January 31 - Wrap up, preparation and expectations

Well, I'm finally at the end of the first month of 2013. I've had ups and downs but I'd call this month a success. In 2012, I was eating out an exorbitant amount. I've now realized how much money I save by bring my food to work, how much better I feel mentally and physically when I take a little extra time to prepare my  breakfasts, lunches and dinners in advance. And as of last night, I finally have a cleared off dining room table where my family can enjoy dinner together every night (and where my daughter feels like a big girl because she is no longer in a high chair -- she actually requested to sit in her booster seat at the table this morning for breakfast)! Accomplishment!

Yes, I ate out a bit in January. But I ate out substantially less than I did before. And I know that I can keep up this level, or better, of not eating out now. And I'm going to have to because the whole food thing is about to get real...

February's goal is go vegan (not a lot of eating out for vegans). Unlike January's goal, I don't plan on keeping this one up forever, though I may change my mind about that.

I've been vegetarian for 20 years now, and I've always said, "Oh, I could never go vegan. I love cheese too much." And I do love cheese, and milk chocolate. And I will miss both of them. A lot. But I've also been really tired lately (as the mom of a toddler, I expect to be tired, but I've been extra tired, fall asleep standing up tired) and not feeling great, in a very general sort of way. I'm wondering if going vegan will help. I've also been wanting to lose weight. I plan on weighing myself tomorrow morning and then again on March 1, just to see if there's a difference, with no expectation or "trying" to lose weight. Who knows, I may decide this is the life for me. Permanently. We'll give it a college try and see.

In preparation, I asked some Facebook friends if they had recipe recommendations, and I got a few. Yesterday, I made my regular muffins with "flax eggs" (1tbsp of ground flax & 3 tbsp of water, mixed and sit for 10 minutes) instead of eggs. And they turned out good. The batter was very thick so I added some applesauce (next time I'll use all applesauce instead of oil -- I didn't know it was a substitute). They needed to cook a little longer and they fell a little a few minutes out of the oven, but they taste just the same. I also made plans to go for a drink with a friend and learned that some beer and wine are made with something called isinglass -- part of the fish used in refining or filtering (for more info check out Barnivore; it has a complete list of okay for you beers). Sigh. More hidden gems are sure to come.
 
I'm going to try to eat more grains, beans and legumes this month and I'll post some of the more successful and tasty recipes here. I think the preparation I learned in January's not eating out challenge will help me in February. Let's dive in and find out.

January 28 - Monday morning blues

Failing everywhere! End of the week lunch fail. Weekend fail. Monday morning breakfast fail. I must get back on track. I'm feeling really crappy about all the eating out I've been doing and my wallet likes it even less. I bought breakfast this morning after I arrived at work, but I have my lunch and my lunch plans also include the purchase of diet coke to keep under my desk. I'll have to make an effort to make some muffins tonight to have for breakfast this week -- however, I'll have to eat them all by Friday (and the yogurt I have at home too), because starting on Friday I'll be vegan for the month. Being vegan for a month should make it significantly harder to eat out. Not a lot you can get.

January 23

Brought breakfast and lunch AND snacks from home. Hooray. I did spend a few dollars getting a frappuccino at Starbucks though -- I am EXCEPTIONALLY tired today and a bit headachy, and the Grande Java Chip Frappuccino normally cures all that ails me, but not today. Still tired and now I'm out $7 and countless calories.*

*I just checked the Starbucks website - it's 450 calories (with the whip cream, and what's the point otherwise, frankly). Another good reason to not be eating out! 

January 22 - Argh

Crapped out today. Total rush to leave the house on time, and I did so without breakfast or lunch. So, yes, I will be buying things today. Actually, I saw my husband as I was heading back to work with my banana, banana bread and diet coke and got the head shake from him. HE remembered to bring lunch. Damn it! And to top it off, despite all the rushing, I was still 10 minutes late for work. Argh.

Another Goal Pinpointed?

I've been pondering what to do for my goals in other months. I'm set up for February with going vegan for the month (I may have to have some sort of cheese fest at the end of January). And in November I may try to participate in National Novel Writing Month. But that leaves nine goals left.

I've been thinking about relearning/improving my French language skills (for my dream of one day living in Paris - sigh), but I've done nothing about it. However, Groupon has online French lessons as their deal of the day right now. I haven't signed up but I am very seriously considering it. The online aspect is great, as someone who is scared of interacting with other humans. But it is more than a month-long pursuit, obviously, and with another online class starting in February and another potentially starting right after that, I'm a bit concerned about the amount of time I'll be able to dedicate to this goal. But it's a good deal (and I've got Christmas money from my folks to spend) and it's hard to go wrong with learning a language as a goal. I'll keep you posted.

Getting organized is another goal that I think would be great for me, but that's sort of vague, so I think I'll need to think about that one a bit more.

January 21 - Sick time inside

Another fever, another ear infection, another weekend spent indoors. And, yes, take out was involved. Argh. But I have to say, there was significantly less take out then there would have been in December. On Friday, my daughter had a fever and another ear infection, so I had to take the day off work to look after her, get her to the doctor and get her more antibiotics. But no take out that day, though I was super close to just heading to a drive through on the way home from the pharmacy after the morning I'd had, especially when I realized it was 1pm and I hadn't eaten anything yet. But I persevered.

Saturday, not so much. Lunch hit and I realized we had nothing in the fridge. I decided I'd go grocery shopping after my daughter's afternoon nap, but there wasn't much we could do in the meantime. So, with Friday's drive through pull still on my mind, my husband was promptly sent for burgers for the lot of us. But, true to my word, groceries were purchased later that afternoon, and no more take out was had. AND I even spend the time inside, with my newly bought groceries, making cookies, muffins and hummus for the week. Super mom!

So, back to work on Monday and I have muffins and yogurt  and lunch with me (no eating out for breakfast or lunch), though I did forget the hummus and carrots at home. Oh well, I'll be more ready tomorrow.

January 17 - Damn it!

I had to come into work an hour early today (I was actually here only a half an hour early because I kinda suck at that). And because of the rush to get myself and my daughter out the door earlier without waking up any earlier, I didn't make my breakfast or my lunch. Nothing. So, I spend about $16 on breakfast and lunch today, combined. And I realized something pretty basic; not only is it better financially to bring my meals from home and not eat out (and exponentially healthier), but the food I make at home, even the simplest of items, tastes better than the crap I'm paying $10 for. That probably shouldn't be a really big revelation, but it kinda is. I think I needed to go a while without eating out to realize that it just doesn't taste good when I do. Not to mention how my stomach often feels after. On an enjoyment/cost/health ratio sorta calculation (I'm not a math person), it doesn't make sense to not make my breakfasts and lunches everyday. Now I just need to remember that. For lunch today, I had noodles, tofu and veggies -- probably pretty healthy by food court fare standards. But it just tasted like chemicals and fake food. It was smothered in icky sauce and poorly cooked. I need to have the time to make my lunch every night or morning, but the extra 15 minutes or less is very much worth it on so many levels.

January 16 - Off and on the wagon

Here's an update on my ups and downs over the last few days...

January 10 - Dinner out at Swiss Chalet
January 11 - No eating out! Hooray!
January 12 - Went away for the night (for the first time without my daughter). Therefore: coffee and snacks on the road, and dinner out (but it was our anniversary, so I sort of knew this was going to happen.
January 13 - Stayed at a bed and breakfast, so we didn't have to buy breakfast, but coffee and snacks on the road. Managed to buy groceries for the week, but didn't manage to make muffins (and I'm still suffering for it).
January 14 - Back to work, and bought diet coke, banana bread and banana. Brought lunch.
January 15 - Still didn't make muffins! Bought diet coke, banana bread and banana. Brought lunch. Bought carrots, pita and hummus to keep at work.
January 16 - Still no muffins! Bought danish and pop. Brought sandwich. Will have carrots, pita and hummus but not entirely sure it will satisfy me. And I know that I'm not making muffins tonight. Too freakin' tired. I can barely keep my eyes open.

A note on snacks

Snacks. Snacks are my downfall. I eat crap as snacks. I cannot get past 3pm without a snack and make it to dinner without killing someone. But I'm crap at bring snacks from home, buying them at the grocery store, making them in advance, etc. Today, I had some veggies and dip (crudite, homeslice) after lunch. It filled me up for a few minutes not at all. What do other people do at 3pm? What would a hobbit call this meal? Is everyone else running to the corner store or the coffee shop in the mid-afternoon or is it just me? I need help in this department. It will be my eating out downfall. I know the chocolate multipack doesn't work (and from a health standpoint, is probably a good things). But what will? I really do need help with ideas here.

January 10 - Update on last few days

Okay, confession time. I fell off the cliff on Tuesday, January 8. I am owning up to it. I couldn't face eating stew for a second day, so I bought my lunch. In my defence, I used a coupon and my lunch cost me a grand total of $4.19. Then in an amazingly smart move moments later, I decide to buy a multipack of chocolate bars (4 in a pack). The idea was that I would have one a day and that it would last me the week, and it would cheaper than running to the corner store everyday.

Side note: A few years ago, my friend Deirdre bought me a fair amount of really good chocolate. Emergency chocolate, she called it. The idea behind this chocolate was that I would eat a little bit when I really need it. I ate it all in one sitting that same day. Every day, every time of day, is a chocolate emergency. The emergency is whether I give into the emergency. If I have chocolate, there is no question. I will eat it until I am sick. Much like a dog would.

So, you can see where this "buy a multipack of chocolate bars" idea went. Right in my f*cking mouth. I ate three chocolate bars that afternoon and felt very sick. Obviously. But frankly, the only reason I didn't eat the fourth bar, was because I knew I would be disgusted with myself. Also, I was happy my podmate was not at work that day as we share a waste basket. I might have stopped myself after two bars if he had been working.

However, my challenge for the month isn't to go without chocolate, it's to go without eating out. I failed, but I'm back on the horse. I worked from home yesterday, so there was no temptation to eat out, and I finally bought groceries yesterday, which is key to keep this challenge going.

Today, I brought my lunch, I ate it (and ate the last chocolate bar of the multipack). And I have food for tomorrow to eat too. I'm back on track. Just in time for my wedding anniversary. I can't imagine we will not be eating out. It's a special occasion. Get off my back.

January 7

First weekend of the resolution has gone off without a hitch; a hitch in the resolution department at least. My daughter has an ear infection so this weekend, with the exception of a trip to the doctor on Saturday, I spent the majority of the weekend at home with little temptation. However, because of that no grocery shopping happened, so we are starting to run low on a lot of things. I brought my breakfast and lunch today, but it's 11:24am and I'm starving, ready for lunch now, and honestly not really looking forward to eating the stew that I brought, even though I know it's tasty and good for me and my wallet. I may spend my lunchtime buying a few groceries -- but frankly it's hard enough to get home when I have to carry my purse, my daughter's bag and my daughter by myself (both of us in full winter gear, and her in boots that seem to fall off [or get kicked off] at the worst possible moments) without adding groceries to the mix.

Fingers crossed, were only at Day 7 and this might be the hardest day so far.

January 4

Okay, back at work today, and so far, so good. I brought my breakfast, lunch and snacks. My Diet Coke is here. However, I have to get through the lunch hour and it's a bit cold to walk outside and I forgot to bring my book with me, so I have nothing to read or do for an hour. I will probably wander around the PATH for a while, but that's when I often spend money for no reason. Damn, I wish I had a book. Something to remember for next week.

January 3

Didn't leave the house all day. Easy peasy. However, I can't live like a shut-in everyday, and if I did, ordering in would become pretty easy.

January 2 - Let's try this again!

Okay, so if first you don't succeed, so on. My January goal is to not eat out. And I have a very broad definition of eating out for the purposes of this goal (mainly to break a bad and ingrained habit and save much needed money to boot). So, eating out includes trips to the coffee shop in the morning for a drink and breakfast, going to the corner store for a diet coke, chocolate, chips, etc., and the usual ordering in or going out for lunch or dinner (i.e., food needs to be bought at a grocery store). I work downtown and buy my breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks everyday. I figure I spend close to $20 a day on this. If my husband does this too, we're probably saving about $30 a day, five days a week. [Whip out the calculator on the computer...] At $30 a day, weekdays only, we'll save $660 in January on lunches, breakfasts and snacks alone. I would estimate that with dinners at home, we'll save close to $900. Holy Shit! In a single month! (Though, of course, our grocery bill will be higher each week, but not by that amount.) Okay, January, you're on. I brought muffins I made yesterday and yogurt for breakfast, I brought my lunch, I brought my diet coke. Let's do this thing.

January 1, 2013

FAIL.