Nutrition is a key part of a healthy lifestyle. The foods you choose to fuel your body are so important — whether you’re trying to support a specific fitness goal or simply to live a happier, healthier life.

While it comes as no surprise that eating well is important, what does that actually look like? We asked our very own Registered Dietitian, Kylie Morse, for help!

(Reminder: Fit Body app subscribers have complimentary access to our Registered Dietitian and Physical Therapist.)

Kylie shared her grocery list (which is a great way to help plan macro-friendly meals), plus a sample menu and tips on how to make your grocery shop, and weekly meal prep, less daunting.

How to Plan Your Weekly Grocery List

Kylie makes two lists: A weekly grocery list (otherwise, she’ll forget what she wants to buy) and a list of dinners that she plans to make. Dinner is the only meal that she and her husband share, while the meals she makes for breakfast and lunch don’t really change.

And yes, she does have a strategy when she creates her grocery list! Kylie typically shops at her local Fry’s Food Stores and her list is written in order of where the food is found within the store. She considers what her staple foods are (for breakfast and lunch), incorporates crunchy and savory foods for snacks, and adds in new items as needed for dinner.

Two protein sources are always present in her weekly grocery cart as well as vegetables, fruits and quality complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice.

Grocery List Strategy
Two protein sources are always present in her weekly grocery cart as well as vegetables, fruits and quality complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice.

4 Tips to Keep Costs Down and Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed

Buy Seasonally

Kylie prefers to buy seasonal produce because it’s usually cheaper. Seasonal food can also be tastier and more nutritious. Kylie does acknowledge that she has an easier time buying her favorite summer foods (think berries) as they’re in season for longer in sunny Arizona! “I’m not perfectly in season all the time, but I try!”

Focus on One Meal at a Time

“You don’t need to plan breakfast, lunch and dinner for every day of the week! Just small baby steps — focus on one meal at a time. Sit down and plan out your breakfast, for example,” she says.

Kylie notes that a meal like breakfast can be easier to start with since it typically stays similar, even from day to day, whereas people normally choose to eat a different dinner every day. “Plan out two breakfast meals and focus on shopping for that,” she says. “And it’s all about practice. It is overwhelming to meal plan and plan groceries at first if that’s not what you’re used to doing. Start small.”

Use a Pickup Service

If you’ve got a SUPER busy week, Kylie recommends making life easier for yourself and using an online pickup service (if available at your local grocery store). “It is very helpful...if someone wants to stay on budget. You can see the price as you’re shopping and you can’t do that if you’re shopping freely,” she says. “You can better manage the cost and make swaps here and there.” If you’re coming back from vacation, you can even grocery shop when you’re still in the plane or car!

Browse Coupons and Ads

You can use both your grocery store’s app or look online for coupons and ads. “I know that someone reading this article might think, ‘Oh wow, that’s a lot of work,’ but I’m so used to doing it that it doesn’t take me long at all!” Kylie says. Like any other habit, it’ll become second nature in no time.

Fit Body’s Registered Dietitian’s Weekly Grocery List

 

FRUIT
Strawberries
Raspberries
Bananas

 

VEGETABLES
Asparagus
Broccoli or Broccolini
Green Beans
Spinach
Caesar Salad Kit
Sweet Potatoes
Little Potato Medley
Cucumbers
Red Bell Peppers
Onions
Avocado

 

PROTEIN
Salmon
Chicken Breasts and Thighs
Shrimp
Steak (occasionally*)
*“It's important to note: my husband and I are also hunters, so we don't buy red meat often because we have a freezer full Elk and Deer (both ground and steaks), so we use this twice weekly.”

 

CARBOHYDRATES
Dave's Killer Bread
English Muffins or Sourdough Bread
Corn Tortillas (“Or my Siete tortilla splurge 😜 they're over $1 per tortilla which is truly ridiculous, but they're out of stock a lot which saves me!”)
Rice Cakes
Nut Thin Crackers
Canned Black Beans, Kidney Beans, or White Beans

 

FROZEN FOOD
Frozen Peas
Frozen Shelled Edamame
Frozen Jasmine Rice
Frozen Air Fried Chicken Tenders

 

EGGS, DAIRY, AND HEALTHY FATS
Eggs
Grass Fed Butter
Cottage cheese
Greek yogurt
Hummus
Bitchin' Sauce (good vegan alternative for dip)
String Cheese

(Download a printable version of this grocery list here)

Fit Body’s Registered Dietitian Meal Prep

Kylie doesn’t do full meal prep, preferring to protein prep instead. For example, she will cook shredded chicken in the crockpot or air fryer which makes it easy for her to build healthy dinners if she doesn’t have a plan.

She typically eats four moderately sized meals each day and collaborates with her husband on what to eat for dinner. She acknowledges that this can be an issue for those with a partner who doesn’t want to eat healthy. Her advice is to use your compromising skills and take turns!

“Even if you’re creating healthier meals fifty percent of the time, fifty percent is a lot. If you can improve fifty percent of the dinners you eat together, that’s a huge step in the right direction!” she notes.

She also recommends that you lean into your cravings. Pick an indulgent meal that you love and do the research to find out how to make it in a less indulgent way. This is a great idea for those with kids who are a little older that can help (for example, have a healthier pizza night!).

Let’s get into what a day of eating looks like for Kylie.

BREAKFAST
In addition to being Fit Body’s Registered Dietitian, Kylie also works at a hospital four days a week. “I’m not a big breakfast person. I wake up at 5am, so something super easy and portable is important for me,” she says. “Breakfast is two hard boiled eggs and a Greek yogurt with fruit. Occasionally, I’ll make breakfast sandwiches and freeze them. For meal prep, breakfast burritos are super easy, macro friendly, and versatile. If you can prep a bunch at once and freeze them, then it’s easy!”

Breakfast: two hard boiled eggs and a Greek yogurt fruit parfait.

LUNCH
“I’ll admit, I’m struggling with meal prepping lunches right now, I think I’m getting a little bored, and it’s my least favorite food!” she laughs. “I am very much a bowl person and it helps me to use leftovers.” She throws random things together such as leftover protein, carbs, and veggies in addition to a sauce or cheese. “Even if you feel like a meal doesn’t make sense, try it out, and you might find a combination of things you love! A lot of my meals are random combinations of things I have in the fridge that I end up loving—typically in the form of a bowl.”

Wasting food is her biggest pet peeves and creating bowls helps avoid that. And, as she reminded us, your meal doesn’t have to look Instagram picture perfect to be good for you 😊

Lunch: Chicken, brown rice, vegetables and sauce or cheese.

SNACK
Kylie’s preference is for salty, crunchy and savory snacks. One option she enjoys is a veggie platter with dip.

Snack: Baby carrots, cucumber, and sliced bell pepper with hummus or Bitchin’ vegan sauce.

DINNER
“I’ve been making this Cajun shrimp creamy pasta and it is to die for!” she says. Instead of using normal pasta and heavy whipping cream, she adjusted it to use Banza lentil pasta with a mixture of whole and skim milk and the same amount of cheese. “It’s still indulgent and a little higher in calories and macros, but I love it so much and it still tastes great!”

Dinner: Cajun shrimp creamy pasta.

Fit Body’s Registered Dietitian Rates Her Efforts

Kylie gives herself a solid A. “I try to have a lot of balance and as a dietitian, I think it’d be misleading to say I don’t crave less nourishing, or indulgent foods. It does fluctuate and I’m not perfect!” she says.

She reminds us that an A looks different for everyone and there are so many ways to have a high quality, nourishing diet. She grades herself on how much she’s enjoying her foods, how colorful and varied her plate is, versus foods that are popular and/or trendy at the moment.

“Would I be lying if I said I didn’t have weeks that are more of a B- or C+? Absolutely!” She adds, “There are some weeks where I’m 50/50 and others where I’m 80/20 or 90/10 and I don’t beat myself up for those weeks because that’s life.”

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