Grocery store HORROR!!!!

Such a smart lady you are to go return that stuff. You are right, of course, about the layouts of the store. The food industry is all about selling us more stuff that is cheap for them to produce and sell. Produce is a lot more work for the stores than boxed stuff. High fructose corn sugar and salt are cheap for food producers. And producing stuff sweet stuff that just makes us hungrier is how they get us to buy more.

I am in awe that you have the integrity and intestinal fortitude to go back and return the stuff. Really! Good for you!

Bump

Good for your for returning the stuff.

I have this problem mostly when I go shopping hungry or with a whiny child. Dangerous!!

I order my weekly groceries online and have them delivered. That way I avoid temptation and can budget more easily. :happy:

I primarily shop at Trader Joe's for this exact reason. I do alright avoiding the chips, dip, and soda, but walking through our grocery's bakery almost kills me with tasty, creamy, chocolatey temptation!

What I have noticed with the store I shop at is that on Friday the chips, dips, junk food, etc, is EVERYWHERE. I'm assuming this is for the weekend/football Sunday. On the beginning of every aisle there is a chip display or a soda display. But during the weekdays it's back to normal and not so much junk everywhere. I choose to go early Tuesday/Wednesday morning and it's very easy to avoid all the temptations when I'm still morning-grumpy and eat breakfast before I go.

I'm so proud of you for taking that stuff back though! :happy:

That kind of food almost killed me, it does not hold the same appeal as it used to. For me, there is no end. I get the cronut then I want cookies, I get cookies then I want pizza... ugh a road to nowhere. I still get tempted, and I have to fight it, but for now, I pass.

I'm right there with ya! I hate going shopping because the store like to promote ALL of the bad stuff first and then put the good stuff away from you! Pretty sad really! Here's to you for trying to get through it and working hard to get healthy! Here's to us girl!

If you are really tempted by these treats, then I would suggest going grocery shopping after you have eaten well. In other words, don't make it even harder on yourself by grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

Also, make sure that you are eating a good amount of protein with each of your meals. Protein will help you to feel full and you won't be nearly as tempted by treats as you would otherwise.

I read an interesting article quite recently, /sorry/ I can't remember where or I'd reference it, about a grocery store chain that was partnering with a government health organization to do some experiments to see what they could do to turn some of this merchandising science the junk food industry has to getting people to buy more in the the produce aisle. Some of the takeaways for me were:

1. Apparently, for grocery stores produce is actually a very high-margin, profitable area per square foot. They would LOVE to see us buy more produce, even at the expense of packaged goods. That came as a total shock to me. I think the biggest profit challenge they have there is just plain old spoilage. If the packaged stuff sits on the shelves and turns around more slowly, it's no big deal to them. But the spinach has to move quickly or it gets thrown out, etc.

2. A lot of the merchandising decisions -- while they are ultimately the decision of the store -- are driven by the junk food manufacturers, who make "offers you can't refuse" to the retailers about end caps, special displays, and whatnot. There's a lot of weird stuff in those deals, where a big manufacturer has the power to punish a retail chain for not complying with merchandising demands for one product by raising the wholesale price for a totally different product.

3. While the suppliers of produce have gotten fairly organized in dealing with the stores, they are simply not as good at the merchandising science as the junk food manufacturers, nor do they have the same clout. Remember, Lays is Lays, they are a HUGE company and sell a lot of different products. The produce suppliers are often more loosely organized co-ops of farmers, or at the most organized "big agriculture" organizations like Dole, which are just as happy to see us buy canned goods and don't have the same skin in the game to get us to buy fresh produce.

They place those things strategically to make you buy them. You just have to walk past all of it and ignore it like a BOSS!

You aren't wrong in saying the grocery store is hard to when you're trying to go for a lifestyle change. It's designed to tempt you to buy unhealthy stuff, they make it prominent and eye level.

Some people cope by going to the produce aisle first and fill up their carts there. I find I buy a lot of unnecessary and calorie laden stuff if I go in hungry.

Oh good for you!

There are aisles I don't allow myself to go down - like the one with the chocolate hobnobs and the one with the Danish pastries and pain-au-chocolat. *drools*

Lead me not into temptation!