Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved.
36 servings
Ingredients
2 cups canned pure pumpkin
1 (18.3-ounce) box fudge brownie mix
2 tablespoons light chocolate syrup
2 tablespoons reduced-fat peanut butter, softened
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin with brownie mix and stir until smooth. Add chocolate syrup and stir until blended. The batter will be very thick, but don't add anything else!
Spray a square baking pan (9-inch by 9-inch works best) with nonstick spray. Spread the batter into the pan.
Then spoon peanut butter on top and use a knife to swirl it around.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. The batter will remain very thick and fudgy and it should look undercooked.
Allow the fudge to cool, then cover the pan with foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cut into 36 squares. Then get ready for a fudge frenzy!
PER SERVING (1/36th of recipe, 1 piece):65 calories, 1g fat, 57mg sodium, 13.5g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 9g sugars, 0.5g protein
Monday, September 12, 2011
Fancy 5 Minute Grilled Cheese
Fancy 5-Minute Grilled Cheese
2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved.
1 serving
2 slices light bread
1 wedge light spreadable Swiss cheese (recommended: The Laughing Cow Light)
1 piece jarred roasted red pepper (previously packed in water)
1 slice fat-free American cheese
1 tablespoon light whipped butter or light buttery spread, room temperature, divided
2 dashes garlic powder, divided
Spray a grill pan with nonstick spray and place over medium-high heat on the stove.
Lay bread slices on a flat surface, and evenly spread the cheese wedge onto one slice of bread. Slice red pepper into strips, and evenly place over the slice of bread spread with cheese. Top with the slice of cheese, followed by the other slice of bread.
Spread 1/2 tablespoon of butter onto the upward-facing slice of bread. Sprinkle with a dash of garlic powder.
Gently place the sandwich in the hot grill pan with the buttered side down. Carefully spread the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter onto the upward-facing side. Sprinkle with the remaining dash of garlic powder.
Cook until the cheese has melted and the bread is lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side, flipping carefully. Eat your sandwich and enjoy it!
PER SERVING (entire recipe): 200 calories, 7.5g fat, 816mg sodium, 23.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 11g protein
2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved.
1 serving
2 slices light bread
1 wedge light spreadable Swiss cheese (recommended: The Laughing Cow Light)
1 piece jarred roasted red pepper (previously packed in water)
1 slice fat-free American cheese
1 tablespoon light whipped butter or light buttery spread, room temperature, divided
2 dashes garlic powder, divided
Spray a grill pan with nonstick spray and place over medium-high heat on the stove.
Lay bread slices on a flat surface, and evenly spread the cheese wedge onto one slice of bread. Slice red pepper into strips, and evenly place over the slice of bread spread with cheese. Top with the slice of cheese, followed by the other slice of bread.
Spread 1/2 tablespoon of butter onto the upward-facing slice of bread. Sprinkle with a dash of garlic powder.
Gently place the sandwich in the hot grill pan with the buttered side down. Carefully spread the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter onto the upward-facing side. Sprinkle with the remaining dash of garlic powder.
Cook until the cheese has melted and the bread is lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side, flipping carefully. Eat your sandwich and enjoy it!
PER SERVING (entire recipe): 200 calories, 7.5g fat, 816mg sodium, 23.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 11g protein
Recovering from Vacations
Community Talks: Recovering From Vacations
By Amanda Genge www.weightwatchers.com
Did you use your summer vacation as an excuse to indulge? Maybe you couldn't resist the cruise ship's all-you-can-eat buffet, or loaded up on too many pieces of boardwalk fudge or taffy. No matter how you strayed, don't wait to return to your healthy eating plan, say our Community Users – every day you put if off makes it harder to get back on track. Here are their best tips for making the transition a successful one:
Don't Avoid the Scale
Go straight back to weighing in, say our Community Users – even go to a meeting earlier in the week than normal to get right back in the groove.
"I think it's much better to know what the damage is and acknowledge it than to assume the worst," says PLAID11. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think!"
"In the past, I avoided the scale whenever I knew it would go up because that, to me, meant I failed," says LEANJEAN50. "I wanted my weigh-in card to be PERFECT. Ironically, my avoiding the scale and the meeting ALWAYS led to me quitting! So I decided to weigh in each week and accept whatever the scale says."
Commit, Plan and Track
Make the promise to yourself before you even take the first steps. Then make grocery lists, prepare healthy snacks and meals, and write down every bite of food that passes through your lips.
"In the past, when I found the scale numbers creeping up, I'd get out my Week One book and read it as if I were new to Weight Watchers," says BLESSEDMOM99. "It's pretty motivational and inspiring."
"I think planning the meals for the day I will get back helps me a lot," says JODEAJOHNSON. "I post them on the fridge so that when I'm traveling, I can get right back on plan when I hit home base."
"Try to get back on track by doing one thing you stopped, like weighing and measuring food or journaling," suggests REGINAARTS. "Most importantly, plan your meals every morning before you even think about eating."
"I find bringing my lunch to work instead of buying is crucial," reports BRIDEOFCHUCKY2006. "If I already have my lunch with me, I'm not really tempted to eat anything else."
Get Up and Move
Exercise is not only a way to speed up weight loss of pounds put back on, but it will improve your mental outlook as well.
"The thing that helped me the most was exercise," says AMYLIZA. "The more I got out of the house to run, the better I felt – mentally and physically – about being back on plan."
"I find that after a day (or, let's be honest, a week or more!) of being out of control, it's important to try and exercise first thing in the morning," suggests LNELLW. "If I just make myself get out and take a 20, or even a 15-minute walk up and down the hills around my home, I am more motivated almost instantly. Early morning exercise heightens my awareness of my body and makes me feel like being healthier all day."
Think About the Big Picture
Weight gain over a vacation will not undo every bit of success you've had, so look at the grand scheme of things and move forward.
"My focus has shifted from losing the weight to learning how to maintain," says LEANJEAN50. "And that means accepting the various ups and downs along the way. There will always be vacations and paries and holidays. We all need to learn how to enjoy these (without the guilt) and to get right back on plan ASAP to prevent the inevitable downward spiral that happens when we give up on ourselves and our goals."
"A gain over one week is not going to set you back," says LORBUS2. "Learn from it and move on. That's the biggest lesson I'm learning on Weight Watchers. There will always be these setbacks but it's nipping the behavior in the bud sooner than later that will make all the difference."
Prepare for Next Time
The best advice, many posters agree, is to not stray in the first place.
"Next vacation, plan ahead," says RPERTHEL. "I love to go on vacations that include a lot of exercise and good eating. Now vacations are not an excuse to overeat and stop exercising – in fact, they're quite the opposite."
"Exercise works on vacation, too!" says LJSMITH2004. "You can add exercise by renting bicycles, attending local Pilates or yoga classes, and walking, walking, walking – I tried this for teh first time on a recent beach trip to California and it made me feel so much more in control while on the trip. I made healthier food choices and when I wanted to splurge, I didn't feel out of control, because I was still earning activity POINTS® values."
By Amanda Genge www.weightwatchers.com
Did you use your summer vacation as an excuse to indulge? Maybe you couldn't resist the cruise ship's all-you-can-eat buffet, or loaded up on too many pieces of boardwalk fudge or taffy. No matter how you strayed, don't wait to return to your healthy eating plan, say our Community Users – every day you put if off makes it harder to get back on track. Here are their best tips for making the transition a successful one:
Don't Avoid the Scale
Go straight back to weighing in, say our Community Users – even go to a meeting earlier in the week than normal to get right back in the groove.
"I think it's much better to know what the damage is and acknowledge it than to assume the worst," says PLAID11. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think!"
"In the past, I avoided the scale whenever I knew it would go up because that, to me, meant I failed," says LEANJEAN50. "I wanted my weigh-in card to be PERFECT. Ironically, my avoiding the scale and the meeting ALWAYS led to me quitting! So I decided to weigh in each week and accept whatever the scale says."
Commit, Plan and Track
Make the promise to yourself before you even take the first steps. Then make grocery lists, prepare healthy snacks and meals, and write down every bite of food that passes through your lips.
"In the past, when I found the scale numbers creeping up, I'd get out my Week One book and read it as if I were new to Weight Watchers," says BLESSEDMOM99. "It's pretty motivational and inspiring."
"I think planning the meals for the day I will get back helps me a lot," says JODEAJOHNSON. "I post them on the fridge so that when I'm traveling, I can get right back on plan when I hit home base."
"Try to get back on track by doing one thing you stopped, like weighing and measuring food or journaling," suggests REGINAARTS. "Most importantly, plan your meals every morning before you even think about eating."
"I find bringing my lunch to work instead of buying is crucial," reports BRIDEOFCHUCKY2006. "If I already have my lunch with me, I'm not really tempted to eat anything else."
Get Up and Move
Exercise is not only a way to speed up weight loss of pounds put back on, but it will improve your mental outlook as well.
"The thing that helped me the most was exercise," says AMYLIZA. "The more I got out of the house to run, the better I felt – mentally and physically – about being back on plan."
"I find that after a day (or, let's be honest, a week or more!) of being out of control, it's important to try and exercise first thing in the morning," suggests LNELLW. "If I just make myself get out and take a 20, or even a 15-minute walk up and down the hills around my home, I am more motivated almost instantly. Early morning exercise heightens my awareness of my body and makes me feel like being healthier all day."
Think About the Big Picture
Weight gain over a vacation will not undo every bit of success you've had, so look at the grand scheme of things and move forward.
"My focus has shifted from losing the weight to learning how to maintain," says LEANJEAN50. "And that means accepting the various ups and downs along the way. There will always be vacations and paries and holidays. We all need to learn how to enjoy these (without the guilt) and to get right back on plan ASAP to prevent the inevitable downward spiral that happens when we give up on ourselves and our goals."
"A gain over one week is not going to set you back," says LORBUS2. "Learn from it and move on. That's the biggest lesson I'm learning on Weight Watchers. There will always be these setbacks but it's nipping the behavior in the bud sooner than later that will make all the difference."
Prepare for Next Time
The best advice, many posters agree, is to not stray in the first place.
"Next vacation, plan ahead," says RPERTHEL. "I love to go on vacations that include a lot of exercise and good eating. Now vacations are not an excuse to overeat and stop exercising – in fact, they're quite the opposite."
"Exercise works on vacation, too!" says LJSMITH2004. "You can add exercise by renting bicycles, attending local Pilates or yoga classes, and walking, walking, walking – I tried this for teh first time on a recent beach trip to California and it made me feel so much more in control while on the trip. I made healthier food choices and when I wanted to splurge, I didn't feel out of control, because I was still earning activity POINTS® values."
Monday, September 5, 2011
Oven Baked Skinny Shredded Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches
Oven Baked Skinny Shredded Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches, No Crock Pot Necessary!
Ingredients for Chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (18 oz) bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue sauce or your favorite
Ingredients for Coleslaw
6 cups shredded white cabbage, 1 (10 oz) bag
1 cup shredded carrots
¾ cup scallions, chopped
4 tablespoons light mayonnaise, we like Best Foods (Hellman’s) Light
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2½ tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon prepared white horseradish
2 packages Oroweat’s Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins, see shopping tip
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a roasting pan or rectangular Pyrex baking dish.
Arrange sliced onions over the chicken, then pour the barbecue sauce over top, reserving 1 cup for later.
Cover the baking dish/pan tightly with foil and place in the oven. Cook chicken for 1 hour, remove foil and
cook for about 10 minutes longer until chicken is fork tender.
2. In the meantime, prepare the coleslaw-In a large bowl add the cabbage, carrots and scallions. In a small
bowl mix together the dressing ingredients. Refrigerate the coleslaw and dressing separately until ready to
serve. Don’t toss until serving to keep coleslaw crisp and crunchy, not soggy.
3. Remove the chicken to a plate or cutting board. Using two forks, pull the chicken breasts apart to shred
the meat. Place the shredded chicken back in the pan, add the reserved 1 cup barbecue sauce and toss the
chicken well to thoroughly coat in the sauce that’s remaining in the pan
4. Serve the pulled chicken warm. Place on the bottom of each sandwich thin ½ cup barbecue shredded
chicken. Add onion, ¾ cup slaw and top with sandwich thin.
5. If you have any leftovers, the shredded chicken freezes great.
Makes 12 sandwiches
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6
Ingredients for Chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (18 oz) bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue sauce or your favorite
Ingredients for Coleslaw
6 cups shredded white cabbage, 1 (10 oz) bag
1 cup shredded carrots
¾ cup scallions, chopped
4 tablespoons light mayonnaise, we like Best Foods (Hellman’s) Light
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2½ tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon prepared white horseradish
2 packages Oroweat’s Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins, see shopping tip
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a roasting pan or rectangular Pyrex baking dish.
Arrange sliced onions over the chicken, then pour the barbecue sauce over top, reserving 1 cup for later.
Cover the baking dish/pan tightly with foil and place in the oven. Cook chicken for 1 hour, remove foil and
cook for about 10 minutes longer until chicken is fork tender.
2. In the meantime, prepare the coleslaw-In a large bowl add the cabbage, carrots and scallions. In a small
bowl mix together the dressing ingredients. Refrigerate the coleslaw and dressing separately until ready to
serve. Don’t toss until serving to keep coleslaw crisp and crunchy, not soggy.
3. Remove the chicken to a plate or cutting board. Using two forks, pull the chicken breasts apart to shred
the meat. Place the shredded chicken back in the pan, add the reserved 1 cup barbecue sauce and toss the
chicken well to thoroughly coat in the sauce that’s remaining in the pan
4. Serve the pulled chicken warm. Place on the bottom of each sandwich thin ½ cup barbecue shredded
chicken. Add onion, ¾ cup slaw and top with sandwich thin.
5. If you have any leftovers, the shredded chicken freezes great.
Makes 12 sandwiches
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6
Morning Waffle Dip
Morning Waffle Dip
1 slice center-cut bacon or turkey bacon
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
2 frozen low-fat waffles
1 slice fat-free American cheese
1/4 cup sugar-free pancake syrup
Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add bacon and cook until crispy, about 4 minutes per side. Set aside.
To make the egg patty, spray a microwave-safe bowl with nonstick spray. Add egg substitute and microwave for 1 minute. Gently stir, and then microwave for 1 additional minute. Set aside.
Toast the waffles, and then place them side-by-side on a plate. Immediately top one waffle with cheese.
Transfer the egg patty from the bowl onto the cheese-topped waffle.
Break the bacon in half and place over the egg patty. Finish it off with the other waffle.
Cut your sandwich in half and serve with syrup for dipping. Dig in, you!
PER SERVING (entire recipe) 299 calories, 5g fat, 1,075mg sodium, 43.5g carbs, 3g fiber, 5g sugars, 23.5g protein You can calculate the PPV per serving with your PP calculator.
2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved.
1 slice center-cut bacon or turkey bacon
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
2 frozen low-fat waffles
1 slice fat-free American cheese
1/4 cup sugar-free pancake syrup
Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add bacon and cook until crispy, about 4 minutes per side. Set aside.
To make the egg patty, spray a microwave-safe bowl with nonstick spray. Add egg substitute and microwave for 1 minute. Gently stir, and then microwave for 1 additional minute. Set aside.
Toast the waffles, and then place them side-by-side on a plate. Immediately top one waffle with cheese.
Transfer the egg patty from the bowl onto the cheese-topped waffle.
Break the bacon in half and place over the egg patty. Finish it off with the other waffle.
Cut your sandwich in half and serve with syrup for dipping. Dig in, you!
PER SERVING (entire recipe) 299 calories, 5g fat, 1,075mg sodium, 43.5g carbs, 3g fiber, 5g sugars, 23.5g protein You can calculate the PPV per serving with your PP calculator.
2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved.
Food Facts
Food Facts: How To Read the Nutrition Fact Label
Article By: Julie Upton
We'll point you toward the parts of a food's label you need to see, and show you how to navigate the rest of it.
When you're losing weight with Weight Watchers, it's necessary that you know your way around all those abbreviations and numbers listed on food labels. The PointsPlus™ values for thousands of foods are available to subscribers in our database, but occasionally you'll have to figure out one on your own, or using the PointsPlus calculator. In those cases, you'll need to look for the serving size, protein, total carbohydrate, total fat, and fiber.
Serving size
This is what the FDA says is a standard serving, which is uniform across product categories, making it easier to comparison shop. What you need to know is that the amount of nutrients is given per serving, and servings are often a fraction of the package contents. You need to multiply the information given by the number of servings you actually eat.
Servings per container
This is the number of servings in the entire package. For example, a 20-ounce bottle of soda holds 2 1/2 servings. If you drink it all (and who doesn't?), that means that you have to multiply the number of calories — and other nutrition facts — by 2 1/2.
Percent of daily value (%DV)
These percentages indicate how much of each nutrient one serving provides as part of a 2,000-calorie diet. If you eat 1,200 or 3,000 calories a day, this percentage would be adjusted up or down. Five percent or less of the %DV is considered low, whereas 20% or more is considered high.
Protein
This is the amount of total protein the food contains measured in grams. The Percent Daily Value (%DV) for protein is 50 grams.
Total carbohydrate
This is the amount of total carbohydrate per serving measured in grams. It includes sugars plus complex carbohydrates that are more slowly digested.
Total fat
This is the total fat per one serving in grams. (Worth noting: fat provides the most calories of any nutrient.)
Dietary fiber
This is the amount of soluble and insoluble fiber (indigestible forms of carbohydrate) per serving. Fiber is found primarily in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans. Look for foods that are high in %DV for fiber.
What about the rest of the numbers?
There's a lot of other info on the labels. To help you decipher the terms and focus on factors that are important to you, keep reading.
Calories
This is the amount of calories per FDA standard serving.
Calories from fat
Each gram of fat provides 9 calories so you can figure out the total fat calories in the product by multiplying the total grams of fat by 9.
Saturated fat
Saturated fats, which are found in meat, poultry, fish, baked goods and tropical oils, increase risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than 7% of daily calories come from saturated fat, which is 15.5 grams of saturated fat per day. Opt for foods that have a low %DV of saturated fat.
Trans fats
Trans fats are even more harmful for the heart than saturated fats. The AHA recommends only up to 1% of total calories from trans fats. On a 2,000-calorie diet, that would be 2 grams. The food label does not list a %DV for trans fats.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat
These are "good" unsaturated fats that may protect your heart when consumed in place of foods that contain saturated or trans fats. Labels may list these fats, but are not required to do so. If the label doesn't list poly- or monounsaturated fats, subtract the sum of the trans and saturated fat from total fat to calculate the grams of monos and polys.
Cholesterol
Dietary cholesterol, which should be limited for heart health, is found in meats, dairy products and in shrimp and egg yolks. The AHA recommends no more than 300 milligrams per day of cholesterol.
Sodium
The amount of sodium and the %DV should not exceed the 2,400 milligram-per-day limit set by the FDA.
Sugars
These are part of the grams of total carbohydrate but are the natural and added sugars per serving. There is no %DV for sugars. Choose foods that keep sugars low relative to total carbohydrate and fiber.
Vitamins and minerals
Food label are required to include Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium and iron in terms of %DV that the serving provides. They sometimes also list additional vitamins and minerals. Look for foods that provide micronutrients to your diet.
Ingredients
The ingredient list includes all elements in a product listed by weight in descending order of amount contained in the product.
Article By: Julie Upton
We'll point you toward the parts of a food's label you need to see, and show you how to navigate the rest of it.
When you're losing weight with Weight Watchers, it's necessary that you know your way around all those abbreviations and numbers listed on food labels. The PointsPlus™ values for thousands of foods are available to subscribers in our database, but occasionally you'll have to figure out one on your own, or using the PointsPlus calculator. In those cases, you'll need to look for the serving size, protein, total carbohydrate, total fat, and fiber.
Serving size
This is what the FDA says is a standard serving, which is uniform across product categories, making it easier to comparison shop. What you need to know is that the amount of nutrients is given per serving, and servings are often a fraction of the package contents. You need to multiply the information given by the number of servings you actually eat.
Servings per container
This is the number of servings in the entire package. For example, a 20-ounce bottle of soda holds 2 1/2 servings. If you drink it all (and who doesn't?), that means that you have to multiply the number of calories — and other nutrition facts — by 2 1/2.
Percent of daily value (%DV)
These percentages indicate how much of each nutrient one serving provides as part of a 2,000-calorie diet. If you eat 1,200 or 3,000 calories a day, this percentage would be adjusted up or down. Five percent or less of the %DV is considered low, whereas 20% or more is considered high.
Protein
This is the amount of total protein the food contains measured in grams. The Percent Daily Value (%DV) for protein is 50 grams.
Total carbohydrate
This is the amount of total carbohydrate per serving measured in grams. It includes sugars plus complex carbohydrates that are more slowly digested.
Total fat
This is the total fat per one serving in grams. (Worth noting: fat provides the most calories of any nutrient.)
Dietary fiber
This is the amount of soluble and insoluble fiber (indigestible forms of carbohydrate) per serving. Fiber is found primarily in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans. Look for foods that are high in %DV for fiber.
What about the rest of the numbers?
There's a lot of other info on the labels. To help you decipher the terms and focus on factors that are important to you, keep reading.
Calories
This is the amount of calories per FDA standard serving.
Calories from fat
Each gram of fat provides 9 calories so you can figure out the total fat calories in the product by multiplying the total grams of fat by 9.
Saturated fat
Saturated fats, which are found in meat, poultry, fish, baked goods and tropical oils, increase risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than 7% of daily calories come from saturated fat, which is 15.5 grams of saturated fat per day. Opt for foods that have a low %DV of saturated fat.
Trans fats
Trans fats are even more harmful for the heart than saturated fats. The AHA recommends only up to 1% of total calories from trans fats. On a 2,000-calorie diet, that would be 2 grams. The food label does not list a %DV for trans fats.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat
These are "good" unsaturated fats that may protect your heart when consumed in place of foods that contain saturated or trans fats. Labels may list these fats, but are not required to do so. If the label doesn't list poly- or monounsaturated fats, subtract the sum of the trans and saturated fat from total fat to calculate the grams of monos and polys.
Cholesterol
Dietary cholesterol, which should be limited for heart health, is found in meats, dairy products and in shrimp and egg yolks. The AHA recommends no more than 300 milligrams per day of cholesterol.
Sodium
The amount of sodium and the %DV should not exceed the 2,400 milligram-per-day limit set by the FDA.
Sugars
These are part of the grams of total carbohydrate but are the natural and added sugars per serving. There is no %DV for sugars. Choose foods that keep sugars low relative to total carbohydrate and fiber.
Vitamins and minerals
Food label are required to include Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium and iron in terms of %DV that the serving provides. They sometimes also list additional vitamins and minerals. Look for foods that provide micronutrients to your diet.
Ingredients
The ingredient list includes all elements in a product listed by weight in descending order of amount contained in the product.
Supermarket Psychology
Supermarket Psychology
Article By: Roz Lewis
Your supermarket employs clever strategies to encourage shoppers to spend more; how can you keep control of your wallet and your waistline?
Have you ever gone shopping hungry and come out of the supermarket in shock, having spent far more than you thought you were going to? Or found yourself staring at products in your home, thinking, why on earth did I put that in my cart? If so, then you've succumbed to supermarket psychology, the marketing tactics that are employed by stores to get people like you to buy more products than you really need.
Marketing expertise
Supermarkets have been employing marketing experts and psychologists to design their stores for many years. The simple plan is to entice you to buy lots of goodies; whether or not you actually need them is beside the point.
Recognize the following devices?
An in-store bakery: The smell of freshly baked bread is designed to make us hungry and get us spending.
Produce near the front door: Fresh food looks best in natural light, hence you find these areas near the opening to the supermarket.
Hidden staples: Milk and bread are set far apart from the entrance and each other, to encourage consumers to walk through all parts of the store.
The "end cap" trick: Special displays at the end of the aisles, known as end-caps, are laden with offers; shoppers notice them more than regular displays.
Eye-catching at eye level: More expensive items with higher profit margins are placed at eye level, while the shop's basics range will be on the floor — companies actually pay more to have their products at eye level, as shoppers are considered "lazy" and will see them first.
David Lewis, a consumer psychologist and author of The Soul of the New Consumer: Authenticity, What We Buy and Why in the New Economy (Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd.) has spent 15 years analyzing how we buy. He says, "Nothing is left to chance. From the width of the aisles (planned so that you are prevented from bumping into other people, but aren't so wide that you can't get your hands on products) to the music (composers even spend their lives writing music designed to entice shoppers to buy more goods), a supermarket is a place where a consumer and his money are meant to part company. Remember that a supermarket is a bit like a machine; its mission is to get you to spend, so to counter this, you need to keep your wits about you."
The supermarkets have vast amounts of data about our shopping habits from point of sale, loyalty card databases and market research data that are given to psychologists and the retail geographers to create an optimum store layout.
So can you avoid the pitfalls of supermarket psychology? Yes, if you keep your wits about you and observe the following guidelines.
Go in with a list and stick to it
Eat before you go shopping
Stick to buy one, get one free offers and fresh produce markdowns; don't get sucked into complicated special offers — they are often misleading
Check if generic brand products are as cheap and as good as branded — sometimes they aren't
Consider shopping online — you won't be tempted by in-store marketing
Article By: Roz Lewis
Your supermarket employs clever strategies to encourage shoppers to spend more; how can you keep control of your wallet and your waistline?
Have you ever gone shopping hungry and come out of the supermarket in shock, having spent far more than you thought you were going to? Or found yourself staring at products in your home, thinking, why on earth did I put that in my cart? If so, then you've succumbed to supermarket psychology, the marketing tactics that are employed by stores to get people like you to buy more products than you really need.
Marketing expertise
Supermarkets have been employing marketing experts and psychologists to design their stores for many years. The simple plan is to entice you to buy lots of goodies; whether or not you actually need them is beside the point.
Recognize the following devices?
An in-store bakery: The smell of freshly baked bread is designed to make us hungry and get us spending.
Produce near the front door: Fresh food looks best in natural light, hence you find these areas near the opening to the supermarket.
Hidden staples: Milk and bread are set far apart from the entrance and each other, to encourage consumers to walk through all parts of the store.
The "end cap" trick: Special displays at the end of the aisles, known as end-caps, are laden with offers; shoppers notice them more than regular displays.
Eye-catching at eye level: More expensive items with higher profit margins are placed at eye level, while the shop's basics range will be on the floor — companies actually pay more to have their products at eye level, as shoppers are considered "lazy" and will see them first.
David Lewis, a consumer psychologist and author of The Soul of the New Consumer: Authenticity, What We Buy and Why in the New Economy (Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd.) has spent 15 years analyzing how we buy. He says, "Nothing is left to chance. From the width of the aisles (planned so that you are prevented from bumping into other people, but aren't so wide that you can't get your hands on products) to the music (composers even spend their lives writing music designed to entice shoppers to buy more goods), a supermarket is a place where a consumer and his money are meant to part company. Remember that a supermarket is a bit like a machine; its mission is to get you to spend, so to counter this, you need to keep your wits about you."
The supermarkets have vast amounts of data about our shopping habits from point of sale, loyalty card databases and market research data that are given to psychologists and the retail geographers to create an optimum store layout.
So can you avoid the pitfalls of supermarket psychology? Yes, if you keep your wits about you and observe the following guidelines.
Go in with a list and stick to it
Eat before you go shopping
Stick to buy one, get one free offers and fresh produce markdowns; don't get sucked into complicated special offers — they are often misleading
Check if generic brand products are as cheap and as good as branded — sometimes they aren't
Consider shopping online — you won't be tempted by in-store marketing
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