Issue #174: Time is Your Enemy in the Grocery Store
Good morning. It’s Thursday, April 20th. Happy Birthday Beatrix!
Today’s Quick Win
From the Lab: Grocery Store Games
Speed Read: Learning from Bats
Thursday Night In: Grilled Lamb Chops
Moment of Fun: House of Pickle
“Fitness is 20% exercise and 80% nutrition. You can’t outrun your fork.”
The number of supermarkets and grocery stores across the US. On average, every store serves roughly 5,300 people. The biggest chains are Wal-Mart, Amazon (Whole Foods), Costco and Kroger. (Source)
From the Lab
40 minutes.
That’s the amount of time we can be in the grocery store using our rational brain. We stick to our plan and only buy what we need.
After that? All bets are off. We listen to our kids who want to throw more sugary crap into the cart (“stop pushing your sister”), we get decision-fatigue from the 50,000 SKUs in the store, and the marketing team starts to earn their year-end bonus.
Most trips result in a cart with 50 percent of stuff we didn’t intend to buy. It doesn’t help that carts are bigger today than they’ve ever been so we just fill it up.
The layout of the store is designed to get us to spend as much time in there as possible - so that we will spend as much money as possible.
The Austin Chronicle
Nothing is by accident - whether that’s putting the eggs on the complete opposite side of the store from the bananas or putting sugary s*** at eye level for kids.
There’s even the “boomerang effect.”
Studies show that guys especially just want to buy what’s on their list. But stores put the most popular products and brands in the middle of those long aisles so that you basically need to see everything in the store rather than quickly picking them off along the ends.
It’s like an Ikea store, but without the colored path - we take a route determined by the store, not our list.
So what’s the plan:
🗒️ Make a List - include meals and snacks
🥑 Fill Up Cart With Produce - get the fruits and veggies for those planned meals and add in any healthy “snacks” that you’ll actually eat
🥚 Stay On the Sidelines - get all the perishable stuff: meat, eggs, dairy/non-dairy, frozen
🥕 Know Your Snacks - pre-plan your snacks (carrots and tzatziki, nuts and trail mix) to avoid thinking you need more in the middle of the store
🎯 Be Targeted in the Middle - don’t go up and down every aisle, just grab what you need
Remember - in and out in 40 minutes!
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Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
Learning From Different Animals: Fruit flies, worms and mice are great to use for studies on longevity because they have such short lifespans. But what about those animals that live an extended life? We’ve talked about wild turtles (Issue #3), but what about bats? Especially Myotis brandtii which, importantly, live much longer than other bat species. (Big Think)
Best State Parks: We’ve highlighted a few national parks and Native American lands recently. There’s so much to explore in the US - what about state parks? There might be a few right around the corner from you - with much fewer crowds than the Grand Canyon during spring break. (Outside)
Do You Know This Man?: One of the most brilliant inventors of our time, Thomas Midgley, Jr., solved two key challenges in the early 20th century and we’ve been paying for them ever since. Got 45 min to go on an interesting ride through history to see how leaded gas and CFCs were born and if Midgley and his mentor could have avoided the precipice? Check it out. (NYTimes)
Thursday Night In
Lamb is unique in that it is the richest source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) - a fatty acid found at its highest levels in grass-fed ruminant animals. It has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and it may help reduce body fat.
Moment of Fun | House of Pickle
Pickleball still growing - 14% of Americans have now played at least once. Great sport to get outside, little a little movement, and improve our coordination. But…even with the former tennis greats playing for charity (and John McEnroe back to throwing rackets - well paddles), not sure this is a ready for primetime TV sport.
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.