I feel like people are always calling me a weirdo for some aspect of my life. I’ve started to wear the label with pride. One part of my life that seems to be met with the most shock and horror lately is that I walk my groceries home. This might be surprising to friends because we live halfway up a 400 foot hill. There is a grocery store at the bottom of our hill and at the top. Either way, you’re climbing a hill in one direction, often with pounds and pounds of groceries on your back. When someone asks where my car is and I tell them I’m carfree for life usually the first question is: “But how do you get groceries?!”
I walk with them ๐ . The questions continue:
“But isn’t that hard?”
– Often, yes.
“But don’t you get sweaty?!”
– Yep – sure do.
But here’s the thing: This is a choice I’m actively making and I ENJOY it. If I wanted to, I could take a $2 Uber or Lyft up my hill. I could take a bus. I could rent a car. I could have them delivered! I have a lot of options and I intentionally chose this route for a few reasons:
1. Awareness
I’ve been walking my groceries home since entering the adult world 7+ years ago. In NYC I would grab the largest backpack I had and walk to the grocery store. After shopping, my backpack would weigh about 50 lbs (yes I weighed it). I would heft it onto my back and head out. Every few weeks, I would take a larger pilgrimage to discount stores like Trader Joe’s (yes their prices are a huge discount in HCOL areas like NYC and Seattle) that required long walks to/from the subway instead of a less than a mile walk from my apartment.
In Seattle, the difficulty level increased with our hill situation and throughout it all I learned that because I know I’ll be carrying everything I purchase on my back, I became SUPER aware of what I was purchasing.ย Do I really need that bottle of juice (this was pre-keto)? Do I really want to lug this case of seltzer up the hill just so I can live like a princess? Often times the answer was no. Knowing I would have to labor to carry my groceries helped me focus on what I really needed.
For contrast, growing up in Georgia, you have to take a car to the grocery store. There are no sidewalks in my area to provide a safe alternative. When going to the grocery store, we would load up our cart with whatever our eyes locked on, roll that cart to the trunk of the car, dump all the stuff in, drive home, park in the garage and move the purchases the few feet from the trunk to the kitchen. It took very little effort and we often looked around to see we purchased a lot more than we needed. Food waste was common.
So now I’m super focused on what I actually need. This has the added effect of lowering my grocery bill and causing me to have basically no food waste (we did have to throw out an on sale steak last week that was looking a strange color after only a day. It was super sad).
2. Exercise
I’ve always had a weird relationship with exercising. I like to do activities that are necessary and provide value outside of ‘working out.’ For example, my Mom walks about 4 miles every other day – in a park – in a circle. I find it super boring, but go to spend time with her. When she visited Seattle last, I took her on walks, but we actually WENT places (thank you sidewalks). The walk was both exercise and transportation. This might be why I hate treadmills. Similarly, I did enjoy my heavy lifting days, but what I truly enjoy is grabbing a ridiculous amount of groceries and hauling them up a hill: exercise and value! These days lugging groceries up a hill is my weight lifting.
3. Reward
If you have struggled to achieve something, it feels even better accomplishing it. Similarly to how I hear from gardeners that their food gives them an added feeling of satisfaction because I MADE THAT, I feel a greater reward when eating my groceries because I know that I sweat to get them here. I worked hard to carry every piece of them home and it makes the food taste even better to me. The joy of accomplishment and hard work.
Conclusion
Some people seem to think my choice to walk my groceries home is some kind of deprivation, but I feel the opposite. Doing so adds focus, additional exercise and satisfaction to my life. There’s nothing wrong with a little hard work or using your muscles to get things done. I wish people weren’t so afraid of doing something difficult or being sweaty…or weird.
How about you? What activities set you apart from the crowd that provide additional satisfaction to your life?
Dude. 100% agreed about treadmills. They feel like the worst symbol of American life–we sit on our butts so much that we have to come home or go to a gym and walk on a machine that literally sucks electricity in order to be healthier. Blergh.
This is why I like taking the bus and then walking from the bus stop. Or having a dog–because they require exercise, and so me taking them out walking or running has a secondary purpose. It’s grand. Also, I can’t wait to not be 9 months pregnant so that walking doesn’t cause me physical pain any more ๐
Seriously. It’s super silly. Yes to public transit and walking. Love it! As for a dog I have a feeling that me having a pup would just make us both fat instead of more active ๐ . It is nice that getting outside has a secondary purpose though. And oh boy – hang in there lady!
the weirder the better to me, ms. purple. i liked when we at least had a co-op a few blocks from home. you could just go over and buy the vegetable du jour in a couple of minutes.
i work out at work but have to come right back to work after. i just put my clothes right over my running stuff and come back sweaty to let ’em know i mean business.
Haha good because I’m super weird (or so people tell me…). A co-op that close sounds wonderful! Ugh I am so looking forward to wandering through farmer’s markets during the day to get fresh produce for our meals (instead of my current set up of rushing through a store). It’s awesome you work out at work and haha to you letting them know you mean business. That’s awesome. I used to go to the gym during my lunch break and showering/changing would take longer than I would have liked. I prefer your way of doing things!
Never thought about it that way. That’s pretty cool. I’m curious, you mention that it affected your grocery shopping in terms of lowering your waste because you didn’t want to lug around unnecessary stuff, did you notice if over time it affected what you bought too for the same reason? Like reaching for the frozen juice concentrate instead of those gallons of juice, or other such lower weight alternatives?
Great question: It has now that I think about it. Instead of juice I started getting water enhancers like MiO that I just add to water when I get home. Other than that I just cut down on the liquids that I purchase since they’re usually the heaviest type of groceries I get. Thank you for stopping by!
I know that you say that you do keto but this seems like method acting the Paleo by making sure you eat what you kill! I can completely see the value in this as it makes you completely aware of what you’re eating – I do slightly wonder though if it is the best value way of doing things. If you know you are going to use something regularly then is there merit it bulk buying for the discount? But I can also see that could easily lead to waste so the important thing is that is works for you!
My thing that sets me apart is that I am the only person in the office that wears a tie into work. I do it very deliberately as I know that it makes people think of me in a particular way – given that I know where they are starting from I can then choose to reinforce or subvert their expectations. That makes me sound much cleverer and more manipulative than I am! I’m not really it’s just a way of putting on my work mask/persona.
Hahaha – true! Great point about buying in bulk. Since I don’t eat carbs everything I buy is fresh food (no cereal, oatmeal etc that last a long time) so bulk wouldn’t really work for me. I also am only shopping to feed myself and don’t go through food quickly as a result.
Nice job with your manipulation ๐ . No that’s really interesting. Maybe I should think about how I want to be perceived at work and dress accordingly…Though how I want to be perceived is like an elderly worker that people should leave alone…Maybe a grey wig?
I don’t think you’re a weirdo for walking home with your groceries! I can’t imagine it any other way – I’ve always trekked to and from the supermarket. Also, if you add in some squats with your backpack on, you can get some strength training in (although if you do this on the way, people might REALLY think you’re a weirdo).
Thank you – that makes one ๐ . Glad the club is expanding! I’ll think about your squats comment. I’m not actually sure I could do squats with my massive backpack on. I’d probably fall right over! Thank you for stopping by.
This is, as always, an awesome post! I completely agree with what you said about awareness. I walk to the grocery store and back as well (slightly more than a mile each way). And there’s just not much you can carry if you don’t want to faint on the way back. So definitely, less food and money wastage ๐
I also eat much less ice cream (one of my biggest kryptonites) because it can’t survive the journey home. So I guess that’s a good thing, right?
You’re too sweet ๐ . Glad you’ve found similar conclusions as I have. It’s not just me lol! And oh wow I didn’t even think about how it’s aided my nutrition (like you not getting ice cream). I definitely stopped buying non-nutritious things (candy, gum etc) even if they were small. Every pound counts when going up that hill! I think that’s a great thing – thanks for making me see an additional benefit!
I haven’t gone down the route of hauling my full weekly grocery shop home on foot – there’s 2 of us and we do (shockingly) drink coke with alcohol so waaaay too heavy for me.
But I do now try to do errand and bits shopping by foot (2 miles each way) and walk to our allotment (2 miles away).
I also have a cold shower every morning regardless of house or outside temperature as a way of keeping my frugal muscles intact.
Haha – fair point. To each their own. We actually stopped buying mixers to go with alcohol because of our hill. I’ve become a whiskey girl as a result!
That’s awesome you go 2 miles each way with your errands! That’s way farther than me. And WOAH with the cold shower. That’s hardcore. I tried it after Four Pillar Freedom wrote a post about it and couldn’t bring myself to try again. I already think of regular showers as cold showers if it’s less than 70 outside. It’s so chilly when I get out. My southern blood can’t handle it. I love the idea of keeping frugal muscles intact though! Maybe I should try again…
Yup this is very true. I find things more rewarding when I have to put some work into it. The food I cook tastes oddly better than some dishes I just buy when I’m lazy. The fruit I cut up tastes a little better (maybe it’s just in my head) than if I’m lazy and buy them pre-packaged. haha
Yep. I’m sure there’s some fancy name for that phenomenon and I know it’s possibly in our head, but hey: it works! Thank you for stopping by!
I think it’s weird/sad that more people don’t do so-called weird stuff like this. There are so many opportunities for simple pleasures and feelings of satisfaction that people miss out on by eliminating any hint of hardship/physical effort in their lives.
Even now I bet you can recreate the feeling in your mind of arriving home from the grocery store and taking off that heavy backpack. It feels good, physically and mentally, no?
It was 26 degrees this morning when I left my house on my bike. My fingers were complaining by the time I got to the showers at the gym, but that made stepping into a very hot shower that much more enjoyable and memorable.
I’m completely with you. A lot of people seem to avoid effort at all costs. And yes – taking my backpack off after huffing up my hill feels awesome. That sounds like an awesome bike ride! That’s another thing I don’t understand: when people drive to the gym. If the goal is exercise biking or walking there makes more sense to me…but what do I know ๐ . Thank you for stopping by!
I too walk my groceries home! However, I have a Trader Joe’s across the street from my apartment so it’s not a far walk. When I lived in Colorado with no car, I used a big ‘ole backpack and biked my groceries home. It was hard work but that is good for the body and soul!
Nicely done!
That’s super cool! Even a walk across the street is something. I imagine a lot of people drive that same distance. A big ole backpack while biking sounds awesome! I’d always assumed you have to get a bike trailer to put those in. I like your version better! Completely good for the body and soul. Thanks so much for stopping by!
I live half a mile from my grocery store. I opted out to having a car, but I have a bike I’m waiting to fix; however I honestly never have a need for it because I live close enough to everything and it’s a beautiful walk. But some stupid people think it’s weird, which is ridiculous considering how selfish it is to pollute the air and waste energy on an otherwise easy grocery trip. It’s great exercise, it feels great, I get to walk by a farm and park. And my other walk in almost equal distance is to the gym. I mean, if I drive, I would be going on the treadmill instead of enjoying the Earth!!! How insane is it to shame someone for an enjoyable and sensible decision. I feel most of the time people think I’m poor or have a DUI or something lol, but it’s like, okay my friend, then why not offer me a ride if I’m so downtrodden. Oh, that’s right, you won’t.
lousy, shameful hypocrites. every time I see people celebrating the Earth and wanting to fight climate change, I wonder how many of them judge others walking a mere half mile.