What is up everyone ? Welcome back to another episode of the Healthy Diabetic . I'm your host , coach Ken Kines . I'm a type 1 diabetic , diabetes coach , nutrition coach and strength coach , so we're going to just jump right into today's episode . There's going to be a really quick one . As you guys probably know , right now I'm in the midst of creating this nutrition course and I thought this would be a great opportunity to sit down and record an episode about the grocery store .
Speaker 1A lot of people go through the grocery store and they have no clue what's going on , or maybe you don't go without a plan . So here's six different ways to hack the grocery store . My six step process to hacking the grocery store . Number one make sure that you go with a plan . Just make sure you have a list . Make sure that you are going with a plan . When you don't have a plan now , you are going to buy stuff that you actually don't need . The chips are going to get into the basket or the cart , the pops going to get in the cart . The stuff that you just don't need is going to get into that cart . So make sure you have a list when you go to the grocery store . Number two make sure that you are not going to the grocery store hungry . I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the grocery store without my list and , really , really hungry , bought crap I didn't need and ate some stuff at the grocery store , got some pizza , whatever it was . Don't go to the grocery store hungry .
Speaker 1Number three make sure you avoid awkward conversations . What do I mean by awkward conversations ? I can't tell you how many times I've said at the butcher stand to try to get some meat or set somewhere I'm waiting for something to be served to me and I got someone talking to me , or a friend of mine or someone that I know comes up oh my gosh , ken , how are you ? And then I'm sitting there talking for 30 minutes and it's not a conversation . I need to be having right that second . So what do I do ? What I do is I like to go to the grocery store with headphones in . That tells everyone around me I'm not down to talk . I mean business . I'm in and I'm out .
Speaker 1If you like to go to the grocery store and have conversations , okay , know that you probably will get off task and have to keep going back to your list to make sure that you are staying on task . Hopefully you have a list , cool . Number four make sure that you have an appropriately sized cart . If you are just going to the grocery store and just getting the bare essentials , there's no need to grab a big cart . If you're just growing and you need to grab two or three things , grab a basket . Research shows that when you grab a big cart just to grab a couple things , you're going to get more and more things that you actually don't need , right ? So even if you're going with a list I've done this before . I've gone with a list . I've grabbed the cart and all of a sudden , my whole entire cart is full and I only needed five things . Make sure that you are using an appropriately sized cart . Number five here's probably one of the most important things when it comes to overall health . Make sure we're shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store . Don't even bother .
Speaker 1When you walk into the grocery store , don't start on the inner aisles . You need to start on the outside aisles . Why do we do that ? Why do we start on the outside aisles ? Well , the first thing is because we want to grab things that are fresh first . We want to start loading up our cart with things that are fresh . The second thing that's on the outside of the perimeter is plugged in , either frozen or it is refrigerated . What I usually do is I go into the grocery store first and I'll go right to the fresh produce . Fresh produce you can get cold cuts over there sometimes , depending on what grocery store you're at . I'm getting all my fruits , my vegetables , whatever it might be In that section . I am trying to make sure that everything that's in my cart I want 70 to 70 percent Again , this is dependent on your list but 70 to 70 percent or 70 to 75 percent , maybe even 80 percent of all of the products in my cart need to be something that's going to spoil within seven to 10 days . That's when you know you have good , healthy food that you are purchasing .
Speaker 1If you have 70 percent of chips and pop and all kinds of other stuff that's in the inner aisles , that is not the right decision to be made . You need to make sure you go to the list , make sure you have recipes ready to go . That's when you can actually get all that stuff that you need . Then the last one , number six once you are done on the perimeter , once you're done on the outside of the grocery store , then you can go into the inner aisles . Now here's the caveat I would say with this Because you have your list , because you're organized and you know exactly what you need to get , you're not spending tons of time on the inner aisles .
Speaker 1You're only getting things for recipes , like your condiments , whatever you need , seasonings . You're not trying to go into the inner aisles and get a bunch of stuff , a bunch of crap . Also , with the inner aisles , typically the frozen foods are on the inner aisles . If you need to go into the frozen foods , that's the time to go into the frozen foods . Part of that is because if you get frozen foods at the beginning , if you're going to spend half hour , 45 minutes there , that stuff's going to start de-thoiling . I like that's kind of the thought process , of the mindset I have when I am shopping . If I need to get something frozen , I'm always getting that last . If you're at something like Whole Foods or something that has a food that's already prepared or food that's being prepared , that's fresh , you can get that stuff . Also , when you go into the inner aisles , I don't get that stuff . Sometimes my kids like to have pizza at Whole Foods . Sometimes I'll get different meats or pulled pork or vegetables that are already made , that are nice and hot , for dinner or for lunch or just for me to take for lunch throughout the week . I'll get that stuff last .
Speaker 1There's my six tips , my six ways to hack the grocery store . Make sure you have a plan . Make sure you're not going to the grocery store hungry . Make sure you're avoiding awkward conversations . Make sure you are shopping the perimeter of the grocery store first and then last but certainly not least , make sure that you're doing the inner aisles last . I hope this was educational for you guys . We got some value out of this . Make sure that you use these tips when you go to the grocery store and I guarantee you'll save money and you will get way better , healthier food . Thank you so much for listening and watching . I will see you everybody next time .