eaten sparingly, but I will make exceptions. The Simply Cheetos Puffs are surprisingly acceptable.

During the day, my family consumes only water. We sometimes flavor it with CL Pure because it has no artificial sweetners, flavors, preservatives or colors. I can ONLY find it at Walmart.