Is your route around the supermarket always the same – and does it usually include the aisles that get you in trouble? You know – the aisles with the home made baked goods or the chips and pretzels or the freezer cases with an incredible selection of mouth-watering ice cream flavors.
Think about it – why do you always go up and down the aisles the way you do? For that matter – why do you choose one market over another? Is it the price, the ease of use, or maybe subconsciously, or consciously, you know that the store you use as your “go-to” carries your favorite foods. Those foods may be the freshest produce, the leanest meat, or the best convenience foods, home made cookies, and freshly baked cakes.
Do You Usually End Up Walking Out Of The Market With A Bag Of Cookies Or Chips That You Hadn’t Planned On Buying?
Do you almost inevitably end up with donuts, cookies, or chips in your cart? Do you also walk around the supermarket in the same pattern slowing down in the aisles that house your favorite foods?
Whatever your “trigger” or “treat” food of choice might be, tossing it into your cart when it calls your name as you walk down the supermarket aisle becomes a habit – a habit that often translates into weight gain.
The routine of traveling a certain route – the one that propels you past the food that has become your caloric downfall — becomes so ingrained that you function on autopilot. You may not even think about going to the place that sells your craving/trigger/indulgence food – you seem to just find yourself there.
It’s not dissimilar to being unable to pass the popcorn or candy counter when you get into the movie theater. The array of bright candy boxes and the smell of popcorn is in your face and buying popcorn or candy is the thing that you’ve always done. It’s become your habit when you go to the movies. You don’t really think about it – you just do it.
The same thing is true with tossing those cookies or chips into your shopping cart – ‘fess up — isn’t it true that 9 times out of 10 you’ll end up with them in your cart?
Do You Need To Change-Up Your Route?
Snacks and treats aren’t always bad things. But, when they become habits and choices that lead to weight gain it’s time for some reassessment of your shopping and eating habits.
If your supermarket shopping is followed by grumbling over the fact that you bought and ate (whatever it is) once again — often in the parking lot or on your way home — perhaps it’s time to reconsider your route and your routine.
Change it up. Go to a different store or try walking around the supermarket in a different direction. We all get used to doing certain things in a certain way – which may be fine – unless it’s not. If your routines are causing you to eat poorly, do something different.
You might not even realize how your shopping patterns affect what you buy and ultimately what you eat. What kind of changes can you make?
This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.
