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Hosted by Paul Evans, Registered Nutritionist (@paulthenutritionist)
Tired of the endless food fads, influencer nonsense, and TikTok nutrition “hacks”? This podcast cuts through it all.
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Hello friends and welcome to another Friday episode and summer is very much over. Today is the most important day of the year because it's my birthday and every year, because of my birthday, the government likes to give you a bank holiday, so you are very welcome, enjoy this bank holiday because as I said, it is because of my birthday. Anyway, this is Friday's episode, we did a really really good one on Wednesday which was about supermarkets, the psychology that they use to manipulate you into buying things. So today what I thought I would do is rewind back to supermarket hacks, so what to buy in the supermarket, going round the shops and kind of really simple things to get, this one actually made the press, I think it was in the sun or something like that which outlined kind of the best days to shop, how to kind of what to buy in the supermarket, quick hacks, so I hope you find it really useful. I certainly find it useful to apply a lot of these things.
@paulthenutritionist:Remember, if you want to improve your algorithm, follow, subscribe this podcast because you will show your algorithm that you re interested in factual, healthy information more and you want less shite and misinformation and trending shite on TikTok that s not helping your health mentally or physically. Even if you never listen to this again, are going to teach your algorithm, that s what you are into and I know for a fact that it works. I hope you enjoyed this episode, we will be back on Wednesday and I am going to catch up with you at the end of this because I got something that I want to say to you that is super super important and helpful and yeah, enjoy this episode and stop being manipulated and conned in supermarkets because it s really going to help you, it going save you loads of time and loads of money. Enjoy. Today we are talking about supermarkets and shopping and ensuring that you not only get the most out of your time but your money and that when you do go in, you aren t buying things which you are probably not going to use.
@paulthenutritionist:The best way to attack that is to make a plan and that is not only just make a plan in terms of a list but also make a plan of what you are to do without food. The worst thing that you can do is go to a supermarket and go on vibes, go in and thinking, well, I kind of know what I want and I know I will work out what to do and then then then that. Do not leave it to future you to make that decision. The best bit of advice I can tell you is if you are going write a list anyway, which you should be doing, you might as well spend an extra five minutes working out what are you going to do with the food that you are going to buy from the supermarket. If you do that, you will not only save yourself time, but you will save yourself money as well.
@paulthenutritionist:So this is all based on British supermarkets, so we are talking Think Aldi, Tesco, Sains, Brizadster, etc. So the one thing I guess to tell you is that you have to remember that supermarkets are laid out to psychologically manipulate you into spending as much food as possible, food as possible, as money as possible, that is why the most essential item is usually back right of the supermarket, so you have to do the whole loop and then you finally get to the things that you actually need. So usually milk and bread is at the back of the supermarket because they know that you re probably gonna you have to pass all of these super offers and you know these big yellow and red signs saying sale or you know money off or two for one. The other thing is it s also not for instance is that all the fresh food is at the front first and that is so you feel good buying the fresh healthy foods and then inevitably your inhibitions will disappear the more you fill up your trolley, like it s all psychologically planned, even there s down to the flooring and you know they want you to move in a certain way and all of these things are all designed to get you to spend as much money as possible, so do not be fooled.
@paulthenutritionist:The first thing to say is obviously protein is really fashionable right now and there are some really good and it certainly got better, but there are some really really good protein options in most supermarkets but try not to be conned too much when it comes to protein options. What I would say is the hidden protein shelves, I guess there are some options these days which I guess are more hidden than not. I would probably start with the chilled aisle when it comes to protein options. So there are these days so many great protein puddings, mousses, cork, skier yoghurt, that are lower in sugar than those which are screaming protein at you. Just have a look on the back and just make sure they have at least 20 grams of protein in and there isn't more than about 180 calories.
@paulthenutritionist:Get those, they're going to fill a gap, they're better than so at the moment Aldi have got this protein sundae that's really good, it tastes like the old Screwballs that you had as a child from the ice cream van. They really do hit a spot and they have got a good proportion of protein, I think about twenty-twenty five grams, they only cost a quid. Calories I think are 175 and they do a job for an evening. Greek yoghurt, absolutely great opportunity to get your protein in via yoghurts, some of the protein pouches are great because that s just flavoured quark, again usually have 20 gs in 25 gs sim and usually relatively low in calories. What I don t want you to be getting is the protein smoothies, they re usually really high in sugar, they re basically just your yop, remember those yop yoghurt drinks?
@paulthenutritionist:They re basically just those so probably don t waste your money on those. But yeah, like the dairy aisle, it's just natural sources of protein and then they obviously have the flavoured ones, which like the protein pudding I've alluded to, so that's a good place to start when it comes to protein. Cheese aisles, light mature cheddar often has more protein per calorie than protein snacks, you know like protein bars often, m seeing some protein bars at the moment that are horrific with 16 gs of protein in and about 16 gs of sugar in, so let s avoid those. You want to be having ideally foods which are actually the foods that you know and these days the cheese aisle is pretty good, again we ve seen more of an awareness of quart, cottage cheese, dairy, protein options which are are obviously not supernatural but they re still relatively natural when it comes to protein options. But also what I m seeing a lot at the moment in supermarkets is there s a brand called Eat Lean, which has not only lower saturated fat cheese but also higher protein so it s strained a little bit.
@paulthenutritionist:So again, you getting your protein in there and also it s a little bit lower fat and it tastes just as good, certainly the grated options. Lidl used to do grated cheese but they stopped doing those but they now do recently have started doing protein cheese. If you re going to have cheddar cheese and stuff you might as well, even if it s a little bit more processed by nature of it being grated, you might as well just get a little bit lower fat and higher in protein. While we re on the dairy option, you go to a mainstream supermarket, so I m thinking Tesco Sainsbury s they ve got, there s a milk called Nutri, it s called Nutri something and it s really, it s like triple filtered milk which is high protein, really really good, tastes amazing, really creamy and again, you know, it a lot higher in protein and it s fantastically tasty, really really good. World food aisles are one of the biggest hacks I can literally tell you about, so as opposed to going to the normal tinned aisle, if you go to the world food aisle, you can get tinned lentils, chickpeas, beans and they re all much cheaper, much higher in fibre than standard tins.
@paulthenutritionist:Same with soy sauce and other sauces, can usually get rices, pastas, you can usually get them from these kind of world food aisles at a much cheaper rate. I don even know why people don know about that but that s going to save you a lot of money. Often people will overspend on branded options when actually if you look at it there s not much in it. Which brings me on to looking at those kind of basic items like chopped tomatoes. So I would recommend getting chopped tomatoes with basil or chopped tomatoes and herbs as opposed to spending money on tomato sauces, they are a lot cheaper.
@paulthenutritionist:Pistata, which is just strained tomatoes with basil and herbs are usually a lot cheaper than ready made sauces to meal sauces, tastes amazing as well, can use them in everything. Microwable rices, not only are they cheaper, they are quicker to cook and you are less likely to get food poisoning you were to like you haven got to go through the same, I guess, sensitivities when it comes to cooling the rice once it s been in the microwave because the way that they ve done it is already pre cooked. Microwavable rice is an absolutely no brainer. Chopped, ready made, whether you go to a mainstream supermarket and get lazy garlic and lazy chilli, lazy onion, or Aldi Lidl, they ve got them in the tube, so like the squeezy garlic options, squeezy ginger, squeezy chilli. Haldi also do some really good herbs and spices, not only have they got single herbs and spices, so your basils, your paprika, all of those things, but also they have this garlic and herb one, which is really really good, keeps radiates, you can add that to all of your chicken, your meat, etc.
@paulthenutritionist:On meat, I would say go for chopped chicken, I don know why you d possibly chop your own chicken, waste time, just buy diced chicken, makes absolutely no sense not to do that. So diced chicken breast, I wouldn t recommend going for chicken. I think I ve got chicken drum fillets now, so chicken breast is the leanest cut, chicken drum is probably the fattiest cut, chicken wings are a complete waste of time. Chicken thigh fillets are higher in fat but obviously you get more flavour with those but I wouldn t always get the thigh fillets, again thinking of your time, you don want to be filleting them yourself. Beef, always go for the 5% lean beef or the steak, you rarely rarely want to be getting anything higher than that because it s just too high in saturated fats, it doesn make you feel very good.
@paulthenutritionist:Turkey mince or chicken mince can be used for chillies if you don like beef. These days I ve seen pork mince which have ice in it at 5%, if that is the case then that s fantastic. You can get lean sausages pretty much from anywhere now, lean pork sausages which share 90% meat, not only does that mean they are lower in fat but it means there s less shit in them. Chicken sausages again, a lot leaner, turkey sausages a lot leaner. Get bacon medallions as opposed to bacon, get yourself some turkey bacon, again bacon isn't the greatest of food but if you are going to get it, you might as well get the medallion versions.
@paulthenutritionist:What else can I say in that aisle? Sorry, I'm walking around the supermarket in my head. These days actually, going straight back to start, you can get, if you like to have squash or fruit juice, Haldilidl and I think Sainsbury's and Tesco, they ve got vitamin drinks. Now don get me wrong, they haven got loads of vitamins in but what they have got is really good flavour profiles, so the orange one actually tastes like Sunny Delight. It's lower in sugar, it's about four colours per bottle and it also has a super sweet lovely flavour, really orange I think it's orange and mango, tastes like a J2O and they say they ve added vitamins to it, I I wouldn get it for that reason but if you someone who likes a sweet drink, I wouldn t waste money on fruit juices which are just literally sugar, you re better off getting these bottles which are really really nice.
@paulthenutritionist:Recently as well, Jim's Kitchen have got into their Aldi, sorry, Tesco and Sainsbury's and the Asda food to go aisle, they got some higher protein wraps which I recommend for food on the go, and Aldi have got their own higher protein versions, Lidl also do. With regards to I m just still walking around the supermarket in my mind, don want get into freezing it. So in the bread aisle, Aldi Lidl, they ve all got high protein wraps which are lower in calories than your normal wrap, they ve also got high protein bagels, which I recommend they re lower in calories than normal bagels. Aldi currently have a high protein sourdough which is amazing, tastes great, lowering calories, be careful of the bread. Often wholemeal breads are about two-two 50 per slice, which is crazy when you think about it, once you ve made your sandwich you re looking at 700 calorie meal.
@paulthenutritionist:So be mindful of that, best ones usually you want to be aiming for about less than 100 calories per slice, to like brown bread ideally, but again the high protein ones are usually if they re higher in protein and higher in fibre, means you re slow the absorption of any sugars within that bread, so again you're not going get that glucose spike, you're probably going to feel much more full for longer. But yeah, high protein wraps are fantastic in all of those supermarkets. High protein flats, if you're in a mainstream soup mainstream a branded supermarket Warburton's have high protein, Pittas and high protein what are they called, the pears with like pear pockets, they're those, they're really really nice. Aldi currently have flatbreads which were amazing, again, very kind with calories, tastes amazing, keep for a long time, really doughy, recommend those. There are some high protein crumpets which aren't amazing, but again, if you're a crumpet person you might as well get those with a little bit higher protein in.
@paulthenutritionist:So that s it I think in terms of the veg, if you are someone who likes to have a crunch with your meal, I recommend getting specially selected gourmet salted crackers, they're not too dry, they usually got a little bit of rock salt on and they're really nice kind of dipping kind of lower calorie cheese, like light cheese and you can have those in a nice little snack. Light baby bells, five grams of protein per portion, but the crackers are only lead to their belicchi, I think they are 20 calories each so you can have five of those 100 calories really hit spot. Rice cake, the rice cake tier list, so Aldi have just fucked theirs up but they were really good. I d say salt and vinegar wise, Aldi and Tesco are on par. Sweet chilli rice, Aldis have ruined theirs, don t get those, I would go either Tesco or Waitrose have the best salt and vinegar ones, Kaleo are okay but they are a little bit drier, the Aldi do have really good salt and vinegar, ham, sour cream and onion, rice cakes, highly recommend those.
@paulthenutritionist:If you like crisps, then always go for crisps under 100 calories, I always talk about pombeurs, think those lentil crisps are really good, they hit the spot. M purposely avoiding fruit and veg, it s a no brainer to obviously make sure you re getting stocked on. I tend to get apples, raspberries, blueberries, I always get a salad regardless, like a salad bag because you can add that to anything. If you don t like to have frozen, which we haven talked about but we will do in a second, then Aldi currently do, and I think Tesco and Sainsbury s currently do, chopped onions, which you can have, so you haven got to chop your own onions. I am someone who wants convenience, so m never chopping my own onions, never chopping my own peppers, I always buy them frozen, which brings me onto the frozen aisle.
@paulthenutritionist:So frozen chopped onions, frozen chopped garlic, frozen chopped peppers, frozen chopped, I think, frozen chopped sweet potatoes, Tesco do insane sprays do, frozen chopped everything, going to the freezer on a bike to keep for ages. What you can also do, if you re buying spinach, because they come in ridiculously big bags, would recommend buying spinach, using what you need and then putting the rest in the freezer and then you can just reach in and pull it out. You can get microwavable rice and grains, it s not as good but it s portion control. Frozen veg packs are an absolute no brainer, so every supermarket does these, so they are basically veg packs that you shove in the microwave for four minutes, job done. Back in the meat actually, thinking about most supermarkets have salmon whereby you can just shove it in the microwave and it s usually seasoned so it kind of steams quite nicely so if you in a rush, get those.
@paulthenutritionist:You could get I m not a fan but if you re on a budget and you like the convenience, these days all supermarkets have frozen cooked chicken strips which have a bit of flavouring and they re not great, I ve never bought them but it s protein without any prep or commitment because obviously most poor food choices come from that decision, so you could get those frozen foods. These days as well, every supermarket has higher protein ready meals, they re not amazing but if you re in an absolute rush and you don know what to do, you can get the Jim s Kitchen ones, Aldi have their own brand, Diddle have their own brand, Sainsbury s and Asda have their own brand, Mark and Mug Spencer have their own brands, re high protein, the Mark and Spencer ones are higher in fibre as well, but getting those, shoving them in the microwave, know, you re getting a good they re usually under about 500 calories, which is sensible from main, you re getting a good 30 grams of fibre in, maybe add some veg to it for even more fibre, but yeah, can be really really helpful.
@paulthenutritionist:Upgrading foods, would say as opposed to getting normal yoghurt, go for a protein yoghurt just because it s strained, lower in sugar, again you want to kind of try and maximise your protein for many different reasons, probably because you re not eating enough. As opposed to getting normal cheese, as I say, you get higher protein or lighter cheese, never get white bread, it s a glitch point in this unless you re an athlete to get the higher fibre, high protein breads. Squash, if you re a squash drinker, no problem with that, I haven got a problem with it, but I would probably get squash with sparkling water because it just of fills you up a little more, makes you feel a little bit more sophisticated when you re drinking it and it just kind of stacks up quality without you feeling deprived. Also, I m not against getting zero sugar fizzy drinks, I don want you drinking it forever but it can be a nice, it s not going to impact you, there s very little evidence that the sweeteners are going to bother you, any long term implications on that. So I tend to have a caffeine free Pepsi Max every few days.
@paulthenutritionist:Sprite Zero I'm a big fan of. The only thing that it's bad for is your teeth, your dentist won't like the amount of acid in there but if you sweat it out with some water or you drink it with water, can t go wrong. But just watch your caffeine intake if it s closer to bedtime. What else have we got here? Ensuring that, so what you could do is if you re someone who is in an absolute rush, getting yourself some or you re training quite hard getting yourself some protein ready to drink milks, so milkshakes, Aldi Lidl, Sainsbury's, Tesco, they all do them, but a good snack, 20 grams of protein minimum.
@paulthenutritionist:There's going to be sugars in there because it's milk, what you don't want is loads of sugars, don't want added sugars to check the back of those. And then with regards to treats, so the problem isn t chocolate, it s just the kind of unbuffered chocolate, so having like a biscuit with protein yoghurt or a chocolate bar with an apple or popcorn and a protein permeat, all these things, the idea is the protein and the fibre will slow down the blood sugar spikes, so what that will do is it will stop that kind of one biscuit becoming six biscuits because you feel hopefully that you re more filled up if you like. Meal deals, so meal deals aren t necessarily bad but often they become quite unstructured, so always look for protein heavy main, a carb snack and maybe some fruit or obviously avoid kind of double carb like pasta and crisps, look for that protein, twenty-twenty five grams of protein minimum. Add the protein side if you can t get it from the main, mean I m not a fan of this but boiled eggs but protein yoghurt, protein drinks, this matters because meal deals fail usually on the protein and the fibre so that tiny twink is just going to make it a functional meal.
@paulthenutritionist:Always buy, when you are in a supermarket, zero effort dinner, zero effort lunch and then one emergency snack bundled also, perhaps a rotisserie chicken with microbial rice and a veg pouch or salad, perhaps a protein wrap and a salad bag ready to go, perhaps a protein bar and popcorn, just so you ve got something ready to go, the protein ready meals which I ve said if you buy them you ve them in the fridge for an emergency, most overeating happens because people just rely on that motivation and that is, we want to try and remove that, so just get prepped in. It s a bit of a hack for you, so portion control without you having to consider things too much, I often say you want to have a palm of protein, a fist of carbs, two fists of veg and you should be good to go to veg or salad. But like really, really simply, I would say in the supermarket, microgravel rice packs are simple, protein yoghurt, protein pouches, single serve snacks, so when you're snacking, try and get smaller, so it's fine to have little chocolate bars but just make sure you're having it after a main meal or with a source of protein and just have one.
@paulthenutritionist:So if you having a little chocolate bar, s fine, no problem. Usually they re under 100 calories, it not going to touch the side, don worry about it. But just try and make sure you don t have two of them, so if they re portioned, you re less likely to. What we want to do with snacks is we just want to ensure that it has a protein anchor, whether that is post meal or you pair it with a source protein. Every sweet snack needs to have fibre or volume every savoury snack needs to just have a stock point to portion it out, as I said, protein, yoghurt and fruit, cheese and grapes, crisps with ham roll ups.
@paulthenutritionist:Grazing is rarely a hunger, s usually blood sugar instability or just you re in a habit. Final, final points, protein bars are fine, but just make sure they ve got at least 20 grams of protein in and have it with an apple as well just so it becomes more of a complete meal. Make sure it s under 200 calories and that you re not relying on them every day and you certainly don t have more than one a day. It s still technically a chocolate bar, s just got a little bit more protein in so remember that. Make sure you make the plan.
@paulthenutritionist:As I say, use your frozen eye as much as possible. Make sure you go in with a proper list of what you re going to use. Try to make sure I ve covered everything and yeah, I think that s it. I hope you enjoyed that episode and as I said it kind of like ties into what was discussed on Wednesday, if you haven t listened to Wednesday s episode I go into the psychology of supermarkets on how they get you to spend much more money than you thought and ways around it. So a lot of you have downloaded Talking to Supermarkets the high protein, high fibre, low ish calorie shopping list that I created resource where I basically went through every single supermarket in The United Kingdom and I reviewed their breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, desserts where they claim they are higher protein, lower calorie, perhaps higher fibre, with the aim to debunk and try and find the best versions, so basically I have picked out the best versions from a nutritionist perspective of higher protein, high ish fibre, low shite, just basically the best of the bunch in all of the supermarkets in The UK and you can download it for free.
@paulthenutritionist:All you have to do, click the top link in the description or if you go onto my Instagram it s my link in the bio, if for whatever reason you re not following me on Instagram then goodness me, pauldenutritionist. But yeah download it, it s completely free and I ve got so many messages of people, 3,500 people have already downloaded it and I ve got so many messages from people who have really really found it helpful and I m actually creating another resource which I m going to be giving you guys for free in coming months, which is the ultimate meal deal survival guide. I have gone through every supermarket and I have tried to create the best combos of meal deals in every supermarket in The UK. So that is going to be coming up in, I'm going to say September time. So keep your ears peeled, because that's going to be really really helpful, I know it is, it's just taken me a very long time to do.
@paulthenutritionist:Because it's just me! Remember there's no one else, it's just me, which is why I work bloody hard, so I really appreciate if you just subscribe, follow, share this with you mate, it's the least you can do really. Anyway, hope you found this useful and I'll speak to you Wednesday, all the bit of the best.