Life according to Walmart

A few weeks ago, I made a very unwise decision and journeyed to Target with no agenda. Such an excursion is never gentle on my bank account and, true to form, I made an impulse purchase: "No More Trouble Zones, Ultimate Body Makeover" by Jillian Michaels...the DVD. I also purchased the necessary hand weights which turned out to be more than my puny little arms could handle. I stopped by Walmart on my way home today to downgrade my weights. I decided to share with you a few insights:

1. Most items in Walmart are not actually as cheap as they appear. The bright yellow price tags next to products often display the original SAME price as the original white price tag. Tricky.

2. That said, it seems to me that effective price comparison requires a math degree.

3. Dark chocolate has become a "health food," thus manufacturers feel they are at liberty to charge ridiculous amounts of money for their product. Unfortunately, I actually believe in the health benefits of DARK chocolate and grudgingly pay what they ask.

4. Chicken wings are to Southerners as milk and honey were to the Israelites. Seriously.

5. I'm nearly done with my 5th year of nutrition training and still had a mild panic attack in the vitamin/supplement isle. Stay tuned for more on this subject; Vitamin D recommendations are changing!

Grownups knows best?

I went to Chick-fil-a for lunch today ; just had to use a coupon that had been burning a hole in my pocket. Milkshake in hand, I settled at a corner table prime for people watching.

I chuckled as I watched a mother repeatedly tell her son that if he did not eat his icecream cone (at a young age he had already developed an affinity for people watching which outweighed his desire for lunch), she was going to have to take it away. She did in fact take away his icecream cone and proceded to eat it herself. For the record she did not seem too put out about eating the rejected cone.

Soon after, a Dad and his son sat down beside me. The scene was similar as the Dad bribed the preschooler; "Eat another chicken strip and then you can go play!" Perhaps my train of thought would have been different if the child had been encouraged to finish his green beans, but I began to wonder at what point we lose our desire to play and turn to food for entertainment.

Now, I'm certainly not saying we shouldn't enjoy our food. The whole scenario just made me think that maybe we adults had a few things to learn from our young counterparts about eating and playing and the balance of life.