Hungry Shopping

Have you ever gone grocery shopping on an empty stomach? 

It goes something like this…You make out your list, with every intention of sticking to it. You’re a very disciplined person and pride yourself on being a good manager of your household budget. You have preplanned all of this week’s meals and exactly what you will need in the right proportions so that you are not wasteful but everyone can eat well. You have thrown in a few treats and snack items, to bridge that gap between meals and satisfy your growing teenage son. It’s a good list. 

You decide that you’re going to do the shopping early, so as to avoid the crowds.  Nothing is more irritating than trying to grocery shop and running into a sig alert on aisle 3.  This means waking up a little earlier than usual for a weekend, but you can always take a nap later after you get home and put everything away.

The alarm goes off as set, but you hit snooze and think just 15 more minutes won’t hurt.  You hit snooze 3 more times. By the time you get up, you realize if you don’t leave now, the crowds are going to hit.  You thought you had time for breakfast, but that stupid snooze button stole it from you and now there isn’t time to stop. If you hesitate then for certain the crowds, with their coupons, temper-tantrum riddled toddlers, and random willy-nilly “I don’t need a list, I’ll just wing it” attitudes will crowd the aisles and impede your progress.  You pull on your yoga pants, grab your purse and your list, and go.  Your stomach is growling, you’re hungry, but that will have to wait. 

Upon arriving at the grocery store, you smell fresh made coffee and croissants from the bakery, and is that bacon?  Never mind.  Shop.  45 minutes later as you’re at the checkout stand, your list is complete but there are at least 20 additional items in the basket you weren’t counting on and your over budget.  You know they weren’t on the list but those babybells looked really yummy as you passed them by and you grabbed a package so you could open it and eat one as you shopped.  That fresh baked bread smelled lovely and even though it’s a little pricey, it was a must have as were the fresh made croissants and donuts for the boys. The bacon you smelled as you walked in the door, made you remember even though it’s not on the list, you haven’t had bacon in a while so you grabbed a pound (you forgot your teenager hates bacon).  The cookies were on sale and will surely get eaten along with the potato chips and salsa and cheez-its. Ice cream wasn’t on the list either, but dessert is always good, surely it was just an oversight. 

As you pay and walk to car to load the groceries in the trunk, you realize what you’ve done and swear once more, for the umpteenth time, never shop on an empty stomach again. This happens every time.  When you eat first you stick to the list, and when you don’t….well at least you have dessert right?