Spying and nearly crying at the supermarket checkout

(Clare) #1

We all do this right - look at the purchases of the person in front and wonder about them?

Well I usually find this fun but today it broke my heart.

The lady in front of me had a massive trolly full of everything you’d find on the eat well plate. She was very overweight and she was clearly in pain just standing and loading her trolley. She had a ton of fruit, two loaves of wholemeal bread, the only meat in her shop was a single chicken. There was nothing with any fat in it. There was no cheese, no eggs, almost no protein at all. There were also very few vegetables - she had taken that ‘healthy fruit and vegetables’ message and gone with the fruit. There was low fat milk, granola, an enormous bunch of bananas, low fat yoghurt. She piled packets of dried fruit which were being sold as healthy snacks at the checkout, onto the belt. She had three cases of fruit juice.

I looked at this and found myself thinking that just a few years ago, I would have been mystified by how somebody with such a healthy diet could look so unwell.

Now I understand that she thinks she’s doing the right thing and yet she’s was so inflamed, she could barely walk.

I’ve often wondered about the idea that people are following healthy eating guidelines and wondered if they are. I know I used to and I got chubby and tired as a result. But was anybody else really doing that?

Today, I saw a lady who I bet thought she was doing everything right and I nearly cried for her.

(Khara) #2

Yep. I’ve had the same experience. It used to hit me hard really early on. Items in other people’s carts really stood out to me and I also glanced at the person for verification that diet and body matched, with my new knowledge. I saw one gal who actually looked quite nice, middle aged, but overweight probably a good 75 lbs, and was in workout wear. I think she had just come from the gym. She had low fat everything, whole wheat everything, cereals, skim milk, etc. She was exercising, clearly trying, and yet quite overweight and probably really frustrated. That used to be me. I remember feeling like I was starving and all my free hours of the day had to go to working out.
Sometimes there is temptation to say something to people but I don’t. I figure I can be a walking advertisement. They can (and probably do) look at other people’s carts and see what healthy looking people are buying. Maybe it’ll make them think when they see piles of meat and bacon and butter and cream.

(Marianne) #3

I’m so glad you said this. I find now that going to the grocery store can really depress me. I used to love going shopping. My heart hurts now for people because many of them are trying to eat better, but they have been sold a bill of goods and have no clue why it’s not working. Other people I see are still in the throws of their addiction.

(Clare) #4

I’ve never been tempted to say something quite so much as today. But I’m aware that it would be pointless. I just really felt like smacking a dietician in the mouth.

(Carl Keller) #5

It’s times like this I wish I had a keto pamphlet to hand out to people. In my best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, I’d say:

If you want to live, read this.

#6

Oh how I feel your pain. Not from the grocery store, but a dear friend. 5’10” and 360 pounds. Try as humbly as I can to describe what I’ve been through and how I know how much he hurts. And everything I say is against the SAD and it reaches a deaf ear. Hurts me so bad to see his suffering.

(Clare) #7

The lady seemed really miserable too. My husband and I had been laughing and joking around in the store like we usually do and suddenly queuing behind her, it was like the air had been sucked out of the room. Terrible really. Poor woman.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #8

Guhhhhhhh, I wish someone would do that to me. I have an Arnold impersonation syndrome. Probably flares up about once a day. With my friend, he’s worse than me. It’s contagious.

(PSackmann) #9

I’m the only one in my household who follows the keto WoE, so my cart doesn’t look healthy at all. Add to that, I buy most of my vegetables frozen in bulk, as well as meats in bulk, so my local grocery store sees breads, PowerAde, cookies, ice cream, maybe a few vegetables. I’m sure there are people who see my cart and shake their heads at my foolishness, little do they know.

(Clare) #10

:joy:

(Clare) #11

Well I was buying cheese, cream cheese, cream and er mascarpone cream cheese. I can imagine how my shopping looked to her…

(Little Miss Scare-All) #12

TBH she was probably like, “I’m so sick of these chicks eating whatever they want and never gaining a pound”.

(Patrick) #13

Haha. That’s spot-on.

#14

I mind my own business.

(Edith) #15

No, they’ll probably think you may look good on the outside, but you’re a heart attack waiting on the inside.

(Clare) #16

Aye. Very true.

(Ethan) #17

It actually makes me more annoyed when I see extremely skinny people buying tons of fat-free yogurt, skim milk, and whole-grain breads and cereal. I know they are skinny and looking at me thinking that my fat is caused by all the meat I am buying.

(Murphy Kismet) #18

I, too, am the only person in my house who eats this way. My hubby and daughter eat whatever they want. Hubby is better, but daughter adamantly refuses to think she’s any way unhealthy even at 180lbs (from 110lbs pre-meds 2year ago grr). Meds: neuroleptics for depression and anxiety, and some birth control just to round it out so very well. :anguished: Not looking forward to when she decides to maybe stop taking them. Neuroleptic withdrawal is HARSH, and LONG.

Hubby has started reducing his coffee sugar from 2 tbsp to 1.5 tbsp. But he still adds Forty Creek Cream for taste.
He’s also swapped his 36g carb soda water for a much nicer 0g carb club soda to go with his nightly vodka. Plus lime juice. Yay :slight_smile:
BUT, he also still eats an entire bag of Kettle Brand chips at least twice a week, and gluten-free bread in the morning with Kraft Peanut Butter, SWEETENED. Ugh.

So, my grocery cart looks like an everyday SAD cart, except with MORE “bad” cheeses, and “bad” bacon (extra fatty thankyouverymuch).

I learnt not to even glance at anybody else’s cart simply because a) I really don’t want to see the sad cart, b) I know very little about their life and why they’re (maybe) eating this way. I can’t even go by their body size because even if their cart might has crap in it, maybe that stuff is for the other people in their home, but the shopper eats keto BUT they’ve just started so they still look sick. Who knows…

Also, my mental health is important to me. :crazy_face::upside_down_face:

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #19

Yes, I see this often and I live in one of the more healthy states. Still so many who load up on whole wheat, fruits and the only veggies are the high starch ones.

Oh and don’t forget the obese ones with the diet soda in their hands all the time. Which used to be me.

Can never decide if I want to cry or just scream at them to stop hurting themselves so much.

But I can only control myself, not them. If someone asks me what I am doing, I’ll tell them but I never volunteer anything without them asking. A few people have listened and made major changes and thanked me later for the advice, which is nice. But they had to be ready to hear it and commit to the changes.

(Scott) #20

One day the cashier was ringing up the large amount of produce and commented “boy you eat really healthy”. I just smiled and said thank you. I didn’t have the nerve to tell her we just came from the fresh produce stand where we stocked up on more real food.