High-Protein Grocery List for Women Over 50 at Walmart

Maggie: All right, we're on our way to do my weekly grocery haul, so I thought I'd bring you along. Why would it matter to you what I'm getting at the grocery store? If you're maybe in the same stage of life as me. I'm 52. Me and my husband, we're empty nesters. So a lot of times I'm just shopping for him and me, because we try to lead a protein-centric, healthy lifestyle. But we also have kids that stop by, so we've got to keep some food in the house that everyone can eat. We've got grandkids who pop in.

But also, I've been on a health journey. It's been six years now, and this is the fourth time that I've lost over 60 pounds. It's been a while that we've sustained this lifestyle, and I feel like we've found a pretty good balance. So I'm going to show you what we get at the grocery store that maintains that balance.

When I first started this, I tried to do everything perfect. I went and got certified as an integrative health coach. So: all whole foods, no processed foods. I'm going to eat my macros perfectly. No toxins allowed. We're going to nail this. It's a time of our lives where we can nail this. And it just wasn't sustainable. That probably lasted three or four months. So we're going to go and do our best, and I'll show you what works for me and my family at this stage of life. And we're going to read some labels, so we're taking the glasses. We're at that age now. Let's go.

Here's one of those things. Are there better choices? Okay. I grabbed my favorite lotion. All right, I'm a sweet tooth girly. Yogurt is a must. This is always a good find. My favorite popcorn, LesserEvil. All right, this is one of those things that I keep on hand.

All right, here's one of those things. Are there better choices? But this is something I love. It's an easy treat to grab. And if I'm going to eat highly processed food, it's going to have great macros. This has great macros.

Okay, I grabbed my favorite lotion. This is a great lotion. A couple of years ago, I stopped using things with fragrances because they have endocrine disruptors. And that's the last thing we need in perimenopause and menopause: something causing any more chaos hormonally than we already have going on. So I try to buy clean products to put on my body as well as inside of my body.

All right, here's another one of those things. Is it the best choice? No, but I really enjoy it. There's no caffeine. If I want a little bubbly, something a little sweet, it's great to just crack open with my lunch. It helps keep things sustainable. It's something I really enjoy, and it's not really going to affect me too much. So, always Fresca.

Rice cakes are always something great to throw a little bit of peanut butter on. I like to call them macro toppers. At the end of the day, if you still have a few carbs you want to hit, maybe a little more protein, you can always top off your macros with some rice cakes and something on them. Yogurt, whatever, fruit. It's a good thing to have on hand.

All right, I'm a sweet tooth girly. So if I want to add something a little bit sweet, on some yogurt or even cottage cheese, sometimes I'll just put a little squirt, just a dab of some sugar-free whipped cream. So this is always on hand too.

Okay, yogurt is a must. Great source of whey protein. I always buy two different flavors, one a little bit sweeter, one plain. I use this in a lot of recipes when I make different cakes or treats, because I like something sweet. And if you want any sauces, instead of a high-fat cream cheese or a high-fat sour cream, use this instead and you can triple your protein.

This is always a good find. No sugar added, Nutpods. That's a good one. A little dab. Enjoy your coffee a little more.

Oh, my favorite popcorn, LesserEvil. There are no seed oils, just some coconut oil. It's a great snack. Sometimes I even sneak it into the movies. Don't tell anyone.

You've got to find a way to make this work. And what's worked for me is doing more of an 80-20, where we eat whole foods, get in our protein, and the whole family can eat that way. I shop for the whole family and for both my husband and me. So we don't have to do it perfect, but we do have to be consistent about it. Now I really don't even have to think about it, so I make shopping really easy. Yes, I buy some processed foods. Sometimes we eat food out of plastic. But for the most part, we eat whole foods, high protein, good quality foods. When we can, it's organic.

Also, I live at least an hour and a half away from a Costco or a Whole Foods or a Sprouts. The closest Trader Joe's is two and a half hours away. So I have to go to our local Walmart, which is still 20 minutes away, and do my very best there. You might be in a situation like me where you just have to make it work, and we do our very best. But guess what? It works. I'm able to maintain this lifestyle. I'm able to maintain a healthy body.

I used to be pre-diabetic. So you'll find that I don't use a lot of dates or maple or honey to sweeten my food, because that raises my glucose. My body doesn't do well with that. So you may find I use some sweeteners, some non-nutritive sweeteners. Some of you may disagree with that, but you've got to do what works for you. In a perfect world, I would do it perfectly, but we're not in a perfect world, and I'm so far from perfect.

Egg whites. Of course, I'm a big fan of whole eggs, but sometimes I don't want all that fat, so I'll mix my egg whites with whole eggs.

There are not a lot of choices of good organic cottage cheese, so we're just going to go with Meadow Gold. It's a great source of protein. I add it into a lot of recipes. I use cottage cheese in almost everything.

My favorite meat to cook with is ground chicken, because you can use it for so many things. It's easy to weigh. It's easy to add to a salad, to a wrap. So I use ground chicken. I keep it cooked and flavored in the fridge, and I use it daily. It's an easy thing to have around. They don't have my favorite kind, so I'm going to have to get one that's a little fattier. Usually I get the extra lean, and it cooks up so nicely. I can make patties. Oh, the list goes on and on.

While we're at it, we'll get some 99% lean ground turkey. Same thing. So easy to use in anything. It's really mild. You can add any flavor you want and throw it into salads, wraps, make patties, make meatballs. Great choice.

As far as meal prepping goes, if I throw this whole thing in my Instant Pot, my husband will take it out and put it on the grill, and I have chicken for the whole week. So this is really easy too, especially when the family's stopping by. You can make anything. High protein, low fat. You're always good to go.

Right, I usually grab some red meat too. I'm always looking for something fast. This takes a lot of flavor, so the flavor-to-meat ratio is really good when you cook these little sizzle steaks. I love them on salads. Really great source of amino acids.

And of course, you've got to have some ground beef. You can throw that in anything. You can have it ready in the fridge. Good source of amino acids. You get some good fat, high protein. All of my meals usually have just meat, some kind of carbohydrate, of course high fiber, and then the fat naturally is going to come with that meat. So you don't have to add extra fat. You're going to get a good source of fat from the meat you're eating.

Shrimp is a source of protein that I think a lot of people sleep on. It's a great source of protein. You get some good fats in shrimp. Easy to use.

All right, I don't love seafood, but tilapia I can handle. It's a good source of your omega-3s. You get some good fat in this tilapia. Great source of protein. Don't sleep on tilapia.

We usually just skip this part. The fish happened to be by it, but there's not a lot of need here. We can find a lot of satisfaction in the healthier whole foods that we get.

Now, this is one of those that I love to get. I don't really eat a lot of breaded chicken, but it's a good source of protein and it's easy to throw in, especially when the grandkids show up. So I always have these on hand too.

My favorite is Bob's Red Mill rolled oats. I went years without eating oatmeal and just recently started upping my carbohydrates, and these are delicious. An easy way to get in a good source of carbohydrates, especially pre-workout.

And one of the benefits of shopping at Walmart is when you see something cute for the grandkids, you get to throw that in too. The 4th of July is coming up. They're going to look adorable in these.

All right, again, one of those things. Is it the best choice? No, but remember, we're looking for consistency, not perfection. It's so easy to hurry and make some of this up, either to take with you if you're traveling, mix it with a little cottage cheese, throw it on a wrap, throw it on a rice cake. Great source of protein and very convenient.

All right, this is one of those things that I keep on hand because of my pre-diabetes diagnosis a couple of years ago. This doesn't affect my blood sugar. Are there better choices, like real maple syrup? Yeah, but that really affects my blood sugar. So I make maybe not the best choice, but it's a better choice for me. So do what works for you.

One of my favorite sweeteners, along with monk fruit, is allulose. Allulose has actually been shown to lower your blood sugar, so it's a great sweetener. Don't sleep on allulose.

All right, a lot of you have probably figured out by now that peanut butter is more of a fat source, not really a protein source. So when you get powdered peanut butter, you can use it for so many things. There's hardly any fat at all. It tastes great. Add a little salt to this, and this is better than peanut butter. I love it. I use it in a ton of recipes. High protein, lower fat, and you still get the peanut butter that you love.

Dark chocolate, no sugar added. When you just need a little bit of chocolate, I grab a couple of these. It helps satisfy that desire for just a little chocolate splash in something.

Black beans. People say they're a great source of protein. They're actually a great carbohydrate with some protein. So I always keep these in stock. I add them into salads, burritos. You can add them into your eggs, even, if you need some more carbohydrates in the morning. Black beans are a great source of carbohydrate with added protein.

Okay, this is my favorite. Pretty good ingredients, actually made with vinegar. You're going to have a lot more satisfaction with your food with a ton of flavor. I always feel satisfied after I've had a big old salad, as big as my head, with this dressing.

All right, frozen veggies are always a great choice. This is the deluxe stir fry. So I can take those sizzle steaks, mix in some of this, and we're good to go. It's a great meal: big volume, good macros.

Highly processed food, but good macros. They have some added fiber, pretty low carbs, some protein, and I think they're only 60 calories. So it's a good thing to have on hand. Throw some meat in it. You hit your protein, you hit your carbs. Great balance.

All of these add a lot of volume. You can add a lot of flavor with vinegar and salts. Low calorie, high volume, fill up your belly.

Berries are a must. You can get that sweet without that glycemic index. You get a lot of fiber, a lot of sweet, a lot of flavor, low calorie. You've got to have berries in your diet if you want a little kick of flavor, a little kick of sweet, without affecting your blood sugar. Get your fiber in.

Well, thanks for going shopping with me. You know, it's nothing really extraordinary. Just a normal grandma, a 52-year-old, fit, menopausal woman trying to find a balance in life and get things that are realistic. Nothing's perfect. 80-20. I still want to enjoy life. I want this life to be sustainable. So we've got to find things that will work in the long term. Sure, I can eat perfectly for two weeks, but that's about it. So I want something that's going to serve my family, that's going to serve me day to day. It's going to be doable. I'm going to be able to do it forever. So we keep it easy. We keep it simple. And that way everyone's needs are met, and we stay healthy and enjoy life. So thanks for coming along.