The Concierge Doc Podcast with Dr. Jason Littleton, M.D.

15 Tips to Maximize Your Grocery Shopping with Dr. Littleton

Dr. Jason Littleton, M.D.

Send us a text

Master the secrets of a healthier lifestyle with insights from Dr. Jason Littleton as he unlocks the transformative power of commitment and mindful grocery shopping. On the Concierge Doc Podcast, Dr. Littleton shares practical strategies to upgrade your shopping habits, like shopping with a full stomach to avoid unhealthy impulse buys and strategically using coupons to fill your cart with nutritious foods. Discover the importance of wholesome canned foods and how easy tweaks in your daily routine can lead to increased energy and longevity. You'll even hear about the exciting developments at Littleton Concierge Medicine, including their holistic approach to preventive medicine and state-of-the-art facilities.

Craving a consistent path to wellness? Dr. Littleton underscores the necessity of commitment and personal dedication through his own caffeine-quit journey, providing a clear example of how giving up toxic habits can improve well-being. This episode reinforces the pillars of his "meds protocol"—move, eat, drink, sleep—as essential components of a vibrant life. Dive into the 15 key energy secrets from his book, "Wellspring: The Energy Secrets to Do the Good Life," and learn how making informed, committed choices paves the way to a more energized and fulfilling life. Don’t miss out on the chance to enrich your understanding of wellness and connect with a community striving for the good life.

Visit Dr Jason Littleton's website: https://www.jasonmd.com/

Follow Dr Jason Littleton on Instagram and Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/therealdoctorjason/

Watch Dr Jason Littleton on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@therealdoctorjason3340


Disclaimer:
Access to the Information and materials contained in this podcast is at your own risk. The information contained is presented for the purpose of educating the consumer on a variety of wellness and health care topics (the “Information”). Nothing contained is intended to be instructional for medical diagnosis or treatment. The Information contained is compiled from a variety of sources. The Information should not be considered complete and not exhaustive and should not be in place of a visit or consultation with your own primary care doctor.

Speaker 1:

Hello friends, this is Dr Jason Littleton. Welcome to the Concierge Doc Podcast. We're getting ready to go live here. I've got my Facebook friends here in attendance, so let's get going. Hello friends, welcome to the Concierge Doc Podcast. I'm your host, ceo and founder of Littleton Concierge Medicine, dr Jason Littleton. Welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Really excited today because today I'm going to be talking to you about my book that I wrote, wellspring the Energy Secrets to Do the Good Life. This is the second edition, energize. Again, I want to show everyone that is watching and really excited about that, because today I want to talk about a topic that's dear to my heart 15 healthy grocery shopping tips. I wrote this all in my book and you can get this book at jasonmdcom. Everyone needs to know how to eat healthy. I mean, when we talk about having energy, living long, having longevity, you have to eat right. It's what you put in your body. But a lot of times, you know, we hear a lot of good tips from a variety of sources, but it's all about commitment and I'm going to get into that today. So let's get going. Let's jump into this. Before I get going, I want to read my disclaimer from my compliance team Access to the information and materials contained in this podcast is at your own risk.

Speaker 1:

The information contained is presented for the purpose of educating the consumer on a variety of wellness and healthcare topics. The information nothing contained is intended to be instructional for medical diagnosis or treatment. The information contained is compiled from a variety of sources. The information should not be considered complete and exhaustive and should not be in place of a visit or consultation with your own primary care doctor. Folks I say this every week and I always want to remind people it's so important to get with your PCP or, better yet, book an appointment at Littleton Concierge Medicine and come and see me here in Orlando, florida, so I can sit down with you and we can go through your entire story, your history, so I can make accurate diagnosis and treatment. It's so important. Let's be intuitive here. So we have a great show. We have a great show Today. We've got our Facebook friends on and they're gonna be watching the behind the scenes. Look as we do our podcast today and we're gonna talk about 15 15 healthy grocery shopping tips.

Speaker 1:

This comes from my book again Wellspring the Energy Secrets to Do the Good Life Energize Again, really excited about this. This is a book that is very simple to read and, I think, can make a world of difference if you apply it. And I think the key here is drawing the line in the sand and making a commitment to healthy living. It's not about knowing 10 or 15 great things to do. Without the commitment it's not going to matter. So it's so important to do that.

Speaker 1:

A couple updates. Last Sunday I was on Fox Now and that was really cool, and you know, actually this Monday I'm also going to be on Good Day Orlando. I just want to give you guys a couple updates. At 845 if you want to tune in and watch that. You know, look, our new facility, littleton Concierge Medicine, is coming along and our hyperbaric chamber just got delivered and it's in place. You probably saw my post on Instagram yesterday. If you haven't, go and check that, it's also on Facebook Really excited about what's happening at Littleton Concierge Medicine.

Speaker 1:

You know very holistic practice. I am a concierge doctor, I'm an MD and I love taking a holistic approach and sitting down with my patients so that they can eat well, live well, exercise MD, and I love taking a holistic approach and sitting down with my patients so that they can eat well, live well, exercise well and just have a good, long, strong, energized life. It's about preventive medicine. I work with a lot of sick patients, but I work with a lot of healthy patients and I would love to work with you as well. Also, I want to. Just before we dive into things, I just want to remind you guys. You can catch me on this podcast, on Apple, spotify, amazon, audible and more YouTube, instagram and, of course, facebook, and I want you to go ahead and subscribe to my newsletter. You can go to jasonmdcom.

Speaker 1:

So let's get into it. All right, 15 healthy grocery shopping tips and again, I wrote this in my book Wellspring Energy Secrets to Do a Good Life. Let's go. Number one you've probably heard it before, but it's important Don't grocery shop when you're hungry. I've done that before. I think we've all done that. You know. The thing here is that you end up buying what you look and what you hunger for, and sometimes it's not good for you and that's a great way to actually put junk food in your refrigerator or your cabinet. You don't wanna do that. You don't wanna do that. So always eat healthy before you go grocery shopping.

Speaker 1:

Tip number two only clip coupons. If you use coupons, only clip coupons for nutritious items. The reason I wrote this in the book is because sometimes, when I talk about buying foods that are not processed, that are whole foods, that are organic, you know there's a price tag attached to that. You know. And one of the things as I have spoken, you know, around the nation, as I've spoken to people they say, well, you know it's nation. As I've spoken to people, they say, well, you know, it's cheaper when you buy non-organic. But look, you don't want to put cheap foods in your body. So if that means finding a coupon so that you can, you know, eat nutritious items that are whole food, that are organic, then do so. So I put that as tip number two. The drive to save money is powerful and the option to get a bargain on unhealthy foods will prompt you to buy them. That's the whole point, you know. So if it's cheaper to buy unhealthy food, sometimes people will do that. But I'm saying, consider not doing that, even if it means you got to bring a coupon to the store with you.

Speaker 1:

Tip number three heading to the store with meals planned out and a written shopping list. This ensures you don't forget something you need for your healthy meals and end up resorting to something less desirable. It also prevents you from wandering around without a plan. That's a major trap. So many people fall into that, into this, and it leads to poor choices. It leads to overbuyingying, it leads to overspending and not having all the ingredients on hand for smart meal prep. Um, that that's intuitive. Have a plan, I mean, when I think about this, when I travel now, um, I plan out what I'm going to wear each day so I don't overpack. And this is this tip that just told you is going to be helpful, so you don't overbuy. You want to buy exactly what you need. You want to buy more than enough, of course, but you want to buy more than enough of the right things. Without a plan, you can end up again buying junk food which you don't want. You don't want to put processed foods and junk foods in your body. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Tip number four choose whole foods over processed foods whenever possible. Whole foods are those found in nature. Okay, more or less as they're found in nature Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, cuts of meat, poultry, fish, eggs. These are some of the whole foods that you can purchase. That's tip number four. Tip number five don't even walk down snack aisles, walking past all those bags of chips and packages of cookies. It's just unnecessary temptation and you don't need that. And so if you know that that's the sugary aisle, just skip that and move right along, don't even think about it. Tip number six grab the whole grain version of the foods you eat. Choose brown rice over white, whole wheat bread over white bread, and so on. It's a simple substitution with a big impact on health and weight control, so that can make a big difference.

Speaker 1:

Tip number seven opt for organic over traditional when possible and we've talked about that, as I alluded to. When sometimes it's easier and cheaper to buy the non-organic item, my recommendation for my family and I is to go ahead and spend the extra on organic, even if it means bringing a coupon, so that you can make sure you get the best foods possible. Tip number eight buy a fruit, vegetable, whole grain or legume you're not familiar with on each of the major shopping trips. Try something new Experiment If you haven't had. If you're someone who goes to the store and you don't like buying corn, maybe it's a time, an opportunity for you to try corn. Try something new. Try something new so that you can change your palate, so that you can encourage your family to try new foods that they've not maybe tried before and that can make it. They may really like it and that might actually spur them to eat more of it, and so that's something that you want to consider.

Speaker 1:

Tip number nine spend a little extra on pre-cut produce and other pre-portioned healthy items if the convenience will make you and your family more likely to eat them. One of the things we do in our house we have an organizer who comes and he pre-cuts our food, and this makes it easy. Now, I'm a busy CEO, I'm a physician and, again, as I'm running Littleton Concierge Medicine, I don't have time a lot of times to prepare my food. So we do have someone who comes to our house and pre-cuts things and gets things ready so we can grab and go. Now you don't have to do that. Obviously, you could take the time and pre-cut so that you can prepare your food in advance, so that you can grab and go, whether it's for your children's lunch at school or you're taking snacks with you at work.

Speaker 1:

You want to think through the process. Thinking through the process actually is very helpful for your health, because it allows you to think three steps ahead so that you can put your body in the best position to win so that you can feel better, you can feel more energized. That just goes without saying. Oh, I like this. Tip number 10, buy fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors. Different colors come from different nutrients, so this is a simple way to get a broad range of healthy compounds and I think that's pretty intuitive, but it's a good reminder. Buy different fruits and vegetables with different colors because they can represent different nutrients that you're putting in your body that are good for you, and so that's really very, very, very helpful and a good thing to remember.

Speaker 1:

Tip number 11, look at the serving size of every package food. Something may appear low calorie, low sodium, et cetera at first glance, but if the serving size is unrealistically small, this may not be actually the case. So it's always important to look at the serving size so you understand exactly how much or the amount of nutrients you are putting in your body. So you do have to do a little bit of math here. So just familiarize yourselves with the nutritious facts on each package of each food item that you purchase. Tip number 12, keep reading past the serving size on the nutritional label. Avoid anything with trans fat or trans fats and try to minimize saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. In general, high carbohydrate items should have high fiber content rather than high sugar content. So you know, this is something that you know. I explain in my book and this is another reason to get my book. If you're writing this down, also get the book, because that's going to be a good study guide, because I have lists of many different things that you can do when you go grocery shopping that can aid you and help you with your meal prep and with your meal buying.

Speaker 1:

Tip number 13, read over the ingredient list on packaged foods too. Typically, the shorter the better. Steer clear of items with artificial colors or flavors. Remember ingredients are listed in descending order by quantity. One example of why this might matter is a product that lists white flour before whole wheat flour. It's made up more of refined grain than whole grain, even if the marketing on the front of the package leads you to believe otherwise. Yeah, that's a very good tip and it's one of the things that I really wanted to get across when writing this book. Here we go.

Speaker 1:

Tip number 14, don't be afraid of frozen produce. Fresh usually tastes better. Of course, I always encourage people to go ahead and purchase fresh food, but frozen fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious In fact, they often have a higher nutritional value if they're frozen promptly after harvesting. So sometimes it's just convenient to get frozen foods, and so I don't want to discourage people from doing that. Obviously, fresh produce is the best way to go, but if it's a logistic issue, don't be afraid to get frozen if it means that you're going to eat more fruits and vegetables. So it's a tip that it's easy to look past and say, oh yeah, I already know this already, but you know. Again, you got to ask the question what are you, what are you putting in your body? You know, if it's going to be easier to buy frozen so that you can get more fruits and vegetables in your body, then this is an option to consider. These are tips that my family and I do, so I'm only sharing what my family and I do as an example.

Speaker 1:

Tip number 15, don't overlook canned legumes, veggies and fruit either. These two are convenient, budget-friendly, healthy items to toss into a wide variety of recipes. Just avoid cans with added sugar, syrup and sodium. So it's just an option again to make things a little bit easier. Everyone has a different story, so you have to. You know you look at these 15 tips and you have to find out what's going to work for you. And you know you can pick and choose from this list that can enhance how you and your family eat, and I think that's important.

Speaker 1:

But here's the thing I just gave 15 tips and that can sound really nice, but the thing is, without the commitment, it won't matter. You still have to draw a line in the sand and decide that you know what, I'm just not going back I'm going to eat. A line in the sand and decide that you know what, I'm just not going back. I'm going to eat healthy. And let me give you an example of what I mean. You know there is power in being authentic, and I just want to authentically tell you, you know, look, I used to love my coffee.

Speaker 1:

I used to drink a cup of coffee every day, about eight ounces and you know, just eight ounces of coffee a day caused me to have eye twitching, and you know, the eye can have the eye first of all. The nerves in the eye are very, very sensitive, because that's what causes you to blink if something were to come at your eye that you were not consciously thinking about and I told this story in one of my previous podcasts. But when I realized that the added caffeine caused the eye twitching, I stopped. I drew my line in the sand. I said, nope, I'm not going back to anything that has caffeine in it. No coffee, no soda, no energy drinks, none of that. And eye twitching stopped. I've been off drinking coffee for two and a half months and I'm not going back. And the reason that I want to bring this up because it's an example of me drawing that line in the sand.

Speaker 1:

And you have to draw a line in the sand to improve your health, so that when you are willing to make a change in your health, when you're willing to go forward and try something new such, as, you know, quitting smoking, quitting caffeine, quitting any toxic habit you have to be wholeheartedly committed. So now that I'm wholeheartedly committed to never going back to caffeine or coffee or soda or anything like that, I can take tips like the 15 that I just talked about or other good advice and put that on top of my will to not go back. And I think that is so important and I want to really emphasize that because I think we can get so focused on all the great advice out there and try this and try that, but if we don't have the commitment, we're not going to. But if we don't have the commitment, we're not going to be able to reproduce that. Without the commitment, we're not going to be able to reproduce that. So that's the whole point. I want you guys to succeed.

Speaker 1:

These tips can be applied to my elite health laws Move, eat, drink, sleep. That's my meds protocol, right, and when you use the meds protocol, you have to be committed to making your life better. All right, and it's always better to do things naturally, no doubt about it. It's always better to do things without a pharmaceutical the pharmaceutical. It all starts with making that commitment to living strong, having longevity and being more energized. If you are well in your body, you will have energy. Let that sink in. If you are well in your body, you will have energy. But being well takes a commitment, and so that's what I want to communicate today.

Speaker 1:

I hope you take these 15 points that we talked about. If you don't remember them, it's another reason to go ahead and get my book Wellspring the Energy Secrets to Do a Good Life. Go to jasonmdcom and for you Facebook friends out there, you know, go ahead to jasonmdcom and get my book. I hope to see you on the next podcast. You know, right now we're doing the behind the scenes. Look for my Facebook friends, so that's pretty cool. I hope to see you in the next podcast. I'm really excited. I cannot wait to talk to you next time. All right, talk to you later.

People on this episode