A question was asked on a chat thread about what an average grocery list looks like while on IP and what items that you can buy ahead of time to prepare for IP. Thought I would copy it over here on the newbie thread. This is really helpful!!
amber2beme
And my guaranteed vegetable grocery list each weekend looks like this:
3 heads of broccoli (med to small)
1 head of cauliflower
3 zucchini
1 bag of spinach
2 cucumber
2 green peppers
1 bunch of skinny asparagus
1 bag with 3 romaine lettuce hearts
1 bunch of kale (but that seems to wilt quickly)
wyoangel; My typical grocery trip consists of buying:
1 bag spring mix
1 bag baby spinach
1 bag romaine
turnips
mushrooms
asparagus
g. onion
g. pepper
cabbage
Other items I buy:
apple cider vinegar
sea salt (I have to get the good kind...not white...at a specialty cooking store)
good evoo
knox jello, unsweetened koolaide (make your own jello)
chai decaf tea
Online I buy:
liquid stevia flavors (might have to look somewhere big or online)
1 oz. WF Italian dressing packages
variety of sugar-free syrups (my store only carries 1 flavor)
showgirlaz;
I love how you are preparing!!! Here are my thoughts based on your lists:
To be purchase now
Sea Salt - find redmond's real salt or a salt that is fully mineralize and has iodine/iodide in it. You will need it! Save yourself buying the wrong sea salt.
Tea bags - get a mix of caf and decaf. get herbal. get some to relax you some to pick you up. get some spicey. have a wide variety. I find I have now settle on a black tea, earl grey, chai, caramel, mint, tazo zen, fruit, and chamomile, and LICORICE. It all works at some point. I even brew some up to keep iced (mint is great or the fruit teas) for when I want something other than water that counts for water (herb teas count).
Biotin - Also get some vitamin C. you can have significantly less and, with the stress of doing a new diet and flu season, boosting this can help some.
EVOO spray - I bought a misto bottle. I fill it with my own oil and it is more economical
Extracts - I use mint, vanilla, orange, chocolate, almond, cherry, and lemon. I use the mint and lemon most often.
Davinci sryup - I started with these. The caramel sugar free is great and I still use it. INSTEAD, I now use the flavored stevia, you can use it more freely and not get the added carbs if you over use it.
Look for sweet leaf liquid stevia FLAVORED it comes in 14 flavors:mint,
lemon, orange, apricot, grape, raspberry, root beer,
english toffee, vanilla creme, chocolate raspberry, dark chocolate,
cinnamon, hazelnut, and plain. They are great. They seem a bit pricey but you get a lot of flavor. My favorites are in bold.
Minced Garlic (I love garlic!) BE CAUTIOUS with the use of garlic. I use a lot too but, if you were to ever stall out or slow down, cut back a bit here. It has more carbs (especially in powdered form) than people realize.
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (Bragg's is my favorite)
GOOD SOY SAUCE that is gluten free and low sodium would be best. I use trader joe's soy sauce. It has a great flavor.
AMINO ACIDS by Braggs. They work great and taste like soy. I add them to my salad.
Walden Farms to go packets of italian dressing or a small container that tightly closes to make and take your own dressing.
A low carb mustard or dijon mustard if you like it. I use annie's dijon and westbrae stoneground mustard. both are pretty low sodium and zero carb.
Veggie's to be purchased later
Cauliflower (I use 2 a week)
Braccoli (I use 5 or 6 stalks a week)
Onion (I only use 1 or 2 a week)
Green Peppers
Lettuce, lettuce, Lettuce (I use about 8 to 10 a week)
Lemon & Lime (I only use 1 or 2 lemons a week)
Kale ( I use about 1 produce bag a week)
Chicken Breast & other lean proteins. (I also use egg whites, fish, and red meat once a week)
I'd add:
mushroom if you like it (I go through about 1 of those small containers a week)
asparagus (I get about 2 pounds. I love this!)
cucumber (I use about 2 or 3 a week)
zucchini (I use about 2 a week)
spinach (I use about 1 bag a week sometimes 2 if I cut back on asparagus)
For kitchen tools that prove useful:
a good scale to weigh things out
a bottle to keep salad dressing in or make it in
a steamer
sports bottle for water
blender bottle or shaker bottle for shakes/pudding (they may give you one in your start up)
nonstick pan
You probably have most of those or know what to use in their place.
IF you can't find the wf to go dressing, try ordering it off line. That works for several people on here.
