Shop for the days you will actually have

Most grocery trouble isn’t the shop, it’s the shopping list. You buy for the appetite you have on Saturday morning and then it’s Wednesday, nothing sounds good, and the chicken you bought is still in the fridge judging you.

Buy for three days, not three meals

Shop for gears instead of recipes. A low-gear day, a mid-gear day and a high-gear day need different things, and the low-gear things are the ones people forget — because you’re never in low gear at the store.

• Rotisserie chicken, 3 oz 24g
• Greek yogurt, plain 5%, ¾ cup 17g
• Deli turkey, 2 oz 11g
• Cottage cheese, 4%, ½ cup 13g
• Smoked salmon, 2 oz 11g
• Two eggs, scrambled 12g

Protein per serving: rotisserie chicken 24 grams, Greek yogurt 17, deli turkey 11, two eggs 12, cottage cheese 13, smoked salmon 11 grams.

Six things, no cooking beyond a pan of eggs, and a fridge that can answer a low-gear day without a second trip.

Ten things worth having in the fridge

If nothing else on this page is useful, this list is. Every one of these needs no cooking and does real work in a few bites.

• Plain Greek yogurt, 5% — 17g a serving, and it takes a scoop of powder without complaining
• Cottage cheese, 4% — 13g, and salt makes it edible on a bad morning
• Sliced turkey or ham from the deli counter — 16g in three bites, no plate needed
• A rotisserie chicken — pull it apart the day you buy it, or you won’t
• Eggs — the cheapest 6g in the shop
• Sharp cheddar — small amounts, big flavour, no preparation
• Smoked salmon — 11g in two ounces and it feels like a treat rather than a task
• A protein powder you have actually tasted before buying the big tub
• Ready-made protein shakes — two or three, cold, for the mornings you open the fridge and close it again
• Cherry tomatoes, olives, lemons — not protein, but the difference between eating the protein and not

Do the pulling, slicing and portioning on the day you shop, while you still have the energy for it. Wednesday you will not.