Do you ever look at other people`s food choices and just think..

.."I can`t believe that was me not so long ago!"

This obese lady in front of me at the supermarket today was buying a large chocolate coconut cake. First two ingredients: sugar, hydrogenated vegetable fat.

UGH. >_< I would have totally bought something like that myself, only because it looked good. Probably would have finished it in a day or two also.

If you have any "I can`t believe that used to be me" moments, please do share.

Whenever I pass McDonald's....Only thing I get there now is an ice cream cone once in awhile....The very smell of their fries makes me physically ill and light headed.

I think the same thing. When I find myself being over critical I have to just remind myself that I'm not the moral compass for food choices.Though I've come far,it wasn't too long ago when I was in a similar position.Sometimes I wish I could tell people about the choices they are making but I think its probably best kept to myself

No I don't.  What if that obese woman was on calorie count and working hard but had family coming into town or was buying the cake for someone's b-day? Unless you asked that lady to her face if she planned on eating that entire cake then you don't know and shouldn't jump to conclusions.

I'm sure people look at me in the store. Sure I have veggies and lean meats and 45 cal bread in my basket but I also have my mom's chicken wings and macaroni salad and my son's Swiss Rolls and doritos!

Original Post by jenniferthepennifer:

No I don't.  What if that obese woman was on calorie count and working hard but had family coming into town or was buying the cake for someone's b-day? Unless you asked that lady to her face if she planned on eating that entire cake then you don't know and shouldn't jump to conclusions.

I'm sure people look at me in the store. Sure I have veggies and lean meats and 45 cal bread in my basket but I also have my mom's chicken wings and macaroni salad and my son's Swiss Rolls and doritos!

Sorry, I now realise I sounded a bit judgmental there. That wasn`t my intention. The point is that nobody should be eating that crap, but /someone/ is obviously going to (not necessarily the lady who was buying it), and that could very well have been me less than a year ago.

Checking out what others eat or buy at a grocery store?  You betcha!  Right or wrong, I've even made it a psychological part of my weight loss journey.

If I pass a fast food joint and I'm tempted to stop in, I look at the size of the people going in or out.  All it takes is seeing one gluttonous person (fat or otherwise) devouring something and it turns me off from wanting a treat -- it reminds me of how I got so overweight. 

When at a grocery store, I don't want people to see me with junk in my cart (I'm still slightly overweight).  I challenge myself to have a food selection I'd be proud of if I happened to bump into a gym-mate at the store. 

What really gets me is when I'm in a store and I see a mother with her kids and her cart is full of junk (sweet cereals, greasy chips, frozen dinners, and no fresh fruit or produce).  That really gets me!!!

Sure, as jennifer~ said, there might be other factors such as the person is getting ready for a party or some other occasion, but we are humans and as such, we have a tendency to judge. 

I must admit.  I do it too.  I do feel horrible about thinking those thoughts but that's exactly why I went through the drive through at McDonalds and not inside.  I knew what people (like me) were thinking.  Sorry if that makes me a bad person but being honest might just make up for that a little.

Nope can't say that i do, if i look at what they are eating it's because i'm thinking Ooooo i want that...

Original Post by ily51:

Original Post by jenniferthepennifer:

No I don't.  What if that obese woman was on calorie count and working hard but had family coming into town or was buying the cake for someone's b-day? Unless you asked that lady to her face if she planned on eating that entire cake then you don't know and shouldn't jump to conclusions.

I'm sure people look at me in the store. Sure I have veggies and lean meats and 45 cal bread in my basket but I also have my mom's chicken wings and macaroni salad and my son's Swiss Rolls and doritos!

Sorry, I now realise I sounded a bit judgmental there. That wasn`t my intention. The point is that nobody should be eating that crap, but /someone/ is obviously going to (not necessarily the lady who was buying it), and that could very well have been me less than a year ago.

 Well that's never going to happen.. what's a world without cake? ha  Or Halloween candy or.. bacon! :o  

I just doubt that you would have even noticed the cake had it been in a skinny girl's basket? But maybe you would have!

This just hit home because just last week I went shopping. I had tons of veggies and fruits and lean meats but then I had to get my grandma's zillion cans of Campbell's soup, my mom's chicken wings and macaroni salad (since I was going to Six Flags and wouldn't be there to cook) and like I said above my son's junk food.  Now, he eats fresh fruits, granola, veggies and yogurt and is VERY active.. but he still likes his fruit roll ups, chips, and ice cream sandwiches or whatever... anyway, this man passed by me.. looked in my basket and said 'Gee, can I come to your house? you have all the sinful food'.. I just smiled but I wanted to tell him so bad that I'm on cc, I've lost 60lbs, the junks not for me.. the healthy food is all at the bottom! haha

Sure people judge but it's always good to try and keep yourself in check and work on not being so.  I saw a couple.. both were 400lbs +.. the basket looked to be full of nothing but junk and they were eating candy bars while shopping! Yes, I judged them.  But the person with a few items.. eh, you just don't know.

I bet someone judged me when I checked out with only a gallon of milk, a package of oreos, and a huge package of toilet paper.

To be fair, we were out of milk, my roommate and I had had the last of our roommate's oreos (spread out over several weeks, I swear), and the house was out of toilet paper.

The funny part was that my roommate (the other oreo consumer) checked out with the same 3 items.

I think we judge based on a lot of factors, including age, weight, gender, if the person looks like they are buying for themselves or for their kids, if they have kids that are overweight.... it all goes into our snap judgement of "ooh, that person shouldn't be doing that" vs. "I wish I could get away with eating like that"

^^ ha ha ha! I was being judged when I was checking out one day with tampons, loo roll, pain killers and a very large bar of chocolate....seriously 

I don't care what other people eat.

I have a very strong belief that tampons, ibuprofen, and mounds bars should be all in the same aisle. Why do they spread them out??? Everyone knows you need all three.

^^^ hahah to both of you! 

I go out of my way trying NOT to look at people's food.  Because as soon I go to peek I always get caught!

Yes, I do.

I am not a moral compass, I am not even a person who puts a ton of effort into being nicey-nice, and I happen to be cynical enough and mean enough to enjoy a nice dose of schadenfreude. I figure it balances out because my cynicism and occasional indulgence in schadenfreude make me eminently aware of how other people may be regarding me in turn.

So yes, I do look in people's carts and judge based on a variety of factors, particularly when they and their children are quite overweight. And I am also aware of how they may be judging me, since my cart at Trader Joe's always includes at least three or four packages of their frozen shepherd's pie and I always feel like a bit of a fraud for enjoying a prepackaged, processed, frozen meal so much. (Hey, some college students live on ramen, I live on frozen shepherd's pie.)

Edited to add: I would never comment. It would make me feel like a jerk and wouldn't make the other person feel any better either. There's a difference between a bit of judgment and being an overt jerk.

It's not necessarily me judging other people...but I just started trying to eat great quality foods 2 weeks ago and it's been going great.  Now it's looking at something I would have eaten with no regrets 1 month ago and now looking at that food and feeling disgust and if I do eat it, guilt.

I look becasue I have a low tolerance for standing still and doing nothing, so I amuse myself with what people have in their grocery cart.  It is a little sad really, but I also feel that people are looking at mine and going WTF.  I have a 13 year old girl, with some odd tastes, a 6 year old boy that will eat anything, and a high maintenance spouse.  Add to that my lettuce, organic cranberry juice, edamame, and tampons......Well you get the picture.

Yep, I do it. My hubby and I go out to eat every Friday, while I research my choices and pick a very low calorie item (I carry my own dressing too, I don't trust them to give me low cal) anyway, I see some people ordering appetizers, salad, soup and then they get an entree. Gosh where do they put it first and second don't they realize at some point that they are slowly killing themselves with all that unhealthy food. I did it too and I told my husband just last Friday My gosh I can't believe I could eat like that once too.

I don't do it at the store, I've got 83 yr old in laws, my hubby, 4 boys, and all my stuff in that cart. I can imagine what some people think about the variety of items that are in MY cart. geez.

sometimes i do this, yes.  but more often, i find myself noticing the healthy choices in people's baskets.  my basket is usually super healthy too (as i enjoy being the weirdly healthy basket in the line up of unhealthy baskets).  the other day though, the woman in front of me had the healthiest basket i've ever seen!  i had to restrain myself a few times from commenting to her about it.

i theresa, i too, cannot stand still for long without gawking, clearly.

I am with r4e, I only tend to look at restaurants, and even than I don't think I judge as much as it just sort of grosses me out to see large quantities of food being consumed.  I wouldn't dream of judging a grocery cart, because I hope nobodies judgin mine. ie... hmmmm  she's buying a bottle of Gin??  oh my

I usually look at skinny people eating fatty sloppy but yummy food and go ...."ugh..why cant i maintain my body eating like that.."