we have people who like to do it themselves and they all have different reasons...if you really want to do it yourself tell them "different things need to go to different places and it is hard to explain" that works pretty good and people are often shopping for extra people so you wont be telling your bagger "I don't trust you"

You're welcome!

I'm still confused. If it's truly about the PRODUCT, why mention how fat the people were at all?

There's one bagger at that store who truly understands how to use the canvas bags - wrap one canvas bag handle around one of the handles for the plastic bag holder, then holding the other handle in her right hand, load the bag with the left hand. The others will try to wiggle foods in while holding the bag up in the air - sometimes holding it upside down!

It seems she actally watched the "how to pack groceries" video when she was trained, too... Something that most of the teenagers and old men (and even a few of the women) working there seemed to have totally ignored, considering that when this one girl packs my bags, they stand up in the car, but when others pack them, I can be sure they'll fall over and I'll have food all over the car when I get home... And I only live a mile from the store!



The junk food industry will stop at nothing to promote their products as "healthy", no matter how bad they are for you! Bad enough that they're full of starches and sugars, but I'll bet the keebler cookies are still full of trans-fats too!

It's hard to tell anything from my cart. I'm a BFL'er, so most of the time I have whole food (fruit, veggies, meat. oatbran and cottage cheese) and sometimes I have crappy lean cuisines (my husband *loves* these and if I don't buy em he'll decide he has to have McD's /sigh)..

Sometimes I'll have ben and jerry's and cookie fixings.. It's all built into my plan. I would give a hairy eyeball to any cashier who suggested I should change my diet =) =)..

However, I've been maintaining in a size 2-4 for three years so I doubt anyone cares much what I buy, but I do hate buying the preemie diapers for my cat (long story) - I bet the cashiers are wondering why I've been buying the same size (P) diapers for two years and don't appear to have ever been preggers! (and this is a small town with one store so you better believe they notice).


I gotta admit, tho, I do check out other shopper's carts at Costco, especially when the lines are long and there's nothing better to do while waiting. That's where you see MASSIVE carts full o' crap.

In most cases, what's in a person's cart is what they eat. I used to do the grocery shopping for another family, so I know that's not necessarily true all the time, especially since I bought a lot of things for them that I'd never use, even back then when I was eating junk.

But it's still more about the product than the girth of the consumer, because the "healthy" or weight loss claims of products that have "low-fat", "low calorie", or AHA or ADA emblems on them is apparently preying on the people who most need to improve their health, if that's what we're seeing in their carts.

While we can't look into someone's arteries and see how badly they're clogged, we can see how eating a "normal" diet has affected someone's weight. (Although I will grant that there are times when that's not necessarily the case either - some medications, as well as certain medical conditions, can really do a number on a person's weight)

We can also see that they've fallen for the claims by the food manufacturers, plus the ADA and AHA, that eating foods with their approval symbols and weight loss promise words will somehow be the magic bullet that "fixes" everything.

We're human - we can't help but notice such things as diet foods in the cart of an obese person, unless someone makes a concerted effort to become so oblivious to everything around them that they don't notice that there are different sized people in the world, much less that there are different foods in different people's carts. Those of us on this board know that low-fat, low calorie, or starch and sugar laden foods laced with trans fats isn't the best way to go if you're trying to lose weight. I notice these things, and I'm just another customer wandering the aisles. If you're the checkout person who has to handle every single item the person is buying, and then handle the payment, thus interacting and even looking at the person purchasing those things, you can't help but notice a correlation if you see it often enough.

Yes, we all know that correlation does not prove causation. But when you see the same thing over and over and over a hundred times a day, you start to think maybe there is a connection of some kind... especially if you've been there yourself, as an obese person who tried to lose weight by eating the processed foods that the gov't declared "healthy".

I don't blame anyone else for my weight problems - certainly not the "food industry". That would be like blaming the tobacco company or the distillers for some of my other past less than admirable behaviors.

Everyone is out here with a desire to survive - financially, physically, spiritually, and a myriad other ways. We were all given "free will".

I eat what I like and what I want. Simple as that. I am now having to retrain my taste buds - and miracle of miracles, I can not only eat green stuff (besides green M&Ms) but I am also developing a liking of, a preference for, an attraction to vegetables. My dear departed mother would have praised me for that.

When shopping, I just look around. Yes - long lines at Costco w/ HUGE carts does pique the imagination and curiosity. For those who never look around and never think, they might have found a way to distract themselves w/ their iPod or their cell phone. To each his own.

Anyway - this is a very interesting thread and it is also a very revealing one......just like a shopping basket filled w/ Oreos and ice cream!

Vicki <------- a healthy eater in training

I suppose there's a cashier somewhere posting about my cart full of meat, cream, butter, eggs, etc. going on about how they can't BELIEVE that fat woman doesn't know any better than to eat that crap.

Or "Gee, she must be living proof that Atkins doesn't work, look at the SIZE of her!" You can't see blood sugar numbers or cholesterol numbers, I guess, but my girth IS visible. Fat is the personal problem you wear on the outside, for sure.

I acctually seem to get more "looks" (and remarks) eating this way. They expect it to be full of cookies and chips and pop...but veggies and whole foods? STRANGE!

Im sure one or another of them is dieing to tell me to stop eating full fat butter. Its obvious whats making me fat, just look at the creams and cheeses and such. Oh of course then they see something that makes it all fall into place with all the meat....low carb tortillas or something..then it hits them like "OHHHHHHHHHHHH...now I know shes just stupid", then she giggles and goes on her marry way...or is now REALLY worried about my health and plans on how to approach me the next time she sees me. Ya know..so my kidneys dont explode.

I get strange looks because I buy 7lb packs of beef fat and cuttings from the meat cutter...I don't mind because these are my coworkers...I just laugh at the faces they make

I know I'm new around here and haven't read all of your journal yet, but I have to ask... 7lb packs of beef fat? What do you do with them?

I cook them a little if I need fat for cooking..and I cut them up for my dog...$0.19 lb it is a good buy and there is still meat on them...and I try to get it when rib steaks are on sale,better fat
and we sell beef with no added things like antibiotics and hormones

Just because it is not YOUR way of losing weight does NOT give you the right to judge them! Let me say, if any clerk had the NERVE to comment on my purchases, they would be very sorry!

Amen to that! My friend is a registered nurse and she insists I'm eating too many calories-and it won't work- even though it is. Meanwhile, she stocks up on sugared ceral for her overweight son. I try to tell her cereal is nothing but cardboard with sugar but the Drs she works with have convinced her low carb is bad. My own Dr recommended a low fat diet when I asked him a few years ago- he said he really doesn't know enough about LC so I should stick to low fat.
Just watch TV for 15 minutes and you'll see new processed carbs coming out every day and being pushed on us. I don't know if people will wake up or not... I'm just glad I did.

Sorry- was saying amen to unitydkn. Its sad when parents don't take an active role in their children's health.