Category: food lottery

50 Times People Absolutely Won The Food Lottery (New Pics)

Nature, Lady Luck, and Karma have a way of rewarding us with fun surprises when we least expect them. We believe that looking at photos of food is a great way to pass the time, especially as an appetizer before your next hearty meal. That’s why our gastronomic geniuses here at Bored Panda have cooked up this fun list of people winning the food lottery.

From gigantic lettuces the size of a teen and massive lemons bigger than cans of soft drinks to packs containing two ice-cream cones instead of one, we’ve got the luckiest winners who played the Food Wheel of Fortune without even realizing it. Remember to upvote your fave photos as you continue scrolling.

What’s your biggest food lottery win, dear Pandas? Let us know in the comments. Hungry for more food surprises? Be sure to check out Bored Panda’s earlier two articles about them right here and here.

We can’t expect to constantly win the food lottery or any lottery in life for that matter. British environmental psychologist and well-being consultant Lee Chambers walked Bored Panda through various strategies on how to deal with uncertainty in life, talked about why it’s problematic to believe we always have good or bad luck, and gave some spot-on advice about why we should opt for a healthier diet and try to avoid fast food. You’ll find our full in-depth interview with him below, Pandas.

#1 This Big Lettuce

Image credits: mtlgrems

Psychologist Lee noted that we have to learn to embrace the fact that uncertainty is a part of life. There’s no running away from it. Compassion, acceptance, mindfulness, reflection, and healthy routines help us deal with uncertainty better. “When we are looking to become more tolerant of uncertainty in life, the first step we need to take is to accept that uncertainty is part of human life. As a species, we love control and predictable patterns, and have a strong response to uncertainty as a potential threat, as this is what has kept us alive as we’ve evolved,” he told Bored Panda in an interview via email.

“When it comes to becoming more cultured in dealing with uncertainty, there are a number of things we can practice. The first one is to become compassionate with yourself and express your emotions healthily. Whether we write them down, speak about them or soothe ourselves, expressing our feelings and being kind to ourselves helps to dampen the impact of uncertainty, while suppressing our emotions and feelings, or fighting against them, can make uncertainty feel more intense,” Lee explained that we have to learn to be compassionate to ourselves and to express what we feel in a healthy, mature way.

#2 A Miracle Has Occurred

Image credits: TheGhostOfSamT

#3 Found A Perfect Salt Crystal In My Sea Salt Packet

Image credits: c3r3n1ty

“We can practice acceptance that there are things we can’t control while looking to take ownership of the things we can. This makes us feel more empowered, and not waste energy trying to control things that are outside of our ability to do so, and also helps us to stop ruminating on past challenges and future worries. We can also practice being mindful in the moment, as we can always control more variables right now.”

Reflecting on past experiences can also help us learn what our triggers are. It can also help us understand how we handle uncertainty and what personal strengths and skills we used to get through it. As Lee put it, we’re far tougher than we believe. “We are often more resilient than we think we are, and we can learn a lot from how we navigated difficult times and situations when we look back with a desire to learn and grow,” he said.

Meanwhile, healthy habits also provide us with a solid foundation to tackle the uncertainty that life will throw at us. “We should also look to our routines, things that relax us and things we enjoy. We should make an effort to eat well, sleep optimally, and move our bodies, as they all help us with our emotional balance, optimism, and cognitive ability to navigate uncertainty, giving us the clarity, elevated mood, and energy to get through and be less affected,” the psychologist told Bored Panda.

#4 Giant Lemon Off Our Tree

Image credits: ocscottie

#5 This Butternut Squash Was Almost All Squash

Image credits: elophine

#6 This Banana Is The Size Of My Entire Forearm

Image credits: reddit.com

“One other thing to consider is planning for a dynamic world that is ever-changing. You can create your own method for handling uncertain situations by using many of the skills above, understanding the habits and routines that keep you grounded, and knowing who can support you if you are struggling. By finding strategies that work for you and practicing acceptance and mindfulness, we can start building our toolkit for when the going gets tough and you are unsure what’s coming next.”

Bored Panda was interested to learn whether it’s problematic for someone to have a mindset that they ‘always’ have good or bad luck in their lives. According to psychologist Lee, having a fixed mindset like that can present a whole range of challenges. “

“As human beings, we have an evolved ability to focus on decisions we have made, including those about ourselves. If we believe we always have good luck, we can start to only focus on the times when things go our way. This can cause us to take unnecessary risks and make poor decisions because we feel we will be lucky while ignoring our mistakes and not being able to learn from them.”

#7 My 5-Year-Old Found A Pack Of Fruit Roll-Ups With 2 Rolls In 1 Wrapper

Image credits: Mitch_CoNNar

#8 My Friend’s Chicken Laid A Huge Egg With A Regular Size Egg Inside It

Image credits: Mazzack

#9 I Got A Bonus Roll

Image credits: PM-ME-YOUR-TECH-TIPS

However, believing that bad luck keeps following us around is also problematic and limiting. “On the other side, if we believe we always have bad luck, we can miss all the great things that are happening, worry about the future, and miss opportunities to grow and develop. We will also likely be cynical and negative about ourselves and feel hopeless because luck isn’t on our side.” What we need to do is embrace a balanced, growth mindset.

“Embracing a growth mindset around luck is great because we start to look at optimism as a skill we can build, we find a balance between when to take risks and when to be more conservative, and we get the benefits of learning from the past, being realistic about the future and taking ownership of the present.”

#10 This Kinder Egg Has Two Layers

Image credits: luxurypking

#11 Was Portioning Out Some Sour Patches When The Ultimate Sour Patch Boss Fell Out

Image credits: camo6

#12 Grapes My Dad Grows That Look Like Plums

Image credits: azapater

Lee revealed that food and our moods are far more closely linked than many of us realize. “Almost 90% of our serotonin, the feel-good hormone, is produced in our gut, and our gut feeling isn’t just a saying; it has a whole nervous system down there! A healthy diet gives us the energy and cognitive clarity to go out there and do our best, free from blood sugar spikes, bloating and the lethargy that comes from eating poorly. We also find it easier to move and sleep, which both have a significant impact on how we are feeling. Our food is fuel, and our brains use more of that energy than any other part of our body, so what we eat impacts how we feeling on a variety of levels,” he explained to Bored Panda.

#13 I Cracked An Egg Today And There Were Three Yolks Inside

Image credits: rebusaurus

#14 Got The Rare Dark Chocolate With Granola Bar Flavor

Image credits: FromTheNetherlents

#15 Full Meal Kiwi

Image credits: somewhatbold

The psychologist put it bluntly that we generally should avoid it. However, not all junk food is created equally. Some products are far worse than others. “I wouldn’t permit a safe level of junk food, but what I would say is that having it occasionally is not a bad thing. While I don’t think seeing it as a treat is positive, as using junk food in a rewarding way can be dangerous, finding a junk food type that we enjoy but don’t feel awful after eating is a good way to approach it,” psychologist Lee said. “With myself and my clients, I suggest that using an 80/20 healthy/favorites rule works really well as a balanced diet, and that finding the healthy food that energizes you can be an enjoyable game to undertake!”

#16 My Wife Hit The Animal Cracker Jackpot

Image credits: dullawolf

#17 My Ice Cream Was Completely Overfilled

Image credits: JazzHandsFan

#18 This Mushroom I Found 5 Years Ago

Image credits: BlekIgel

Meanwhile, my talented colleague Liucija previously spoke with the CEO and founder of Ugly Produce is Beautiful, Sarah Philips. They talked about the ugly produce movement and how it helps minimize food waste.

“Every year, some 2.9 trillion pounds of food never gets consumed and it’s enough to feed nearly 800 million people worldwide,” Sarah told Bored Panda.

#19 This Pizza With Way More Toppings Than Shown On The Box

Image credits: darkpollopesca

#20 This Baby Tangerine Was Hiding In A Bigger Tangerine

Image credits: joshsamfrank

#21 Found A Giant Blueberry In My Parfait

Image credits: xMaimeeOx

Sarah from the Ugly Produce is Beautiful project suggested that we ask our local grocers to “bring in uglier produce to sell at a discount and support local farmers.” She noted that farmers don’t waste food and use as much of it as they possibly can.

“Farmers by nature aren’t wasters and they feed ugly produce to livestock, cook with it, and give it away, or sell it at farmers’ markets.”

#22 A Twin Banana

Image credits: woodslice

#23 Found This Bunch Of Bananas In My Box Of Runts

Image credits: AmyKeepsBees

#24 My Corn Sprouted A Baby Corn Inside The Husk

Image credits: josephrehall

Luck is a very peculiar thing. Some folks seem to have it all, finding (literal or metaphorical) four-leaf clovers around every corner. Meanwhile, others seem to be bad luck ‘magnets.’ The odds of getting struck by lightning each year are roughly 1 in 1,222,000. However, these odds rise to 1 in 15,300 if you take into account the possibility of being struck over your entire life. 

#25 Jackpot

Image credits: BootyFista

#26 I Just Found A Super Long Mini Marshmallow

Image credits: Michellehas2ls

#27 Weirdest Blackberry I’ve Ever Seen. Crested Black Satin Thornless Blackberry

Image credits: hammythesnail

Plane crashes are, of course, horrific accidents. However, someone who has a fear of flying might feel just a tad easier knowing that your odds of dying in such a crash are only 1 in 11 million. That’s roughly the chance of dying in a tornado, the odds of which stand at roughly 1 in 13 million. (Though the odds of the latter happening increase if you take risks near tornadoes, live close to the paths tornadoes tend to take, or if you live in a mobile home.)

#28 Behold, The King Of Cereal Flakes

Image credits: CrappyWaffleGun

#29 I Found The Legendary Garlic Bulb

Image credits: Creivoose

#30 Giant Puffball Mushroom My Sister Found In The Woods

Image credits: kfranky

Meanwhile, the odds of winning a (regular, non-food) lottery depend on which one you’re playing. For instance, winning a prize, any prize in the Powerball are 1 in 24.9. However, if you’re aiming specifically for the jackpot, the odds then become 1 in 292.2 million. These odds become even slimmer, 1 in 302.6 million, if your goal is to win the Mega Millions jackpot.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the chances of you finding a four-leaf clover are actually pretty good: 1 in 10k. Pity they’re not an extra ice-cream cone, right? Though we’d probably suggest going for a healthier option!

#31 I Found A Whole Oreo On The Surface Of My Ice Cream

Image credits: jmathews777

#32 A Big Cheese Stick

Image credits: BoredPersononReddit

#33 Garlic-Ception

Image credits: Affectionate_Leek871

#34 A Whole Potato In Curly Fry Form

Image credits: AshGettum

#35 The Flesh To Rind Ratio Of This Watermelon

Image credits: Akerail

#36 I Got 14 In My Box Of A Dozen Doughnuts

Image credits: megalodonkatsu

#37 This Is The Smallest Pit I’ve Ever Seen In An Avocado

Image credits: Zaemz

#38 This Comically Huge Strawberry That I Purchased From The Grocery Store Today

Image credits: MarcDeMaco420

#39 This Massive Fry

Image credits: ttaM9395

#40 We Ordered A Pound Of Carrots. We Got A Pound Of Carrot

Image credits: circusboy

#41 Got This Abnormally Thick Dorito In An Otherwise Normal Packet

Image credits: weallalright

#42 I Found An Orange Without Pith In The Middle

Image credits: Astrochamp1

#43 I’ve Grown Onions, 600 Grams Each

Image credits: apolinarnia

#44 This Obnoxiously Large Watermelon From My Grandpa’s Garden

Image credits: A7xWicked

#45 My Fiancé Found A Massive Ball Of Doritos Seasoning In Her Chip Bag. Chip For Reference

Image credits: nollsgame80

#46 I Hit The Jackpot Of Pringle Flavoring. The Whole Can Is Like This

Image credits: The_OG_Catloaf

#47 My Giant Mini Penne

Image credits: NattyK

#48 This Papaya That Ended Up Having One Seed Inside

Image credits: Jacket_89

#49 Got An Extra Wiener In My Package

Image credits: lesszachmoore

#50 Breakfast Jackpot

Image credits: Countess_of_Penrose