July Review
But first, let's sum up the last month of dealing with addictions. I pledged to forgo restaurants and I did better than I had before the challenge began, but definitely did not stay away completely. I seem to have completely lost the ability to plan meals in advance, often facing 5:30 pm with no dinner plan. On weekends, when we're busy catching up with yard, shop, or house work, we're tired by 5:30 and too often, we end up deciding to just pick up some food at 5:31 pm. I need to rediscover the joys of a weekly meal plan.How about you? Did you stick to your pledge? If not, did you at least make strides in the right direction? Jennifer's taking over as host for the ongoing Quit Now Challenge and I get to turn my attention to one of my favorite subjects: food!
August Preview
Here are my personal commitments for this month, based on my current consumption of foods in these categories. Your numbers will vary based on your current consumption and your pledges for the month. See the sidebar for all the participants and their pledges.Buzz (alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, coffee) – cut by 50%
No more than 1 cup of coffee (decaf or not) or hot chocolate per day.
Café (deli food, frozen dinners, restaurants) – cut by 75%
No more than 1 meal prepared by pros every two weeks.
Lite (refined & processed foods) – cut by 75%
Replace white bread & rice with whole wheat & brown rice. Switch to whole-grain pasta.
Sugar (desserts, sugars, sweets) – cut by 75%
Make desserts only on weekends and enjoy smaller servings. Reduce sugar in coffee and amount of jam/jelly on toast.
SOW (second servings when not hungry) – eliminate
No seconds unless really hungry.
Vegan – 100% commitment
No questionable samples while grocery shopping. No non-vegan restaurant food. No indulging in treats from others this month.
Are you ready?!
20 comments:
No soda pop all month. Didn't even miss it. And even though I am not joining in the new challenge, I can say that I am not planning on eating lunch out every day, and not going to go out and drink a 55 gallon drum (aka the big gulp) of soda. I plan on leveling my caffene intake by 50%, something I need to do for my health.
I made huge strides towards skipping the corn syrup. However, with added stress this week, I stopped with my mom in law for some ice cream. My sis in law got hit by a UPS truck, pinned between it and her own car, in their driveway. She's hurt bad, but will be okay with a lot of time to recoup. So MIL and I decided ice cream was much needed!
Oh, and I'm already breaking my pledge to not go out to eat... Friends want to go out with us tonight, and I offered to cook here but honestly I'm just too exhaused. Which is strange because we hardly ever eat out (hence my reasoning for thinking I could go 100% w/o restaurants this month).
Stress and food just go so well together!
I did have banana in one smoothie at a restaurant, but I didn't buy any myself. I actually really miss them a lot, but we're buying a lot of local fruit to eat fresh and to store for the winter (per our attempts to eat more seasonally). So it's worth it.
Thanks for the clarification of the 50% rule. Golly, eat out once every two weeks - whew!
Carrying lunch everyday helps!
Plus, it's hot here in Alabama - no one wants to leave at lunchtime.
Let's roll!
~Mad(elyn) in Alabama
www.xanga.com/madewyn
Other than the blueberry indiscretion, I did fairly well. But I am more aware of ALL the ingredients I use now. (I suppose to those who participate in the local food challenges, that is no surprise.) This morning I tried dried blueberries in my oatmeal instead of the usual chopped dates - was not excited about the results. (sigh)
Thanks for the challenge, Chile!
I did really well not eating out. I also didn't achieve 100%, but the meals we ate our were planned well in advance. Thank you for helping me do this! It'll help in Crunchy's new challenge too.
I'm not joining the next one but will be here to cheer everyone on!
I've done really well, now that I'm still allowing myself a bit of caffeine to continue functioning (hoping to go 100% in Sept.).
I'd also cut out the non-dairy creamer I usually use in coffee. (I know, yuck, but it's free at work and I can't stand just milk in my coffee). That, and no more artificial sweeteners in it either. Sheesh, just my first beverage of the day had more bad stuff in it then the rest of you healthy nuts' whole day!
I've been really aware of what I'm putting in my body, as well as the thought processes (or lack thereof) going on when I'm hungry. I've noticed so many times when I just wanted to grab some candy or other sweet (we always have something at work) and just cram it down because it was there.
Now, I'm at least thinking about it instead of it being an automatic reflex.
That alone has been a huge thing for me!
Am I ready?! ... Absolutely not! As I ate a piece of chocolate with my breakfast this morning I realized it was August and I was supposed to not eat seconds. Good thing chocolate doesn't count as a second (as it was my first piece). But! I'm gonna try.
I did really well saving edible food from the compost pile. We did just recently returned from a week long backpacking trip so I'm sure there is probably some compost in my refrigerator, but now it's August;~)
I also picked up several large bags of used coffee grounds from Mugs to use as mulch around some trees and rescued giant piles of shredded pine packing material to use as path material around my raised beds.
As to this months challenge:
S.O.W. - 100%
Lite - 75% (probably will be impossible when visiting my in-laws but otherwise should be doable)
sugar - 50% (I'm being realistic!)
diana
Not ready, not even close!
But I will try to know off the non essential eating.
This means no ice cream tonight....right?
Rob - you mean after quitting successfully for a month, you're taking it back up? Wow, once I get through withdrawals, I think long and hard before starting up again. (Having had experience multiple times with caffeine withdrawals...)
Abbie - I'm so sorry to hear about your SIL. Sure hope she heals up quickly and completely. I'm a stress eater, too, so I understand your struggles recently!
Chandelle - way to go, especially since it's something you've missed. Maybe you need to get yourself a little banana tree.
Madelyn - I just want to clarify (re-clarify?) that eating out every other week is only my 50% level. We were eating out about once per weekend, so half that is twice a month. Now, if someone eats out only twice a month to start with, then they only get one meal out for all of August. OTOH, if they've been eating out every work day lunch, then they need to reduce it to every other work day. The idea, of course, is to change the behavior.
Carla - oops, did I open Pandora's Box for you? hehe I can't remember whether their local for you right now, but I've found that diced apple or pear is really tasty with cold or hot cereal.
Ellen - I'm glad the challenge was helpful and prepped you for another one (with Crunchy).
Heather - your awareness is exactly the sort of change I was hoping for with the challenge. Making a change just to rigidly stick to a temporary challenge is not as valuable for long-term change as awareness of our automatic habits.
Stephanie - chocolate with breakfast? Hm, yeah, you're gonna have to work on that one. Maybe you should sign up for the SUGAR category or BUZZ... ;-)
Diana - so how much compost was in the fridge? Whenever heading out of town, I try to use up all the food or figure out how to freeze it (raw or cooked). Your free finds sound great for your garden! I also chose to be a little lenient with a couple categories due to company coming.
Jenn - well, at least less ice cream. I don't have you signed up for the challenge. Did you want to pick some categories and do it officially?
That's the reason why I *didn't* sign up for SUGAR or BUZZ. ;) Don't worry, I don't have chocolate with breakfast often. Just yesterday.
I don't know what it is about this challenge, but I ate out more than I did in previous months (I track everything for personal finance purposes). But I had the same problem as yourself, although I was able to avoid eating out on Thursdays, when I really start to crash by cooking something quick. I just need to sleep more so I can plan and follow through with my plans some more.
I ended up having another dairy moment on the 31st - almost made it! I was at a knife skills class and it was advertised as vegetarian, and I figured it would all be fruits and veggies (since that's what we were cutting up) so I didn't specify I was eating vegan, and at the end the teacher put together some sandwiches with carmelized onion, granny smith apple, walnuts and cheddar cheese - we each only got a half sandwich and by 9pm I was so hungry and it looked so good I ate it. Have to say it was the best grilled cheese I ever ate - it would be delicious without the cheese as well. She put the cheese on before I realized or I could have asked her to leave it off my half. Then for dessert she made a orange slices in syrup over ricotta. At this point I definitely could have asked for just the oranges, but I was so tired and so hungry and just a little bit embarrassed to say I didn't want the cheese (since I had just eaten cheese!) that I just took it and ate it. I had no reactions to this since they were both such small quantities I think. I think a big part of it was that I didn't want to feel weird. This was a teacher who I would like to take more classes from who is from Russia but cooks very French, and she believes in eating anything as long as it's high quality and counting on portion control (and the fact that she eats no junk) to stay slim and healthy, and I just felt like I didn't want to be different and start inspiring a discussion of whether being vegan is healthier or just plain strange and restrictive. I just didn't have the energy to deal with it. Clearly being out in social situations is going to be toughest for me - I can control things much better at home...
I think I said enough (too much?) about the kleenex challenge last week. It continues to be challenging so I signed up for another month.
Re the new challenge -- not ready, already minor sinning, that second thing is pretty tricky. But definitely making me think carefully about what I eat.
Doing my Sunday update:
Started out August all gung-ho for this new challenge, and had leftovers for breakfast. Was still hungry and got toast. Finished toast, and then remembered it was store bread and had milk in it.
Crap.
I've been doing well since that little omission, even when we ate out yesterday.
Buzz (alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, coffee) – cut caffeine by 100%
No coffee (decaf or not) and no chocolate -- easy for me since I only have occasional decaf anyways; cut alcohol out entirely on weekdays no matter how early the children wake up (smile).
Café (deli food, frozen dinners, restaurants) – same
No meals prepared by pros except when someone else is decision-making and letting me sleep, or to respect others' celebratory impulses. Which makes this type of food what it should be - the exception rather than the norm.
Lite (refined & processed foods) – same
Continue with whole wheat & brown rice and whole-grain pasta.
Sugar (desserts, sugars, sweets) – cut by 25%
We don't have lots of sweets around the house except for the (very) occasional dessert or ice cream shop visit. Will limit occasional movie treat and candy stash inhome consumption to zero.
SOW (second servings when not hungry) – eliminate
No seconds unless really hungry.
Vegan – 1/7 commitment aka 14+%
I'll have one vegan day per week including one vegan family meal; in addition to that vegan family meal, I will continue to increase the number of go-to vegetarian dinners we enjoy.
Hi Chile,
This is a late sign up but I'm in.
Buzz - no coffee, soda, tea, and limited chocolate.
Eating out - limit to twice a week
Meal planning - eek, I'll give it a try.
"Vegetarian" - except for fish (haddock and salmon) I found a local source of milk and eggs so we're putting off vegan for a little while longer.
No late evening eating - this is a toughy because that's when I unwind after work but it's going on the new list. Perhaps my success rate will increase...
Susan - I need percentages and exact categories. (Brain is tired this morning and needs the help!)
Thanks!
Gosh, Chile, you want a thoughtful commitment. You're tough. OK here goes...
BUZZ - 50% no more than 3 cups of caffeinated beverage a week.
CAFE - 75% no more than two meals out per week. This includes buying lunch at work.
SUGAR - 50% elimiate dairy/sugar combos like ice cream but fruit desserts or honey on whole grain toast OK.
SOW - 100% no seconds period.
VEGAN - 60% local milk & eggs only, no animal, limit fish to haddock or salmon once a week.
Whew! I'm sweating just writing this down. Now a copy is going in my kitchen.
Post a Comment