My Grocery Shopping Experience
So today I had to go for my second trip for food for the week. The store was just packed, families gearing up for the holiday weekend. I made my way through the store…grabbing all the usuals…eggs, tunafish, spring mix salad, oatmeal, etc… blah blah. For what ever reason, every cart I saw was just loaded with crap! I mean boxes of donuts, chips, soda, etc…EVERYWHERE! Well I am thinking…ok, whatever. I choose to eat like this. I am sure I am not the only one in this store buying healthy food. Then I get to the checkout line and wait. Ladies next to me were discussing all the cakes and breads they were making for Sunday dinner. The pies for dessert. On the other side of me, a family was unloading their cart talking about how the Aunts and Uncles would be arriving in the morning…did they have enough cheese danish. The whole trip was like a bad joke. Not only was I ready to ditch my cart and reload with a ton of crap…I realized how much I miss my family. It’s hard living in IL and my 5 sisters live in MA..along with my 3 older children, parents, aunts and uncles etc. It was the food connection that sparked these feelings. There’s nothing like going home to the HUGE dinner my mom makes. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and family here. Today just made me miss being "food carefree" like everyone around me. I plan on going to visit MA in the summer, but I have a tough time with the holidays. Well, as I paid for my groceries, I was already feeling better. My daughter couldn’t wait to get home and eat the strawberries and yogurt she just picked out. I was suddenly PROUD of what I had in my cart. I just wanted to share this…don’t really know why!
April 10, 2009 at 9:58 pm
You should be proud - particularly that your Daughter is excited to eat properly too. Reflects well on you.
April 10, 2009 at 10:28 pm
nice. i know the feeling
April 10, 2009 at 10:55 pm
I know what you feel, every time I go to the supermarket to buy my stuff the cashiers look me funny staring at the food in my case I still look fat, I’m trying to eat healthy and they still look me strange.
Home is where the heart is looks like me that you have a very supportive family, so don’t worry you’ll have time to make up for the holidays with your relatives I bet they miss you as much as u miss them
April 11, 2009 at 12:05 am
i think it can be easy to miss the "carefree" food choice days…but it’s painful to remember how tired/lazy/crappy that food makes you feel!!! great job sticking to your goals and teaching your daughter, there need to be more moms like you out there to set examples!
April 11, 2009 at 3:08 am
Andrea is correct about "carefree" food choices. They make you feel tired/lazy/crappy. I have a 12 year old niece that ask my dad to buy her sparagus, broccoli, spinash and tilapia EVERY time he goes shopping and it makes me feel good that I have such an influence even being miles away across the ocean.
April 11, 2009 at 4:59 am
Food, and smells from the kitchen are some of our most powerful memories, as are family tradtions. I received one of the best texts ever from my daughter who is a freshaman at college: "Tell mom I miss her matzo ball soup and charoset"
April 11, 2009 at 6:32 am
I’m in the same boat here, Amy. I miss my family and was envious of the plans they were making about Easter while I was visiting for a short weekend last week. I miss those family times a lot.
And I too load my grocery cart with a lot of healthy food and checkout what other people have in their carts, haha. I’m so nosy.
April 11, 2009 at 6:33 am
You should be very proud of the way you feed your family…
I know I am, everytime my kids come home from their grandparents house and they are starving because as they put it " we can’t eat what she makes, it makes us sick !!!"
My kids are so used to low sodium, low fat, etc…
Our kids will grow up making better food choices as adults…
You are setting a great example…
April 11, 2009 at 7:59 am
I don’t miss the free for all in the least, EXCEPT, I do miss a beer or two or twenty now and then. I actually love the raised eyebrows and stupid looks the 50%BF cashier gives me when he/she starts looking at what I’m buying. My favorite is the "Who eats this stuff?" That would be me. Go smoke a few heaters on your break and stuff a bag of chips in your pie hole and forget about my grocery list.
I wish I could get my kids to eat right. Too many years of spoiled to death by grand parents while I was at work, out of town, etc. Easter being one of the worst. I will miss not being with my parents and siblings this easter, buy I will not miss the ‘fat food’ and the ‘Honey, why don’t you have another plate full of food that will make your pants too tight? You look thin."
Happy Easter everyone and enjoy your families!
April 12, 2009 at 8:16 am
I am the only one in my family that eats right.I came home from the gym this morning to the smell of cinnamon buns coming out of the oven and easter candy everywhere.So I did what I usually do eat some oatmeal and was very happy I made the right choice when I finished.It will be like pulling teeth when I go to my in- laws later and try to get them to put some plain vegetables aside before my mother in-law drowns them with butter. It will be a struggle all day but I will not cave in.
Happy easter to everyone!!
April 12, 2009 at 8:23 am
You should be very proud amy!! I know how it is when holidays come around. Being in Texas by myself can be extremely hard on my sometimes, especially not having my girls!! and kudos for your daughter for picking healthy choices!!
April 12, 2009 at 12:04 pm
i think the best thing you can get out of that is you are a great mother for teaching your kids to make healthy choices that will help them not only now, but way in the future! i know my family is not even close to as health conscious as me and it frustrates the hell out of me when i go home & have to go out & buy all my own food & pay 5X more than everyone else because eating healthy is expensive! but at the end of the day, you feel good about your self & if you dont love yourself, you cant love the people around you & make them happy! so be happy for who you are and the choices you make! well happy easter! enjoy it!
April 13, 2009 at 1:56 pm
There’s a HUGE food connection with family get-togethers. That’s how my family is. It’s hard to keep eating healthy around it. But look around–look how much happier and healthier you are. It’s totally worth it
April 13, 2009 at 10:08 pm
It’s rare, but once in a while I do have a down day where I’ll get jealous of people that don’t give a **** what they’re eating and just eat whatever tastes good. Luckily I always snap out of it quickly and remember what eating like that every day does to you!
April 14, 2009 at 3:14 pm
AMy,
Thank you so much for sharing that. It’s amazing how food can control us and that temptation never really is gone forever but that we just need to deal with it the right way when it confronts us. God knows over the years I have fallen to it when it came to food. I am now proud just like you to be able to resist it and be proud of my choices.
April 20, 2009 at 9:41 am
I know exactly what you mean. At home my wife is not supportive of my healthy eating at all so my 3 year old daughter also wants to eat junk all the time. Our cupboards and pantry are fill with nothing but junk food (except for the small tiny section I get to put some of my food). It’s just a shame that people don’t see the importance of eating right.
April 21, 2009 at 6:41 am
I didn’t know you lived away from your family. I’m in the same boat. My family’s in Toronto Canada. I do go home 2x a year but I literally have no one here. Not even my kids! I can’t wait to move closer to home so I can just drive across the border and visit my family when ever I want! I feel your anxiety Amy!