Ever since joining weight watchers I find I have a new problem I can’t seem to get away from. I judge other people at the grocery store based on what is in their shopping carts… but can you blame me? Have you seen what some people buy?!?! Have you noticed what people don’t buy? I can not comprehend having an overflowing cart with not even one fruit or vegetable in it.
A trick I learned, that many dieters use, is to try to only shop around the perimeter of the store and not to even go into the center aisles. This way you leave with produce, fresh meat, dairy, etc, the good stuff. I now see that there are people who subscribe exclusively to the center aisles, chips, cookies, sodas, frozen pizzas, ice cream, candy… you get the picture. Looking at the overflowing carts filled with junk food being pushed by an overweight family, I have to wonder, do they not know or do they just not care? They must be allergic to fresh foods, or maybe their doctor has told them that they aren’t getting enough preservatives in their diet, I hear it’s the newest food group at the base of the pyramid just below artificial cheese and aspartame.
Another popular shopping strategy is letting your 4-year-old choose what they think is best nutritionally. I suppose many of these parents aren’t really sure what they should be feeding their little ones so it only seems right to give them free reign of the shopping duties. I can recognize that when a child says they want fruit roll-ups there is no easy way to say no; being a parent is tough enough without also being responsible for letting them down and making them angry. The rule of thumb here is, if they might throw a tantrum do what they ask, this will make them reasonable adults, right? When I was growing up there was no soda, frosted cereals or candy in my house; my parents were real jerks, trying to teach me about healthy eating and forcing vegetables down my throat. I remember being really mad about it so I would go to my friends houses and raid all their sugary snacks, they had cool moms and dads. Now as an adult I find the result of my upbringing is I don’t enjoy soda, I never drink the stuff– parents ruin everything.
Learning to be Funny 
The only issue you run into with the perimeter shopping is you spend a lot more money. It’s much cheaper to eat crap.
I know! Those horrible parents! My parents wouldn’t ever let me eat fast food because it wasn’t “real food”. How dare they take away the best thing about this country, healthy food served fast. Sooo nutritious!
Your mom and I were never allowed to have cold cereal for breakfast except on Saturdays. As a result, to this day, she and I both regard it as a “treat”. We also didn’t have chewing gum, till I was in 4th grade and the gum world, which till then had consisted entirely of DoubleMint, Juicy Fruit, and Bazooka, suddenly exploded with hip flavors like Teaberry, Cinnamint, Grape… you name it. I bought ’em all and chewed ’em all and made a gum wrapper chain that was 6 feet long. And my mother (aka Grandma), who had kept saying “You’re going to get a cavity,” was a prophet… I did. A whopper of a hole in my back lower molar. I’ve had to replace the damn filling 3 times and counting. Listen to your parents! And be sure to floss!!!!