How I Escaped Buc-ee’s with One Banana and Not a Single Beaver Nugget
Three Techniques to Make Healthful Food Choice When the Odds Are Against You
I moved to Texas from Southern California two years ago and in that time have seen many weird and wonderful things. At the top of the list is Buc-ee’s, the convenience-store chain with a bucked-tooth cartoon beaver mascot, rabid fans, and bathrooms that have won awards for America’s Best Restroom.® Pronounced Bucky’s, as in beaver, after co-founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin, Buc-ee’s is a Lone Star State road trip staple to Texans and a tourist destination to out-of-towners and newly relocated transplants. As one of the latter I felt obligated to investigate this mecca of highway pit stops to see for myself.
Food, Food, and More Food
You’ve heard that things are bigger in Texas? Even though Buc-ee’s is described as ‘a convenience-store on steroids,’ I was not prepared for the sheer size and scope of the store I visited in New Braunfels — 68,000 square feet and 120 fueling stations on 18 acres. I came to a dead stop just inside the cavernous building, mouth agape, trying to take it all in: walls and walls ‘o stuff — gummy candy, butterscotch, saltwater taffy, gumballs, pecan logs, jams, jellies, pickles, nuts, and preserves. Thirty flavors of jerky. Twenty-four flavors of handmade fudge. Dozens of fountain drinks — they have 80 fountain dispensers — in addition to bottled and canned soda. Hot sandwiches and tacos. A full-service deli. And brisket. In a state where barbecue is a birthright and practically a religion, Buc-ee’s brisket got a solid thumbs up in Food & Wine Magazine.
…and those Beaver Nuggets
The sweet, crunchy, puffed corn nuggets are Buc-ee’s most iconic snack and have earned 4.5 stars on Amazon accompanied by descriptors such as habit forming, addictive, I can’t share them. Perhaps the fact that the first five ingredients are: sugar, cornmeal, corn syrup, canola oil, and molasses have something to do with that.
I am a total sweet-o-holic — I’ve been known to sit down with a spoon and make short work of an entire container of my favorite ice cream in one evening — and felt myself being tugged toward the pecan logs. And then, like an oasis in the middle of a desert, I spied a small, farm-style wooden display with bananas, apples, and limes. And next to it was an entire refrigerated case of grapes, cut melons and pineapple, veggie sticks, green salads, yogurt parfaits. Halleluiah! I truly felt delivered. I grabbed my banana and made a bee-line for the nearest register.
It’s the environment, silly
It’s not that we don’t know what the good, better and best dietary choices are — I’ve listened to the guilty confessions of enough people to get that. The issue is not the occasional enjoyment of Beaver Nuggets or brisket sandwiches. The problem, as I see it, is that we are so overwhelmingly surrounded by foods that are nutrient-poor and calorie-rich that they become the default choice and, over a lifetime, that IS problematic.
While Buc-ee’s may be an over-the-top example, we face the same challenges in nearly every environment — our homes, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, workplaces. And since it’s unlikely that our environments are going to magically become filled with fewer highly-palatable foods, it’s up to us to develop skills to push back against the onslaught. The three following techniques may help.
How you talk to yourself matters
I ask my clients to think about their health goals. What I usually hear is to lose weight, control my blood sugar, have a healthier heart. Valid reasons, all. But, go deeper. Why do you want to lose weight, control your blood sugar, have a healthier heart? There’s usually a deeply personal reason underneath and it probably has something to do with spending more time with the people you love, doing the things you love, living the life you love.
What’s your why? How do your choices affect your why?
Take a time-out
Have you ever found yourself reaching for something without thinking? If you can call a mental split-second time-out before you toss the package of chips into your cart or step up to the deli counter, you can give yourself enough time to pause, think about what you’re doing and break a habit that may be a pattern. What helps me is to read the ingredient list and if the first three ingredients are sugar, corn syrup, or oil, I put it back — most of the time.
Know where you’re going, what to expect, and have a plan
The saying, “Failing to plan is planning to fail,” is especially true when it comes to your food choices. Get out your notepad or iPad, list the places your frequent most, what foods might or will be there, and lay out specific steps you’ll use to navigate through it. For example, now that I know what’s in store for me at Buc-ee’s — if I ever go back — my plan is to make a list, eat something before I go, take a BIG bottle of water with me, put on my blinders, look straight ahead, get what I want and leave. Same thing applies at the grocery store. I am one of those weird people who really enjoy grocery shopping, but even so, I bring my list, always start in the produce section to set the tone and there are certain aisles (like the ice cream freezers) that I just have to avoid.
Last, but not least…
Keep your plan in your car or your wallet or on your phone and review it before you walk through the doors. See yourself striding triumphantly out of the store with the choices that support your ‘why.’ Then do it again, and again, and again.
