Breakfast: two slices gluten-free toast w/PB and jelly, two cups of coffee
Lunch: two slices of havarti cheese, roasted turkey, two pickles, and a bowl of canteloupe
Dinner: steak salad from Chipotle (lettuce, rice, black beans, steak, pico de gallo, corn), tortilla chips and guacamole
Snack: gummi bears
Workout: none
Two notes:
1. I try not to drink my calories, with the exception of wine. I drink my coffee black (I actually prefer it this way) and don't sweeten my tea (hot or iced), so when I note what I drank during the day, I don't factor in calories (except wine) because black coffee and tea have very small amounts.
2. While I am lactose intolerant, lately I have been experimenting with hard cheese (in small amounts) and have been okay. It's not something that I consume on a regular basis, but today I wasn't very hungry around lunch time and was just craving some cold cuts.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
what I ate Wednesday #1
I don't want to post what I eat everyday because that would not only be boring but laborious, but I do find it helpful when other bloggers post a random sampling of their diet to get a general idea of what they eat.
Here is my commitment to post what I eat every Wednesday, for better or for worse.
Yesterday, my friends, was unfortunately for worse.
Here's what I ate:
Breakfast: two chocolate chip cookies (home-baked GF), oatmeal, coffee
Lunch: Fruit smoothie (goat milk yogurt, OJ, strawberries, peaches, pineapple, flax seeds), hummus and GF crackers
Dinner: Handful of chips & salsa, three carne asada soft tacos (one tortilla each) w/ pico de gallo, side of rice and refried beans, mojito
Snack: GF beer and handful of tortilla chips w/spinach artichoke dip
Workout: 45 minute hike
So I know you're thinking "You're eating like this and expecting to lose more weight?!?" On a normal day, I'm not. This is why I think a set day a week is good to show what I eat because I absolutely do not believe in depriving myself and for the most part, I do eat pretty healthfully. The cookies in the morning were impulsive because I had just baked them the night before and they were sitting next to the coffee maker. I promptly bagged them up and put them in the pantry to get them out of my sight, and I haven't had any since.
Looking back at this list of food, I realize it's actually not all that bad, but something went terribly, terribly wrong leading me to wake up with horrible stomach pain and the oh-so-familiar feeling of needing to throw up. Right after I did I felt much better, but my stomach has still been really off all day.
I've been racking my brain to figure out where I went wrong, because six months ago I was throwing up from a combination of GERD and an unrealized gluten allergy on a weekly basis and it was HORRIBLE. I literally had to leave class while teaching a couple of times to throw up in the bathroom, and since I have stopped eating gluten I haven't thrown up once.
Flashback to last night, and I know I didn't eat gluten, but I did eat late at night because we grabbed some drinks with friends and I needed to eat a bit in order to be able to drive later.
This is all I can think of and it's frustrating because my body is just so damn sensitive. Just when I think I'm doing right by my stomach, something like this happens and I'm back to feeling like I'm screwed no matter what I eat.
All I have had today is oatmeal, hot green tea, a few GF crackers, and corn pasta w/ daiya (dairy and soy free) cheese because I don't think I can stomach anything else. Hopefully I'm back to normal tomorrow, and we'll see what I end up eating next Wednesday.
Here is my commitment to post what I eat every Wednesday, for better or for worse.
Yesterday, my friends, was unfortunately for worse.
Here's what I ate:
Breakfast: two chocolate chip cookies (home-baked GF), oatmeal, coffee
Lunch: Fruit smoothie (goat milk yogurt, OJ, strawberries, peaches, pineapple, flax seeds), hummus and GF crackers
Dinner: Handful of chips & salsa, three carne asada soft tacos (one tortilla each) w/ pico de gallo, side of rice and refried beans, mojito
Snack: GF beer and handful of tortilla chips w/spinach artichoke dip
Workout: 45 minute hike
So I know you're thinking "You're eating like this and expecting to lose more weight?!?" On a normal day, I'm not. This is why I think a set day a week is good to show what I eat because I absolutely do not believe in depriving myself and for the most part, I do eat pretty healthfully. The cookies in the morning were impulsive because I had just baked them the night before and they were sitting next to the coffee maker. I promptly bagged them up and put them in the pantry to get them out of my sight, and I haven't had any since.
Looking back at this list of food, I realize it's actually not all that bad, but something went terribly, terribly wrong leading me to wake up with horrible stomach pain and the oh-so-familiar feeling of needing to throw up. Right after I did I felt much better, but my stomach has still been really off all day.
I've been racking my brain to figure out where I went wrong, because six months ago I was throwing up from a combination of GERD and an unrealized gluten allergy on a weekly basis and it was HORRIBLE. I literally had to leave class while teaching a couple of times to throw up in the bathroom, and since I have stopped eating gluten I haven't thrown up once.
Flashback to last night, and I know I didn't eat gluten, but I did eat late at night because we grabbed some drinks with friends and I needed to eat a bit in order to be able to drive later.
This is all I can think of and it's frustrating because my body is just so damn sensitive. Just when I think I'm doing right by my stomach, something like this happens and I'm back to feeling like I'm screwed no matter what I eat.
All I have had today is oatmeal, hot green tea, a few GF crackers, and corn pasta w/ daiya (dairy and soy free) cheese because I don't think I can stomach anything else. Hopefully I'm back to normal tomorrow, and we'll see what I end up eating next Wednesday.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
i'm back and for good
Let's cut to the chase: I haven't been blogging because I convinced myself that it was yet another pointless project that no one wants to read and I was doing fine (health-wise) without it.
Yes, I have been doing okay health-wise, and am officially ten pounds lighter than when I first started this journey in the spring, but this isn't a pointless project.
Case in point: I had been contemplating baking cookies tonight when I started reading some of my favorite fitness blogs. After ten minutes of looking at some before and after pictures, I made the firm decision to not bake cookies because I would have ended up eating most of them anyway, let's be honest. I have lost ten pounds and am feeling better than I have in a couple of years, so why would I need to eat an entire batch of (gluten-free of course) cookies?!
The point is, I am doing okay health-wise, but I still can be doing better. Reading fitness blogs motivates me, as does tracking my own obstacles/progress/journey. It shouldn't matter if people read this or judge me because this is about doing all that I can in order to be my healthiest self.
Where I am currently:
I'm ten pounds lighter than at my heaviest, but I feel like I've lost almost double that. There are two reasons for this:
1. Eating gluten made me constantly bloated and feeling heavy.
2. I have been working out more and have gained some muscle back. There is nothing that makes me feel fitter than seeing muscles, even if there is still some fat around them :)
Because I'm on summer break, I haven't had a consistent schedule. This has been both good and bad. Good because I am eating less in each sitting since I don't have to rush my meals (mainly lunch). Bad because I haven't been forced to plan meals in advance and I tend to gravitate toward snacking (or baking cookies, like mentioned above) when I'm bored.
Eating gluten-free is second nature to me now. I have found some amazing GF substitutes which I will share later. Even when I crave a regular pizza, or fresh baked bread (my cryptonite) my brain immediately goes to the pain that I would feel if I indulged in that craving, and then the craving goes away.
I am struggling with eating later than I should, mostly because I do have more free time and my brain has somehow equated free time with eating. Tonight I bypassed baking cookies and instead had some pineapple and a glass of wine (hey, it's fruit). Ideally I will only have fruit (or wine--again FRUIT) after 8 pm, mostly because eating late isn't good for my GERD.
So that's my story, real or imagined readers, and I WILL be updating regularly, if only to keep myself on track.
Yes, I have been doing okay health-wise, and am officially ten pounds lighter than when I first started this journey in the spring, but this isn't a pointless project.
Case in point: I had been contemplating baking cookies tonight when I started reading some of my favorite fitness blogs. After ten minutes of looking at some before and after pictures, I made the firm decision to not bake cookies because I would have ended up eating most of them anyway, let's be honest. I have lost ten pounds and am feeling better than I have in a couple of years, so why would I need to eat an entire batch of (gluten-free of course) cookies?!
The point is, I am doing okay health-wise, but I still can be doing better. Reading fitness blogs motivates me, as does tracking my own obstacles/progress/journey. It shouldn't matter if people read this or judge me because this is about doing all that I can in order to be my healthiest self.
Where I am currently:
I'm ten pounds lighter than at my heaviest, but I feel like I've lost almost double that. There are two reasons for this:
1. Eating gluten made me constantly bloated and feeling heavy.
2. I have been working out more and have gained some muscle back. There is nothing that makes me feel fitter than seeing muscles, even if there is still some fat around them :)
Because I'm on summer break, I haven't had a consistent schedule. This has been both good and bad. Good because I am eating less in each sitting since I don't have to rush my meals (mainly lunch). Bad because I haven't been forced to plan meals in advance and I tend to gravitate toward snacking (or baking cookies, like mentioned above) when I'm bored.
Eating gluten-free is second nature to me now. I have found some amazing GF substitutes which I will share later. Even when I crave a regular pizza, or fresh baked bread (my cryptonite) my brain immediately goes to the pain that I would feel if I indulged in that craving, and then the craving goes away.
I am struggling with eating later than I should, mostly because I do have more free time and my brain has somehow equated free time with eating. Tonight I bypassed baking cookies and instead had some pineapple and a glass of wine (hey, it's fruit). Ideally I will only have fruit (or wine--again FRUIT) after 8 pm, mostly because eating late isn't good for my GERD.
So that's my story, real or imagined readers, and I WILL be updating regularly, if only to keep myself on track.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
back from the dead
I can't believe it's been over a month since I last wrote. Yes, I've been a little lazy, but my lack of writing is due to moving at the end of April. Ready for a fun fact? I have lived in TEN different houses in SIX years. And that's not counting leaving the state twice for a few months at a time.
By now you'd think I have few possessions in order to expedite all of my moves. Wrong. I have a lot. of. stuff. (Mostly in the form of books and abandoned craft projects). This time I moved 25 minutes away, so the moving process took even longer.
Anyway, my entire schedule has been thrown off. I have to wake up earlier in order to leave earlier so that I can avoid rush-hour traffic. I also have to leave work earlier than I used to (to avoid traffic) which has lead to me having more work to do at home. Just before moving I had established a good routine of finishing all of my work at work, then coming home and just being able to relax.
Over the last few months, I have really learned the importance of meal planning at the beginning of the week. Sadly my move has thrown this off as well. The first week after moving, we ate out almost every night because we were still un-packing. Then suddenly we found ourselves broke from having to buy a bunch of stuff for the house. We've been trying to spend as little as possible, so we have been mostly snacking around dinner time.
The only exception to this is my new favorite food: rice pasta. I LOVE pasta, so when I realized that I can't eat gluten I mourned the loss of a favorite food. I had heard of gluten-free alternatives, but figured they weren't good for some reasons. Luckily, I tried rice pasta and I honestly can't taste a difference.
Eating gluten-free has been very challenging because it's incredibly hard to eat out. It's hard to even find a snack when I'm out around because quickly made foods tend to have gluten (or dairy, which I also can't eat). This had led me to eating less than I should on some days, which inevitably leads to over-eating later.
The other challenge is making cooking interesting because I am quite limited in what I can cook. Not only can I not eat gluten, I also can't eat dairy (goat milk is okay though) or soy. I also don't know how to cook meat or fish with the exception of meatballs (I clearly love my pasta). Basically, I'm limited to fruits and vegetables. I love them, but it gets old eating salads and fruit.
One recipe that I have been making on an almost-weekly basis is the quinoa burger. I make a bunch at once and eat the rest for leftovers during the week. I like them plain, or with some avocado or Greek yogurt on top. Sadly, I can't eat Greek yogurt even with after taking a Lactaid pill, so I have been dipping the patties in...ranch dressing. Not very healthy, I know, but a girl's gotta have some food vices since most of mine have been robbed from me.
My health focus right now is exercise. I have been exercising more lately, because I have a weekly softball and I now have a dog that I like to walk, but it's not enough. Last week I actually stepped foot in my gym for the first time in months, and it felt so good that I found myself wondering why I haven't been going in the first place. Then I get home from work and feel so exhausted that I remember why getting myself to go to the gym is a challenge.
What is going to help this is that school ends in two weeks. I thought having the same schedule everyday would help me get in an exercise pattern, but I underestimated how tired my job would make me. Now I'm excited to have some time off to get back into the habit so that when school starts again working out will be second nature again.
By now you'd think I have few possessions in order to expedite all of my moves. Wrong. I have a lot. of. stuff. (Mostly in the form of books and abandoned craft projects). This time I moved 25 minutes away, so the moving process took even longer.
Anyway, my entire schedule has been thrown off. I have to wake up earlier in order to leave earlier so that I can avoid rush-hour traffic. I also have to leave work earlier than I used to (to avoid traffic) which has lead to me having more work to do at home. Just before moving I had established a good routine of finishing all of my work at work, then coming home and just being able to relax.
Over the last few months, I have really learned the importance of meal planning at the beginning of the week. Sadly my move has thrown this off as well. The first week after moving, we ate out almost every night because we were still un-packing. Then suddenly we found ourselves broke from having to buy a bunch of stuff for the house. We've been trying to spend as little as possible, so we have been mostly snacking around dinner time.
The only exception to this is my new favorite food: rice pasta. I LOVE pasta, so when I realized that I can't eat gluten I mourned the loss of a favorite food. I had heard of gluten-free alternatives, but figured they weren't good for some reasons. Luckily, I tried rice pasta and I honestly can't taste a difference.
Eating gluten-free has been very challenging because it's incredibly hard to eat out. It's hard to even find a snack when I'm out around because quickly made foods tend to have gluten (or dairy, which I also can't eat). This had led me to eating less than I should on some days, which inevitably leads to over-eating later.
The other challenge is making cooking interesting because I am quite limited in what I can cook. Not only can I not eat gluten, I also can't eat dairy (goat milk is okay though) or soy. I also don't know how to cook meat or fish with the exception of meatballs (I clearly love my pasta). Basically, I'm limited to fruits and vegetables. I love them, but it gets old eating salads and fruit.
One recipe that I have been making on an almost-weekly basis is the quinoa burger. I make a bunch at once and eat the rest for leftovers during the week. I like them plain, or with some avocado or Greek yogurt on top. Sadly, I can't eat Greek yogurt even with after taking a Lactaid pill, so I have been dipping the patties in...ranch dressing. Not very healthy, I know, but a girl's gotta have some food vices since most of mine have been robbed from me.
My health focus right now is exercise. I have been exercising more lately, because I have a weekly softball and I now have a dog that I like to walk, but it's not enough. Last week I actually stepped foot in my gym for the first time in months, and it felt so good that I found myself wondering why I haven't been going in the first place. Then I get home from work and feel so exhausted that I remember why getting myself to go to the gym is a challenge.
What is going to help this is that school ends in two weeks. I thought having the same schedule everyday would help me get in an exercise pattern, but I underestimated how tired my job would make me. Now I'm excited to have some time off to get back into the habit so that when school starts again working out will be second nature again.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
blessing in disguise
Ugh, I am so far behind in blogging! Not because I don't want to, but because I don't have a consistent internet connection in my apartment (because I "borrow" it from an unknowing neighbor...) and I can't access blogs at work.
First things first: I have lost a few pounds and I feel pretty good!
After two weeks ago when I ate like crap and felt close to throwing in the towel, I got back to planning, planning, planning. I spent that next Sunday grocery shopping my butt off, and planned a ton of healthy meals for the entire week. It's incredible how important this step is in developing a healthier lifestyle.
Through this meal planning, I have remembered how much I love salads. I have always been a big fan of salads, but I have had a mental block in making them because I "think" they take too much prep. WRONG. I made two salads for lunch this week and it took me less than five minutes. All that was in them were lettuce, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, avocado, and turkey. My dressing was a homemade vinaigrette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon peel.
Salads bring me to my next topic: Gluten. Because I was tested for celiac disease a few years ago (which was negative), I never thought to further explore how I react to gluten. Turns out, I'm slightly/moderately gluten intolerant (for those of you keeping count, that now makes me gluten, soy, and dairy intolerant).
Before I cut out gluten, I thought it was normal for my stomach to stick out after eating. Not stick out from being full or fat, but my stomach has always protruded out a bit after eating. Now I realize that's called being bloated, and gluten makes me quite bloated. Since eliminating it from my diet, my stomach is much flatter after meals and I just feel all around lighter. It's hard to explain, but it feels like I've lost at least ten pounds just from not being bloated all day.
Now I haven't eliminated gluten from my diet 100%. I don't think that's realistic for me. However, I have eliminated about 90% of it from my diet, which I think it a good percentage for me. In the past month, I have had one piece of bread, whereas I usually ate bread on a daily basis. Instead of eating sandwiches for lunch, I have leftovers from dinner, or a salad.
The best swap I have made has to be at Subway. Subway is literally the only somewhat healthy place to eat within an eight mile radius of my work. On days that I don't bring a lunch, I usually go there. I have started ordering turkey salads instead, and because you can add as many veggies as you'd like, they fill me up as much as one of the sandwiches normally would.
I have realized that I'm thankful for all of the stomach pain I was in a couple of months ago because that was my big wake-up call to get my diet on track. It has led me to being so much more conscious of what I put in my body. Yes, it's a pain in the ass to be gluten/dairy/soy intolerant, but at least I have figured this out.
Morale of the story: never underestimate the blessings that may come from bad situations!
First things first: I have lost a few pounds and I feel pretty good!
After two weeks ago when I ate like crap and felt close to throwing in the towel, I got back to planning, planning, planning. I spent that next Sunday grocery shopping my butt off, and planned a ton of healthy meals for the entire week. It's incredible how important this step is in developing a healthier lifestyle.
Through this meal planning, I have remembered how much I love salads. I have always been a big fan of salads, but I have had a mental block in making them because I "think" they take too much prep. WRONG. I made two salads for lunch this week and it took me less than five minutes. All that was in them were lettuce, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, avocado, and turkey. My dressing was a homemade vinaigrette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon peel.
Salads bring me to my next topic: Gluten. Because I was tested for celiac disease a few years ago (which was negative), I never thought to further explore how I react to gluten. Turns out, I'm slightly/moderately gluten intolerant (for those of you keeping count, that now makes me gluten, soy, and dairy intolerant).
Before I cut out gluten, I thought it was normal for my stomach to stick out after eating. Not stick out from being full or fat, but my stomach has always protruded out a bit after eating. Now I realize that's called being bloated, and gluten makes me quite bloated. Since eliminating it from my diet, my stomach is much flatter after meals and I just feel all around lighter. It's hard to explain, but it feels like I've lost at least ten pounds just from not being bloated all day.
Now I haven't eliminated gluten from my diet 100%. I don't think that's realistic for me. However, I have eliminated about 90% of it from my diet, which I think it a good percentage for me. In the past month, I have had one piece of bread, whereas I usually ate bread on a daily basis. Instead of eating sandwiches for lunch, I have leftovers from dinner, or a salad.
The best swap I have made has to be at Subway. Subway is literally the only somewhat healthy place to eat within an eight mile radius of my work. On days that I don't bring a lunch, I usually go there. I have started ordering turkey salads instead, and because you can add as many veggies as you'd like, they fill me up as much as one of the sandwiches normally would.
I have realized that I'm thankful for all of the stomach pain I was in a couple of months ago because that was my big wake-up call to get my diet on track. It has led me to being so much more conscious of what I put in my body. Yes, it's a pain in the ass to be gluten/dairy/soy intolerant, but at least I have figured this out.
Morale of the story: never underestimate the blessings that may come from bad situations!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
practicing
It has been awhile since I last wrote, and not surprisingly, I haven't been eating as well as I was. One of the biggest reasons I started this blog was to have something to keep me accountable for my change in diet, as well as to get inspiration and support from others. Not surprisingly, I also haven't been reading my favorite inspirational blogs on a daily basis. These really help me stay in check.
Why the change? Complacency, I guess. I felt really good last week. I felt lighter and healthier. But I was also on spring break so I was able to take the time to prepare healthy meals and snacks. Now that I'm back at work, it's a little harder stay focused. I have been giving in to cravings. More specifically, I have been giving in to sugar. Fucking sugar. Excuse my language, but I fucking hate that shit. There are NO benefits whatsoever to eating it. It makes me feel gross and I regret eating it almost instantaneously after I do. It's a drug, really. And I'm an addict.
I am hereby vowing to eliminate it from my diet again. DID YOU HEAR THAT, FRUIT SNACKS IN MY CLASSROOM (which are for the students anyway)? DID YOU HEAR THAT, BAKED GOODS? Our relationship is destructive, and I need to be free from you.
Aside from sugar, and that angry rant, I am doing pretty well. I have been good at eliminating gluten from my diet, and eating more fruit and vegetables. I have also gotten into the habit of not only cooking, but washing the dishes. I typically let the dishes stack up until I can't take it anymore, but this is just one more habit that adds to my stress and frustration.
Why the change? Complacency, I guess. I felt really good last week. I felt lighter and healthier. But I was also on spring break so I was able to take the time to prepare healthy meals and snacks. Now that I'm back at work, it's a little harder stay focused. I have been giving in to cravings. More specifically, I have been giving in to sugar. Fucking sugar. Excuse my language, but I fucking hate that shit. There are NO benefits whatsoever to eating it. It makes me feel gross and I regret eating it almost instantaneously after I do. It's a drug, really. And I'm an addict.
I am hereby vowing to eliminate it from my diet again. DID YOU HEAR THAT, FRUIT SNACKS IN MY CLASSROOM (which are for the students anyway)? DID YOU HEAR THAT, BAKED GOODS? Our relationship is destructive, and I need to be free from you.
Aside from sugar, and that angry rant, I am doing pretty well. I have been good at eliminating gluten from my diet, and eating more fruit and vegetables. I have also gotten into the habit of not only cooking, but washing the dishes. I typically let the dishes stack up until I can't take it anymore, but this is just one more habit that adds to my stress and frustration.
Monday, April 1, 2013
checking in
My two week "cleanse" is over. So how did I do? Okay.
The first week, sans the bridal shower brunch, I stuck to all of the rules I made for myself. The second week, I started to eat sugar again only because I had a little bit last Sunday and it activated my craving for it. If I stay away from it completely, I'm okay. When I don't, want it all the time.
Yesterday was Easter, and for the first time in years I got an Easter basket (well it was for both Kyle and I) and I only had ONE Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Egg (normally I scarf these down), a small amount of M & M's and Jelly Beans. I felt proud of myself for not eating as much Easter candy as I usually do.
For dinner last night, I made a pizza with all of my favorite veggies and antipasta toppings. It was DELICIOUS, and I did eat a little more than I needed to. I had the leftovers for lunch today, and it kind of hurt my stomach. The only dairy that was on there was goat cheese, which doesn't normally bother me. I'm thinking it might have been the gluten? I just felt weighed down and my stomach was unsettled for hours after eating it. I have avoided gluten for the most part during these past two weeks, so maybe this was too much? I really really hope I have not developed a gluten intolerance, because that would be added to my list of dairy and soy intolerance, which is already difficult to stick to.
Anyway, I have learned two major things from this cleanse:
1. Cooking at home saves a lot of money.
2. All cooking at home requires is a chunk of time at the beginning of the week to plan out meals & grocery shop.
Even though I felt like I spent a lot at the grocery store buying stuff to cook, I only ate out twice in the two weeks and I spent way less on food than I usually do. Which led me to reconsider how much of my paycheck on food. Verdict: too much. Because I have had an actual paycheck since September, I have been less budget-conscious when it comes to food. Before I started earning a decent wage, I was so used to eating whatever and whenever I could because I was so broke. I think not being so broke has led me to feel like I can sort of celebrate this by spending whatever I need to in order to feed myself. Suffice to say, it's time to tighten the purse strings a little, and cooking at home is definitely a key to achieving this.
The first week, sans the bridal shower brunch, I stuck to all of the rules I made for myself. The second week, I started to eat sugar again only because I had a little bit last Sunday and it activated my craving for it. If I stay away from it completely, I'm okay. When I don't, want it all the time.
Yesterday was Easter, and for the first time in years I got an Easter basket (well it was for both Kyle and I) and I only had ONE Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Egg (normally I scarf these down), a small amount of M & M's and Jelly Beans. I felt proud of myself for not eating as much Easter candy as I usually do.
For dinner last night, I made a pizza with all of my favorite veggies and antipasta toppings. It was DELICIOUS, and I did eat a little more than I needed to. I had the leftovers for lunch today, and it kind of hurt my stomach. The only dairy that was on there was goat cheese, which doesn't normally bother me. I'm thinking it might have been the gluten? I just felt weighed down and my stomach was unsettled for hours after eating it. I have avoided gluten for the most part during these past two weeks, so maybe this was too much? I really really hope I have not developed a gluten intolerance, because that would be added to my list of dairy and soy intolerance, which is already difficult to stick to.
Anyway, I have learned two major things from this cleanse:
1. Cooking at home saves a lot of money.
2. All cooking at home requires is a chunk of time at the beginning of the week to plan out meals & grocery shop.
Even though I felt like I spent a lot at the grocery store buying stuff to cook, I only ate out twice in the two weeks and I spent way less on food than I usually do. Which led me to reconsider how much of my paycheck on food. Verdict: too much. Because I have had an actual paycheck since September, I have been less budget-conscious when it comes to food. Before I started earning a decent wage, I was so used to eating whatever and whenever I could because I was so broke. I think not being so broke has led me to feel like I can sort of celebrate this by spending whatever I need to in order to feed myself. Suffice to say, it's time to tighten the purse strings a little, and cooking at home is definitely a key to achieving this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)