Serves: 5

Grocery Shopping and Label Reading
When making the transition from buying your usual foods to buying new, healthier foods, it is essential to have some specific guidelines. As you walk down the aisles in the grocery store, the labels seem to scream at you, "lowfat,' "low cholesterol," "sugar-free," and so on.
The question is this: What foods do you really need to buy to make your meals healthy, perfectly balanced, and moderate in fat? The following scenario should help you avoid some of the pitfalls faced by the well-meaning but novice shopper who wants to comply with the Lean & Free 2000 Plus guidelines.
Sue enters the grocery store overwhelmed with her new quest for healthier, lower-fat foods. First she enters the produce section where she purchases six large avocados. Then she picks up five cans of mixed nuts. Next she hits the deli, where she purchases some pork and beef luncheon meat. She rounds the corner to the bread section and selects some diet or light breads. The next aisle houses cereals, and she picks up some granola. Sue then tosses beef stroganoff soup into her basket. Artificially sweetened ice cream bars and yogurt come next, along with some non-dairy whipped topping. She adds a case of diet soda to the bottom of her cart, along with a bag of cheesy corn chips. A cut of prime rib and a diet fish entreÄ make her shopping tour complete.
Sue feels good about all the "high-protein" foods she has selected and figures that if she eats only small amounts of these foods, she should lose weight rapidly.
Examine Sue's chart on the following page.

6 large avocados 1= 28 fat grams (good fat in
Excess= fat- strong stress)

5 cans mixed nuts 1 cup= 128 fat grams (good fat in
Excess= fat-strong stress)

Pork and beef luncheon meat 1 slice= 18 grams

Diet or light bread contains refined flour and cellulose
Fiber or sawdust (fat- storing stress)

Granola 4 grams of cereal= 20 fat grams
(Contains coconut and palm oil--
Highly saturated fats)

Beef stroganoff soup 10 3/4 oz.= 16 fat grams
(Fat- storing stress)

Artificially sweetened diet
Ice-cream bars and yogurt contains artificial sweeteners
(Fat- storing stress)

Non- dairy whipped topping contains coconut and palm oil--
Highly saturated (fat- storing stress)

Diet soda contains artificial sweeteners
(Fat- storing stress)

Cheesy corn chips 2 oz.= 20 fat grams
(Fat- storing stress)

Prime rib 4 oz.= 38 fat grams
(Fat- storing stress)

1 diet microwave sole fish
Entree' 24 fat grams



While Sue is shopping, Sid enters the grocery store. He fills his cart with a large variety of fresh vegetables and fruits along with a few frozen and canned fruits (in their own juice). He selects skinless turkey breast meat and part-skim mozzarella cheese at the deli. One hundred percent stone-ground whole-wheat breads, rolls, tortillas, pita pockets, and noodles (in the health-food section) come next. He steers toward whole-corn, brown-rice and whole-oat cereals to focus on variety in the grain category. (Sid chose part-whole grain and some white products when his system was first adjusting to his new, optimum-health lifestyle.) Sid makes certain to check the cereal box labels and stay under seven grams of sugar per cereal serving for himself and three grams for his diabetic brother, unless the additional sugar occurs naturally in the fruit (raisins, dates, etc.). He also makes certain to avoid all tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil. He tosses in Campbell's Chunky Vegetable Beef Soup and Bean and Ham Soup. Sid rounds the corner to the dairy section, where he selects regular fruit nonfat yogurt (light sugar or fruit-juice sweetened). Skim and 1% milk goes on the bottom of the cart. He also picks premium light ice milk because he doesn't like the fat free kind. He adds three cans of tuna in water and some fat free salad dressing and mayonnaise. Sid tops off his cart with some fresh strawberries he spotted at the front of the store. Let's examine Sid's chart on the following page.


Large variety of fruits and
Vegetables 1= trace (t) of fat grams to 2 fat
Grams (loaded with complex
Carbohydrates and fiber)

Skinless turkey breast 2 oz.= 4 fat grams

Part- skim mozzarella cheese 2 oz.= 10 fat grams

100% stone- ground whole- 1 serving= trace to 2 fat grams
Wheat breads, rolls, tortillas, (Loaded with complex
Pita pockets, noodles, and carbohydrates and fiber)
Cracked- wheat bread

Whole- corn, brown- rice
And whole- oat cereals 1 serving= trace to 2 fat grams

Vegetable beef soup 9.5 oz.= 2 fat grams

Bean and ham soup 8 oz.= 4 fat grams

Nonfat yogurt— sugar-
And/or fruit- juice
Sweetened 8 oz.= 0 fat grams

Skim and 1% milk 1 cup= trace of fat up to 3 fat grams

Premium light ice milk 4 oz.= 4 fat grams

Tuna in water 3 oz.= 2 fat grams (good fat)

Nonfat mayonnaise and salad 1 oz.= 0 fat grams (not a highly
Dressing Nutritious choice, but good used
In moderation. Try mixing the
Mayo and salad dressing together--
Half and half— in salads and
Sandwiches.)

Notice that Sid does not avoid all fats, meats, and dairy products. He uses them as the condiment or garnishment for his meals. Just because a lot is bad doesn't mean that none is better. Moderation is the whole key to the Lean & Free Ultimate Wellness, Weight Control Lifestyle!
Sid focuses on complex carbohydrates. He is energetic and healthy and never struggles with excess body fat as Sue does. Sid eats 3,500 to 4,500 calories a day. Sue averages around 1,400 calories a day.
Sid also knows how to read labels and avoid excess fat-storing stress. Let's take a look at how he does it.

Label Reading*

Sid picks up two cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, one regular type and one Healthy Request, that read 99% fat- free. The labels read as follows:

(Regular) Cream of Mushroom Soup)

Serving Size 4 oz. Condensed (8 oz. As prepared)
Servings per container 2 3/4
Calories 100
Protein (grams) 2
Carbohydrates (grams) 8
Fat (grams) 7
Polyunsaturated (grams) 4
Saturated (grams) 2
Cholesterol less than 5 mg/serving
Sodium 870 mg/serving

Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

Serving Size 4 oz. Condensed (8 oz. As prepared)
Servings per container 2 3/4
Calories 60
Protein (grams) 1
Carbohydrates (grams) 9
Fat (grams) 2
Cholesterol less than 5 mg/serving
Sodium 480 mg/serving
Potassium 410 mg/serving

*Many new labels now include percentages of fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrate based on a 2,000 calorie diet. The fat per-centage is based on a 30 percent-fat diet which assumes that 67 fat grams is an ideal number for you. Therefore, if a food has 18 fat grams per serving, this would equal 28 percent of your total fat intake for the day. If this seems confusing to you, you're not alone. Simply follow the fat-gram/calorie-guidelines laid out in the Introduction of this book and follow the menus and recipes. All of the calculating is already done!


Sid simply reads that in a four-ounce serving, he will receive seven fat grams and 870 milligrams of sodium in the regular soup and only two fat grams and 480 milligrams of sodium in the Campbell's Healthy Request Soup.
Now the only question is taste. (Personally, I'd buy the regular soup if I found the new version to be quite distasteful.) Sid compared the two soups and found that if he used the Healthy Request Soup in a casserole, he couldn't tell the difference.
If Sid wants to figure out the soup's fat percentage, all he needs to do is multiply the number of fat grams in a serving by 9 (9 calories in one gram of fat) and divide that number by the number of calories in a serving.

Regular Example Healthy Request Example
7 fat grams x 9 2 fat grams x 9
calories= 63 fat calories calories= 18 fat calories
63 fat calories out of 100 18 fat calories out of 60
calories= 63% fat calories= 30% fat

Keep in mind that even if Sid decided he didn't like the second soup and went with the first soup, he would still be getting only seven fat grams in a half a cup of condensed soup or one cup of prepared soup. Added into a meal plan loaded with complex carbohydrates, that is not a lot of fat. It will not create a large increase in his total fat percentage for the day, although by itself it has a high percentage of fat and sodium.
Many people begin making their own lowfat cream soups. This works well for some folks, but for others it becomes very frustrating. They then drop their entire healthy eating program and revert back to coffee and donuts.
Don't be an extremist. Eat what you like and what is good for you. Be daring and get excited as your whole body chemistry changes, including your taste buds. And, if you really don't like it, don't buy it. There's so much room for flexibility with Lean & Free, it's amazing. And remember to read the labels. Just because it says "lowfat" or "lite" or 95% fat free doesn't necessarily mean it's a healthy choice. Check for artificial sweeteners and other fat-storing stressors. (See your Lean & Free 2000 Plus book pages 18 - 36.)
With new food label government regulations in effect, label reading is becoming less confusing. Calories from fat are even being included. But if you are confused by the mathematics just explained, or you just don't want to be bothered with it, simply follow all of the 1,000's of choices built into the delicious Lean & Free Menus and enjoy! The math has already been done for you.

De-Junk Your Kitchen
Sue meets Sid at the grocery store. Sue is so grateful to Sid for teaching her how to shop that she invites him home for tofu filled, sesame seed donuts. He explains to her that everything she eats doesn't have to be some strange "health food". "In fact," Sid continues, "you'll do a lot better if you'll relax, fill your kitchen full of good, basic food and avoid the weird stuff."
Sid then helps Sue throw out a few things in her kitchen cupboards like the chips, the diet soda, the artificial sweetener packets, and the pastries.
They both then go to work filling Sue's cupboards and her refrigerator with hearty, "normal" foods that they have chosen following the Lean & Free shopping lists. And they never "overfill" the refrigerator, thus avoiding food spoilage.
Sue and Sid make a very happy, healthy, lean, and de-stressed couple. And even when their eating and exercise habits are less than perfect, they never gain much weight or body fat back. Sid has now lost 11 pounds and 5 inches in his waist, and Sue has lost 26 pounds and reduced from a size 14 to a 6. So why don't they gain much back when they're lax? Because they have developed fat-burning bodies through eating abundantly, rather than fat-storing bodies through dieting. And they follow the only THREE HARD-FAST RULES of the Lean & Free Lifestyle.
So even when Sid and Sue eat too much sugar and fat, because they follow these three easy rules, their bodies don't gain enormous amounts of weight and size. Sid and Sue are never in a fat-storing-state brought on by caloric and/or nutrient starvation. Therefore, their bodies are better able to spend excessive fat and sugar calories for energy rather than storing them as fat.
When Sid and Sue become serious about perfecting their Lean & Free Lifestyle again, they give the program one 200 percent week "effort-wise", and then it's easy again. It takes only ONE week to fall away from fat-burning "A" habits, and only ONE hard-fast week to gear back into them. And then it's easy again. Remember that next time you get frustrated. Trust your body and follow the program. You can be Lean & Free from the worry of ever getting fat again for life!