Bariatric Grocery Shopping at Aldi

Great deals on weight loss surgery friendly items from the popular grocery store chain

Things to know about Aldi

Aldi is one of my very favorite stores and is a great place for Bariatric Grocery Shopping. While I have been an avid Aldi shopper for years, I’ve noticed my friends usually love Aldi or are confused by it! More and more people are shopping the store since they have continued to improve both their food options and payment options.

There are a few important things to know about Aldi:

You need a quarter to get a shopping cart

Bring your own bags

You’ll bag your items yourself (more on this later)

You can use debit, credit and even Apple Pay to purchase groceries at Aldi. In the past they did not take credit cards but this changed in 2016. 

For those of you who love grocery delivery as much as I do, you can also have your Aldi groceries delivered with InstaCart®! I asked for a membership for a Christmas gift and have my Aldi groceries delivered nearly every week. Please and thank you!

The store layout

Aldi is unique in many ways (it’s a German based company) and the flow of the store is something else to know about. You will walk in one door and follow the flow of the aisles, exiting out the exit door.

It takes some practice to know the layout and each location does change a little. You’ll likely have to go back to where you started if you noticed the salsa was actually at the very front and you missed it. It’s a bummer but you do get used to it :)

Note: many locations in my area are undergoing remodeling. The newer stores don’t seem as limited in the flow but the same is true that you enter at the front and exit after the checkout lane.

Typically you will start in the pantry items section, get some dairy and eggs along the back, some produce in the middle, canned goods, then go back around for more dairy, meats, frozen items and a large section of vary random non-food related items which is actually one of the best parts.

Water bottles, kitchen utensils, laundry baskets and more. Make sure and grab the ad when you leave the store because you never know what item you’ve been interested in will be selling inexpensively at Aldi next week!

What to buy if you’ve had bariatric surgery

This is a super long list. In fact, I created a shopping guide for members to the site and quickly ended up with TEN PAGES filled with images of products to purchase from Aldi!

Here is a highlight of a few great items:

Aldi is such a fun and random jackpot of items. The more you shop there, the more you get to know what is a ‘staple’ that you can mostly count on being there and what is a very unique opportunity to grab something that might not come back for another year!

Members get the guide here! You can also find the Costco Shopping guide with that link.

Find out more about membership and get access to the Aldi Shopping Guide plus meal plans, recipes, members group, video courses and more!

A note about the random aisle

If you are already an Aldi shopper, you know how awesome the random aisle(s) are. If you are not a shopper, I think you’ll love it too!

This is the aisle that is surprisingly filled with kitchen utensils, slippers, house decor or children’s toys that I love to take my time looking through. It’s like the bonus of going grocery shopping. Even better if my kids aren’t with me and I get to take my time!

Need an insulated water bottle and a laundry basket? Perfect. Just don’t count on them to have anything in particular. It’s like the ultimate grab bag!

The checkout process

If you aren’t familiar with the checkout process you might feel a slight moment of anxiety to know what to do. It’s pretty simple.

Unload your groceries on the belt like always. The cashier will start ringing up your items and place them in another shopping cart as they go.

You’ll pay like always (Apple Pay, Chip reader, cash, etc) and then you will move your newly loaded cart away and push forward the empty cart you unloaded. Then move over to the counter immediately across from the checkout lane to start bagging your items.

If you did not bring bags you can either purchase some or use empty boxes around the store. Once you load up, leave through the exit and GRAB NEXT WEEK’S AD for fun enjoyment.

Unload your groceries in your car and then return your cart to get your quarter back. Although many nice people will hand you a quarter to take your cart or simply leave their cart behind with a quarter for the next person to use. It’s one of those nice pay it forward gestures that makes everyone smile.

Get the Aldi Shopping Guide! 10 Pages of Products

If you’re a member, click here to access the page that holds the guide!

If you are not a member, find out more and sign up here! Get the Aldi Guide, Costco guide, meal plans and so much more!