Step Away From The Aisles
Grocery shopping…
Something that we all have to do on a regular basis.
Something that people either love or hate… and something that can be really difficult for a person with binge eating disorder.
I remember way too many times going to the grocery store to prepare for a binge. I would stock up on tons of candy, chips, dip, and anything else I could get my hands on. My cart looked like I was on my way to filling up a vending machine. Obviously, I’ve learned a thing or two now that I’m free from binge eating. I want to share a story from May of this year with you…
While we were away for my birthday, we went to a grocery store to pick up a few items. For quite a while now, I have been following the same advice that I tell you on in my eBook, which is that I just stay around the perimeter of the grocery store. I do not go down the aisles that have junk food. It’s just a habit for me now.
We had never been to this grocery store and we wanted to buy some crackers for the cheese that we got. We were very unfamiliar with where things were located, so we were going down every aisle. I found myself just staring in awe of all of the goodies that I didn’t eat and didn’t even know about. Cookies, crackers, goldfish, etc. There was so much junk and it all looked good to me.
It just got me thinking how much better it is for anyone to stay away from these aisles. If you don’t know what you are missing out on, you don’t think about it. After all, you just don’t know. After you stroll down a chip aisle, you see everything that you don’t have and your eyes just get bigger and bigger. Even though I don’t eat or buy this kind of food, I found myself asking Rob if he wanted to buy cheese nips or goldfish. Thank God he didn’t say yes. He told me “you don’t really want that” and he was right. I didn’t. It was just there right in front of me and it looked appealing. Also, I was hungry and that’s a time that is the worst to go grocery shopping. Everything starts looking good to you.
Well, we made it out of the grocery store without purchasing any junk.
If you are the type of person that doesn’t really trust yourself around binge food – don’t tempt yourself by strolling down these aisles. Don’t purchase this kind of food and keep it in your house if you are trying to regain control of your binge eating.
You’ll be doing yourself a favor by making a grocery list of what you need and not perusing the inner aisles of the store. Never, ever, ever go grocery shopping when you are hungry. Make sure to eat first because, believe me, everything will look good to you (and your tummy!).
Practicing these two things really helped me. After all, if you don’t have binge food in your house, how can you eat it? Yes, you might be tempted, but look at everything it would require – getting dressed to go in public, getting in your car, driving to the grocery store, walking around to try to find things that you want, getting back in your car to drive home. It’s exhausting!