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Last updated on January 2nd, 2025 at 01:19 am
Grocery shopping with an eating disorder can be a huge step in the recovery process.
Some things that are important to consider when you’re at the point where you are ready to grocery shop in recovery include:
- How you will shop (online or in person)
- Who will shop with you
- Where you will shop
- What your common triggers are around food
It’s important to remember that those still in the mechanical eating phase of eating disorder recovery are likely not ready to shop at the grocery store or prepare food alone.
The strategies outlined in this article are designed for those well into eating disorder recovery that are able to make food decisions on their own safely.
Let’s dig into some of the challenges with grocery shopping with an eating disorder on board, how to use a support person to reduce anxiety at the store, and ways to cope with challenges at the grocery store unique to those with eating disorders.
Grocery Shopping With An Eating Disorder
Grocery shopping with an eating disorder can often be a very scary task.
The first experiences with shopping for food after an eating disorder should be:
- Writing a grocery list and asking someone else to shop
- Using instacart or online grocery shopping to get the food items you need
These strategies will prepare you for choosing foods without all of the overwhelm and messaging that’s involved in the grocery store.
Grocery shopping at a store presents unique challenges to someone with an eating disorder including:
- Lots of social interaction surrounding food and food choices
- Abundant stimuli associated with food including noise, lights, bright colors, and loudspeaker advertisements
- Diet culture language on displays
- Easy access to calories and nutrient facts on advertisements and labels
- A surplus of choices for every food item and can trigger the eating disorder
- Price points that may trigger an ED to rationalize disordered behavior
- Marketing gimmicks that place foods with claims to health in more prominent view
Preparation for a Grocery Trip With ED
Sometimes the first steps in being successful in the grocery store take place before we even step in the door.
Some things that might help prepare you for your first grocery store trip after an eating disorder include:
- Circling the parking lot in your car
- Walking by the door a few times before actually taking a trip into the store if anxiety is high
- Practicing holding the cart without the intent of truly grocery shopping
- Choose a store with clothing items or household goods. Start here on your first grocery shopping trip.
- Walk through the non-food sections a few times before going on a grocery shopping trip to buy food.
These strategies can really help you experience what its like to be in the grocery store again without the high anxiety of actually purchasing food right away.
Questions To Ask Yourself Before Shopping With An Eating Disorder
If you are looking to reduce anxiety at the grocery store with an eating disorder, you will need to get honest with yourself about your triggers.
Your eating disorder likely may try to convince you that grocery shopping is just “not that big of a deal” in order to serve its own behaviors when you get there! Don’t fall for it!
Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you get honest about where your fears of the grocery store might be.
- What grocery store aisles give you anxiety?
- What are some of my main triggers? This might include socializing with others in the store, calorie counting, or exploring certain food groups.
- Is there a map of the grocery store somewhere or can I create one?
- Which local grocery store helps me to feel calmer. Which has the best lighting/arrangement?
- Are there spots in the grocery store that might be triggering (for example cocktail lounges, coffee shops, cafes)?
- Does the grocery store cater to food types that will serve my eating disorder? For example: Does it provide mostly organic foods or other diet culture trends?
How Can A Support Person Help Me Shop with ED
A shopping buddy can serve as your accountability partner. Your accountability partner can be a romantic partner, family member or a member of your healthcare team.
A buddy when shopping with an eating disorder can help:
- Set time limits to stop label reading and indecisiveness
- Hold you accountable for choosing fear foods
- Offer emotional support
- Interrupt fixation on food rules
- Help you stick to the goals you set before hitting the grocery store
- Sit with you in your safe place if things get overwhelming
Reduce Anxiety When Shopping With ED
There are many things that might be helpful in turning down the eating disorder noise when at the grocery store. A few tricks include:
- Shop with headphones. Listen to music or a podcast. This can provide a distraction at the grocery store.
- Set a time limit. This can prevent obsessing over certain food choices or spending too much time looking at labels.
- Shop with a list.
- Eat a snack before you head out or even in the car.
- Shop in the evening or at a time where the grocery store will not be as busy.
- Use self-checkout to avoid awkward conversations about food.
Where & When To Shop With ED
- Try choosing foods from the prepared foods section.
- Pretend you’re at a potluck where no nutrition information is provided. Choose the food in a similar way.
- Choose foods from the bulk foods section where it’s often more difficult to access nutrition information.
- Try simply using instacart or shopping online! This can prevent a lot of anxiety in the grocery store. It’s also a great way to introduce someone to grocery shopping in recovery.
Challenging an Eating Disorder While Shopping
Your ED voice is likely VERY LOUD as you walk through the grocery store aisles. There may be strong urges to consider and reconsider every decision when shopping with an eating disorder.
The add but never take away approach in shopping with an eating disorder involves:
- Resisting the urge to put foods back
- Not allowing your eating disorder to negotiate foods at the grocery
- Commit to purchase all items in the cart
- Practicing putting anything into the cart that seems desirable
never remove things from the cart once they have made their landing. This is often the eating disorder trying to negotiate.
Grocery Shopping Support
If you are not able to get an in-person support buddy, try using FaceTime, Zoom, or Telehealth to bring a support person on your journey through the grocery store.
A practitioner, such as a haes dietitian, can offer virtual to help you identify diet culture language, and provide emotional support in difficult sections of the grocery store. Your dietitian is a great person to bring along for your grocery trip because they can also gently guide to ensure you are getting meals and snacks that will support your eating disorder recovery meal plan.
Plug in your headphones and walk with your support buddy through the grocery store, communicating with them as often as needed.
What Are Some Ways You’ve Worked Through Shopping With An Eating Disorder?
In my anorexia story, grocery shopping became a very daunting task!
I would obsess over:
- finding the perfect label that matched my disordered thoughts about calories
- Never allow desserts or sweets
- Only choose organic or “clean foods”
A few things I have found very helpful for ditching diet culture rules around grocery shopping include
- Starting in the middle aisles, then working my way to the perimeter
- Putting blinders on when it comes to labels
- Drafting a grocery list throughout the week. Breaking up my grocery list based on where it might be found in the store.
Grocery shopping is likely going to feel overwhelming or even unbearable. Have a list of motivaters and reasons for recovery handy to remember why recovery is worth it!
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