Grocery store HORROR!!!!

AllonsYtotheTardis

These are the kinds of things you consider to be a horror?

RGv2

I have a hard time too. My favorite was always pizza and that is located next to my essential cheese and yogurt.

There's nothing wrong with pizza.

RoadsterGirlie

I don't have this issue at all. The only time it can be difficult is if I'm at a restaurant, parties or dining out with friends where I don't have complete control of my food choices.

The grocery store personally is the best place for me as I know exactly what I need to buy.

I walk right past the junk food aisle - I don't even want that crap as it doesn't even qualify as real food to me.

MyJourney1960

I can relate, not so much for myself but because it drives me nuts for my kids, who love potato chips. It's one thing to avoid the chips and candy aisle, but like you said they are everywhere in the store in various promo displays.

Since I've started MFP, I see chips and candy as too little bang for the caloric buck, y'know? Like, I can have a bag of chips and then nothing else all day, lol, or pass on them. I like that you returned your stuff - good on you - and its nice to get that money back and use it for something better!

me too! I grab the chips/doritos/whatever. then i turn the bag over, read the label and say "nah, sooo not worth it"



GOod for you OP for returning the stuff!

RoadsterGirlie

I make a list, I stick to that list. I walk into the grocery store and if the "junk" food isn't on my list I walk by it and don't even think of it.

Maybe its just me but you are an adult, if you have no self control when you walk into the grocery store what does the rest of your life look like?

This.

k8blujay2

Depends on the grocery store. I go straight for produce first... I do not pass go, I do not collect $200... but every grocery store I go into (outside of Target and I don't know really know about Walmart since I rarely go in) has their produce right up in the front and maybe floral and the deli/bakery section... you don't see the junk food until you are well in the store.

jjnt007

Our sweets are on the same isle as low calorie food. The whole way down the aisle I am saying do not look at the yummy white donuts, do not look at the Mrs Bairds cherry pies. lol

KombuchaCat

Good for you! And you are very observant...they set the stores up like that for a reason so you are tempted to buy crap. Big Food does better financially if we remain fat and eat low nutrition food that is cheap for them to produce. Stick it to the man, keep the money in YOUR wallet and shed the extra pounds!

SoDamnHungry

Awesome job for returning it all. Once I buy it, it's the end.

Akimajuktuq

The way that I eat has improved my health so drastically that I am no longer tempted by the kinds of food that would make me sick/fat again. No, not even tempted a little. True story. I'm sure that other people can eat anything they want and have the "willpower" to control portions and I accept that they choose to eat those foods. However, I just don't want to eat junk food so I don't.

adiggs2777

They say to stick to the outline of the store: produce, grocers freezers, meat, dairy areas. Then strategically go get other necessities. Never go hungry.

this is one of the dumbest sayings that passes for profound around here...

if you only stick to the outside aisles of the grocery store, how are you going to find the toilet paper?!

Get your TP at a drug store ;-P~

Or send a minion (spouse, teenager with a license, supportive boyfriend) to get it for you.

SweetLilyR

I have to have a list when I go shopping. If I don't have one, I tend to get one or two "extras". I've gotten FAR better at self-control and willpower when it comes to the grocery store. I also don't mind taking my little kids grocery shopping - yes, they're begging for me to buy things...but those things are grapes and strawberries and apples (and green beans for my son)!! I'm rather proud of that...they could care less about the snacks aisle as we rarely go down it.

Good on you, OP, for having the willpower to return that junk! I know I wouldn't have been able to once it got to my car.

Minnie2361

The first Rule in Shopping : NEVER SHOP WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY

If you are hungry when you are shopping you may go for the high calorie foods, chances are you won't get buy the bakery and gobbling it down before you reach the cashier.

Fullsterkur_woman

Good for you for returning all the junk.

Grocery stores are masterpieces of marketing and manipulation and I keep reminding myself that I will not be manipulated. Think about the direction you always take around the store. Counter-clockwise, right? Of course. (I d be interested to hear contrary views.) "They" set it up that way. I look at the cases of individual servings of baked goods and know that they're made for maximum eye appeal. Look at that thick layer of frosting. They may taste greasy and leave a chemical aftertaste, but they sure look pretty, don't they? (Our supermarket uses neon-colored frostings. Complete turnoff for me.)

Just remind yourself that they're playing mind games with you and if you buy on impulse, they won.

Hmm both my local HEBs (Texas grocery store chains) go clockwise. Clockwise starts me in the produce, followed by the seafood, butcher, sandwich meat, packaged meat and cheese. Counter clockwise would start me in the pharmacy entrance. Come to think of it, all my local stores but walmart and a Randall's do, maybe I'm just doing it wrong =D any reason for this?

You must be going to those southern hemisphere HEBs then. The ones I go to are counter-clockwise starting from produce, unless I want to walk past the cash registers to get to the pharmacy and the entrance by the pharmacy. I usually start at the pharmacy entrance and get all my non-perishable items first, so I go clockwise. Guess I'm just contrary.

naturallyme36

People think I am crazy when I say this but this is part of what I call a culture of obesity. Most grocery stores I have been into have a similar set-up in which you have to walk through all the "junk" before you reach the healthy stuff. Why is this? Why not switch it around and have the junk in the back? It can be very hard to resist, especially if you go to the store when you are hungry or having a weak moment. I would often speed walk through these areas but it was quite the mind phuck if you know what I mean. These days I will actually stop and look at all the "junk", fantasize about it and I am able to move on without much thought ( I don't recommend this) because I have become particularly snobby about my what "junk" I will eat.

Kudos to you for taking the stuff back! That takes some gusto. Way to assert yourself.

LOL!! I daydream them grab i:laugh: t and run!!!

Minnie2361

Have you noticed all the junk candy bars and junk literature , that is gossips mags, are at the front of the store , right by the check out till, they are relying on impulse buyers.

Have you noticed how much money goes into marketing and advertising to sell the junk food products,. I haven`t seen carrots, broccoli, lettuce, sweet potatoes, lemons , oranges, apples, and all fruits marketed with such a frenzy. The only other product I can remember being marketed that intensely with that type of big budget was tobacco.

WildlyCurly

Is it me or is the grocery store one of the scariest places on earth when you are trying to change your lifestyle:huh:
Went grocery shopping and all of the treats were up front , (IT"S FOOTBALL SUNDAY) all of the chips, candy, cakes, pies at BOGO, soda etc. Once I broke through the crowd of delicacies I proceeded to the produce area and what do I see? well, it was more cakes, pies, chips and dips!!!!!!!:explode: My heart starts to race, I started to question myself, I tried to bargain with the God to give me some wiggle room and I walked out with one of each item listed above in my bag. Once I started to drive off, my phone buzzed and I was getting a post from MFP. I happily turned my car around and went back to the store, This time when I walked out I had $23.13 more in my wallet:flowerforyou:

CAN ANYONE RELATE TO THIS OR HAVE I JUST LOST MY MIND?!
WHAT'S THE DEAL?!

It's not just you, I too find the grocery store scary. At the store I go to they do the same thing. At the entrance they put all the tasty junk thats on sale. They put large signs so you know it's on sale. It's usually chips and soda. But during certain holidays they'll put what's in demand. Right now it's all about candy since halloween is coming up. Just when you think the junk temptation ended, you'll be tempted again at checkout where they put all kinds of small snacks like little bags of chips, candy bars, and now they've included a small freezer with mini ice cream cartons and ice candies.

But I think the scariest part is that they have free samples throughout the store. Someone is always there with a tray of cheese and deli meat that smells so good it could be hard to say no to. And when I give in and taste a sample, I just have to buy the package which is always conveniently place behind the samples. I tried going to another grocery store without the samples but they don't have many good deals and their produce are crazy expensive. The store I go to is way cheaper and has a better assortment of food, especially healthy food, despite the junk they push on people.

So I just don't go shopping when I am hungry and I listen to music while shopping to calm me down. I also buy everything I need for the next few weeks or month so I don't make too many trips there.

BrendaLee

It's kinda torture. It does get easier to leave the store without it, though, eventually.

hillarysmith21

Bump!!

Athena53

But I think the scariest part is that they have free samples throughout the store. Someone is always there with a tray of cheese and deli meat that smells so good it could be hard to say no to. And when I give in and taste a sample, I just have to buy the package which is always conveniently placed behind the samples.

I avoid sample counters with humans. They're pushy and they want to tell me how good the stuff tastes and offer me a coupon. I just say no, thanks. Most of the time it's unhealthy anyway. I was buying Greek yogurt and the pushy lady handing out samples of another brand told me "her" brand was on sale. I looked at the label. It contained cornstarch for thickener and high-fructose corn syrup. I don't buy yogurt with any more ingredients than milk and yogurt cultures. I told her, "That brand has additives. I don't do additives."

NonnyMary

But I think the scariest part is that they have free samples throughout the store. Someone is always there with a tray of cheese and deli meat that smells so good it could be hard to say no to. And when I give in and taste a sample, I just have to buy the package which is always conveniently placed behind the samples.

I avoid sample counters with humans. They're pushy and they want to tell me how good the stuff tastes and offer me a coupon. I just say no, thanks. Most of the time it's unhealthy anyway. I was buying Greek yogurt and the pushy lady handing out samples of another brand told me "her" brand was on sale. I looked at the label. It contained cornstarch for thickener and high-fructose corn syrup. I don't buy yogurt with any more ingredients than milk and yogurt cultures. I told her, "That brand has additives. I don't do additives."

The lady frying the sausage in the pan with the grease and the bits of sausage at the bottom of the electric pan she is using - does not look very appetizing. i can pass up the wine samples. What gets me are the smells of the bakery wafting around the store and if they have pizza cooking.