Grocery store HORROR!!!!

24

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    Monetary budget has really helped with sticking to a caloric budget.

    this! i'm saving up for a trip to denmark at the end of the year and going to brazil next year for world cup. all of those extra extra empty calories rep[resents $ i can put away in my travel fund
  • naturallyme36
    naturallyme36 Posts: 155 Member
    I have a bag of Dove chocolates in the pantry that have been there since early summer. I bought them to help me past the craving for chocolate. Instead of half a bag of Kisses, I can savor one Dove square for a long time, enjoy it and be done. Good plan. But the reality of it has become that I ask myself if I really want to spend 50calories on that one small piece of chocolate when I could have a whole cup of grapes, the answer is no and the bag of Dove sits there uneaten. Go me.
    Very smart and yes, GO YOU!!:flowerforyou:
  • Mrs__G
    Mrs__G Posts: 12 Member
    Way to go!! Going back in and returning the food a huge NSV!!! I agree the grocery store is an awful beast anytime but on football days, or when I'm hungry it's way worse for me.

    You should feel so proud of yourself :smile:
  • Healthy_4_Life2
    Healthy_4_Life2 Posts: 595 Member
    That is a wonderful thing that you did by returning the items. That shows that you are really dedicated to this healthy lifestyle and that you are not going to let somethings get in your way of reaching your goals. I find that grocery shopping can be quite crazy at times, particularly at Sam's Club or at Costco where they have all those food to sample and then feel the "need" to buy a box or two of what tasted yummy!

    What has been working for me is making a list and STICKING with that list NO MATTER what. I have 4 kids who will try to talk me into buying some things when we go shopping, so leaving them at home when I go shopping is also helpful. :happy:

    Keep up the great job!!
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    There would be no junk food or overprocessed foods if people didn't buy it. The food manufacturers provide what the consumer wants. When the fast food restaurants offered healthy choices,. the very people who said they wanted them didn't buy them and so thery were discontinued. I have my goals firmly in mind and I am not tempted by junk or processed foods. I know them for what they are.
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    Hi - that proves that the store is doing strategic marketing and product placement to make you want to buy that stuff.. and it worked!

    After awhile you kinda put blinders on your eyes and don't react to it, just keep walking past that and set your eyes on the FRESH FRUIT! yumm!! or whatever you find delicious. You sort of have to treat that stuff like a benign thing, neither good, neither bad. it comes after awhile. wow but before i used to dart right over to the pastry aisle and glare lovingly at that food.

    I was at a new store the other day and when i saw all the beautiful fresh food I was filling up my cart with everything i loved and later realized, wow, i sure filled it up with a lot of fruit.

    Oh yeah I forgot to mention - its true not to go to the store when hungry. it helps A LOT!!!
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    I think i'm at the point where i just walk past most of that crap and don't even notice it's there. It has to be something like REALLY REALLY tempting; im talking individual ridiculously good looking cheesecake or something.

    I also walk in with a general idea of what im going to eat that week, so i just go to those aisles automatically and grab whatever. *shrug*

    Good job at keeping on track! If i have it around or in the house, i WILL eat it, so i usually avoid that stuff altogether.
  • beaches222
    beaches222 Posts: 437 Member
    LOL! I can so relate but it is so AWESOME that you took it back! YOu should be so proud! Thanks for posting as my I am going grocery shopping tomorrow and you have given me the courage to NOT pick these things up. LOL
  • I have this issue, I love a good deal and recently at the store only unhealthy items are on sale for back to school. So I picked up some cheese/cracker snacks but I ate them... So I always think I will grab something at this great price and only have a little what a savings! That was the same with halloween candy in our house growing up, my mom always busted it out mid october and we'd have to restock. So I am working on ignoring it as well. At Shoppers Drug Mart I grabbed all healthy milk, kashi bars, eggs, salmon etc. and skipped the pop and chips which were temptingly cheap. Every win counts! I have also learned to shop after eating, (as someone suggested) and I spend quite a lot of time looking at flyers and planning what to buy so my sweet tooth doesn't sway me too much.

    Good job taking it back!
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
    Fantastic story. You had the courage to return them. You kept $23 in you pocket, if you were to times that 4, that is 4 visits a month to the store that would be a savings of $92.00 a month and that would leave you with $1104.00 extra at the end of the year in your bank account by not buying junk.

    No chump change,
  • evviamarshall
    evviamarshall Posts: 80 Member
    I used to go through this but I've gotten better with grocery shopping. I just make a point to bypass all of that stuff and try and stick with a healthy shopping list. But I do let myself have some of the things I enjoy, just not all the time.
  • naturallyme36
    naturallyme36 Posts: 155 Member
    LOL! I can so relate but it is so AWESOME that you took it back! YOu should be so proud! Thanks for posting as my I am going grocery shopping tomorrow and you have given me the courage to NOT pick these things up. LOL
    glad to know that I could help! We are all in this fight together:blushing:
  • naturallyme36
    naturallyme36 Posts: 155 Member
    Fantastic story. You had the courage to return them. You kept $23 in you pocket, if you were to times that 4, that is 4 visits a month to the store that would be a savings of $92.00 a month and that would leave you with $1104.00 extra at the end of the year in your bank account by not buying junk.

    No chump change,
    WOW!!! That just opened my eyes really wide and put a true value on this whole thing!!! thanks a million!!:flowerforyou:
  • LuvDarkChocolate
    LuvDarkChocolate Posts: 145 Member
    30 yrs in the grocery business......stay out of the middle of the store
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
    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.
  • I don't usually have trouble staying away from food I shouldn't be eating. My horror story involves the WINE my grocery stores sell. It is so UNFAIR that you can buy this tempting item in the grocery store! I like the taste of wine and enjoy tasting all kinds of different ones. Only on weekends do I consider having 2 or 3 or even 4 so as to get a buzz, and I sure don't do that every weekend. But even those weeknight 2-ounce tastings add up. I wish they'd sell wine only in the liquor stores, not the grocery stores.
  • 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?!

    Congrats for returning the food, but this may help you to stay away from those kinds of purchases in the future. Any Pharmaceutical, i.e.( vitamins and such) or food related product once it leaves the store and is returned has to be sent to the claims area and possibly thrown out. Depend on the company.
  • _Katya_
    _Katya_ Posts: 6 Member
    Nice job! I have a different way of looking at it. I walk into a grocery store and as I look around I see all of the things I WON'T eat because they are harmful to my body...gmo laden, non-nutritious and not for me. I wander around trying to find the few things that will fuel my body in a healthy way and I am lucky if I walk out with 10 items. :)

    Once I realized that all of those snack foods were conceived, created and marketed with keeping me eating more and never feeling satiated my back went up. I will not be taken advantage of by a food company to increase their bottom line. That and it really pisses me off when I'm lied to and manipulated.

    Anyhow, that is how I ended the power of many foods in my life. :)
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
    Nice job! I have a different way of looking at it. I walk into a grocery store and as I look around I see all of the things I WON'T eat because they are harmful to my body...gmo laden, non-nutritious and not for me. I wander around trying to find the few things that will fuel my body in a healthy way and I am lucky if I walk out with 10 items. :)

    Once I realized that all of those snack foods were conceived, created and marketed with keeping me eating more and never feeling satiated my back went up. I will not be taken advantage of by a food company to increase their bottom line. That and it really pisses me off when I'm lied to and manipulated.

    Anyhow, that is how I ended the power of many foods in my life. :)


    I watched the show from BBC "the men who made us thin" {on you tube] Part 4 . I posted a thread on this earlier on. , Pepsi did try and improve their products for better health but sales fell and the shareholders got upset and they went back to business as usual. That tells me who calls the shots.

    In this documentary comparisons were made to the tactics used by the big junk food producers, as being very similar to big tobacco, and what was discussed was the tactics they undertake to keep taxes from being imposed on their products. They spend in millions in Ad campaigns to to defeat any propostions that come up that may harm their sales or better sales /bottom line. However, they didn't stop, Hungary , France and Denmark from taxing junk food. These countries supply free health care{tax payer funded} my guess is that other countries will follow suit.
  • sabinecbauer
    sabinecbauer Posts: 250 Member
    Try working in the food and candy aisles at the dollar store :devil: It's diabolical!
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member

    What has been working for me is making a list and STICKING with that list NO MATTER what. I have 4 kids who will try to talk me into buying some things when we go shopping, so leaving them at home when I go shopping is also helpful. :happy:

    Keep up the great job!!

    This, along with shopping on a budget. I don't take my kids with me - well occasionally my college student when she is home - and they know that if it isn't on the list I won't buy it. If they put those things on the list (and they do, often) I write the name of the kid who asked for it on the package with a Sharpie. I write my name on my own yogurt and my 7 year old's name on the Danimals, for instance. I don't eat his yogurt and he doesn't eat mine. If someone else wants a Danimal, they have to ask him. If they want my Greek yogurt (not bloody likely, right?) then I'll share, but they have to ask first. My hubby's name is on a box of Little Debbie cakes? Don't ask me if you can have it. If it doesn't have my name on it, it's much easier for me not to eat it when I get it home. (My boys are all tall and super skinny - like 6'2" and 150 skinny. The junk food doesn't hurt them at this point in their lives. And my hubby is on the hook for his love of Little Debbie oatmeal creme pies, though I have noticed him giving more of them away lately.)
  • naturallyme36
    naturallyme36 Posts: 155 Member
    I don't usually have trouble staying away from food I shouldn't be eating. My horror story involves the WINE my grocery stores sell. It is so UNFAIR that you can buy this tempting item in the grocery store! I like the taste of wine and enjoy tasting all kinds of different ones. Only on weekends do I consider having 2 or 3 or even 4 so as to get a buzz, and I sure don't do that every weekend. But even those weeknight 2-ounce tastings add up. I wish they'd sell wine only in the liquor stores, not the grocery stores.
    LMBO:laugh: :drinker: :laugh:
  • VNJohnson
    VNJohnson Posts: 26 Member
    Nice job returning those items! I know all to well the temptations of the grocery store because I work at one!:drinker:
  • Sherbog
    Sherbog Posts: 1,072 Member
    WOW....what a NSV you had...returning the crap...yipppeee for you.
  • rosellasweet
    rosellasweet Posts: 163 Member
    That is a wonderful thing that you did by returning the items. That shows that you are really dedicated to this healthy lifestyle and that you are not going to let somethings get in your way of reaching your goals. I find that grocery shopping can be quite crazy at times, particularly at Sam's Club or at Costco where they have all those food to sample and then feel the "need" to buy a box or two of what tasted yummy!

    What has been working for me is making a list and STICKING with that list NO MATTER what. I have 4 kids who will try to talk me into buying some things when we go shopping, so leaving them at home when I go shopping is also helpful. :happy:

    Keep up the great job!!

    The list thing works for me as well. Not on the list? Not getting it.

    But great job on taking everything back! I would have just pawned it off on family lol. But 23 bucks is a good bit to me.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    and halloween is coming...then the holidays...but luckily, with the new year brings lots of resolutions to lose weight so then they start pushing miracle foods to help you lose weight. ya!
  • mspoopoo
    mspoopoo Posts: 500 Member
    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.

    Same here. One things leads to another and then it is just downward spiral out of control. I just walk on by the stuff.
  • jennifersmiles444
    jennifersmiles444 Posts: 118 Member
    Where I live, Aldi and Trader Joe's stores don't have bakery or deli sections. You do have to run the gauntlet of snacks, but shopping is a lot easier without the smells of fried chicken and yummy baked goods (my weakness) wafting towards you.

    Congratulations on your decision to turn around and return those unhealthy snacks to the store. Victory over the store's ploy to suck you in!
  • JL2513
    JL2513 Posts: 867 Member
    I've developed a strange habit/obsession. I really, really like going into grocery stores and looking at all the yummy baked goods that I'm missing out on. I am more than happy to check out all the food that I'm not stuffing down my throat and to see that my willpower hasn't wavered. That's not to say I totally deprive myself- I have cheat days on Saturdays, so if I really want to have a pastry or a slice of cake, I will allow myself to indulge on those days. Outside of my cheat days, I'm totally fine with resisting temptation.
  • I totally get what you are saying. I work in a grocery store in the produce department. Just on the other side of the wet wall is all the candy. It's weird but I'm almost desensitized to it now.