When was the last time you thought about your shopping habits? I mean, really thought about the details instead of feeling bad about the number of shoes you bought in the last month. We rarely think about the shopping decisions we make unless something external prompts us, like an outrageous credit card bill, worries about how we will pay it or an obvious lack of shelf space. Food shopping is given even less thought beyond “what can I get for dinner”. We may think about food budgets, and the few items that made it to the shopping lists, but what about all the other things? The stores you shop at; the order in which you visit the aisles; the brands you buy, all follow a pattern.
Do you really know your food shopping story?
Do you know what your shopping patterns are and the reasons that drive your decisions? Can you quickly describe what they are? You may be asking, why does it matter where I shop or what order I put things in the shopping cart? It matters because all those little things, that drive your shopping decisions, drive your eating decisions too. What ends up in your cart ends up on your plate. Proximity and availability of food choices influence what you eat. Habits create what seem like chicken and the egg relationships. Do we eat the things we buy because we bought them, or did we buy them because we wanted to eat them?
Food shopping is full of habits
Most of the time we eat from habit not desire. We buy things from habit too. It may not seem that big or that important, but what you buy can and does impact your health. Like with many other habits, taking a step back and seeing our actions through a different lens, say that of a detective, can help us become clearer about our food life. That step back can save money not just on food but also on future health bills, and the larger clothes we may not need to buy after all. The factors driving our decisions now may not be what we think they are, and may not be what we want to continue with later.
Many pieces to the story
There are many pieces that drive our eating decisions and many avenues to explore. In “How to eat Mindfully and Mindlessly lose weight” I explained how these pieces work together to create the unique food relationships we all have. The details of how we shop for food are one piece of that picture. Why is it important to know the details? Because when you try to make a change (like making changes to help with weight loss) it’s the little details that you do not think about, that can silently derail your best efforts. Knowing the details of your shopping habits can make those changes easier. Let’s explore one of the pieces of your food life, your food shopping story.
What kind of shopper are you?
Let’s start with the basics. Think about your shopping habits. Do not limit yourself to food. What drives your clothes, shoes and home shopping habits also plays a role in how you shop for food. It may not be obvious but the relationships exist. Are you an impulse shopper or does every shopping trip involve a list and a plan? When do you shop? Daily, weekly or even less. At the end of the day on the way home or on the weekend when you have more time?
Where do you shop?
Do you shop in the same store to satisfy your shopping needs, or do you purchase specific items at a combination of various stores? Does the place change based on sale prices for the items you need that week? Do you get your groceries through an online delivery service?
Who do you shop with?
Shopping alone can be very different than shopping with another adult. If kids are in the mix, the shopping experience can be vastly different from shopping alone. Your ability to focus and make informed decisions is affected by the presence of others. In my case, shopping with kids is a punishment I would rather avoid at all costs, be it food, clothes or anything else. Shopping with other adults may mean longer time spent browsing and more items in the cart. Shopping with others can lead to unplanned purchases or more thoughtful decisions. A closer look at those shopping habits is the only way to know what methods serve our health.
Labels, labels, labels…
Do you always buy the same brand? Ever think about why? Ever try different brands? Does reading labels fit into your shipping equation? Assumptions about certain brands, labels or foods can cost us big, both from a financial and health perspective. Packaged foods are wrapped in marketing material. It is not all bad, if you know how to read it and use it to make decisions that benefit you. Just thinking about why we buy certain foods vs. others can lead us to take a closer look at the details and could benefit your health in unexpected ways.
Your food shopping story
All these pieces add up to your food shopping story. Each one has a reason behind it, and those reasons are intertwined with others. If you took the time to think about the questions I posed, you should have an outline of your shopping habits (and maybe a few reasons to go with them). Here is a question, did any of your answers make you pause or make you feel uncomfortable? Any pauses or feelings of discomfort are opportunities for change. They may not seem big or significant, but over time even a few small changes in those areas can have a significant impact on your life and health. Take a closer look at those uncomfortable answers and brainstorm some options to change them. Once you have some ideas give them a try next time you shop (or plan your shopping trip). It may change your food story.
What you bring into your home is what you eat. It applies to the things you buy for meals and the discretionary snacks bought for someone else. Food in your immediate sphere has a way of either finding it into your stomach, or making you feel miserable whether you eat it or not. I am not saying you should not buy certain foods, there are no forbidden food lists on this blog. I am asking you if you can confidently say that you made a conscious decision to buy it and eat it. Enjoy exploring your food life. “How to eat Mindfully and Mindlessly lose weight” and “Your food life” provide guidance and tools to make taking charge of your food life easy and fun. Pick up your copies today and say goodbye to food guilt and hello to enjoying food again.
