[Day 1] How do chefs keep up with all their ingredients?

Alright, I picked probably the easiest meals to make for the next three days, and I ended up at the grocery store for almost 2 hours and spending $150.  Sure, I had to buy larger quantities than what the individual meals called for, but goodness, I hope it gets easier to purchase ingredients to eat well.

Maybe it's the grocery chains that push this, or maybe it's the people making the food, but I found out tonight there's a difference between whole grain, whole wheat, half-wheat, whole wheat with whole grains, 100% whole grain, etc... It's easier to find bread labeled as "healthy" and with some sort of freaking "grain" today than it is to find old-fashioned white bread.

I uploaded "before" shots of myself along with this post.  Please see below

Pretty pathetic, huh?  And now you may no longer be asking yourself why I want to change my body.  I'm not only small, but I've noticed I'm fairly weak.  Sure, I'm lean, and I have quite a bit of endurance, but I attribute those to my small size.  I not only want to bulk up a bit for the lady-friend and for my own self-esteem, but I'd like to be stronger as well and build some endurance in the process.

Well that's it for tonight.  Thanks for reading.