So, this post is about a week late. With moving Dr. Man back and working in the lab to get ready for Major European Conference, I just… well.. forgot. The last week of June was a bust. I tried to figure out things to make in the microwave at Dr. Man’s before we moved him and I was prepared to do so. What I wasn’t prepared for was how tired we were after packing/moving all day. Plus, Marie came up and helped us move. I felt bad subjecting her to poorly made frozen dinners just because I was doing this challenge. And I have no willpower whatsoever to go to a restaurant and not eat (reason, excuse… po-tay-to, po-tah-to). Then coming back to the house there was the lack of food issue. No food leads to a very grumpy Amanda. That triggered an episode whereby Dr. Man practically shoved me in the car, drove to a restaurant, and begged the staff to just give me something–anything– to eat.
However, I did learn a lot about my own eating habits. I tend to eat worse when I go out to eat. By this I mean that when I go out to eat, I almost always get dessert. But if I have dessert-type food at home, I’m more of a take-it-or-leave-it kind of girl. Also, I’ll eat a salad with some sort of protein on it (chicken, etc.) at home, but I won’t if I go out to eat. I do this mostly because it seems silly to pay so much for lettuce and I think that I’ll be hungry again later (at home I can have more to eat if I do get hungry later, which rarely happens).
Another thing I noticed was all the lack styrofoam! I usually end up with some food to take home and 9 times out of 10, I was given a styrofoam container to take it home in. I usually feel very guilty come trash day with my puffed up garbage bags full of styrofoam, but this past month I was able to skip a trash day completely! I just didn’t have enough trash to fill up my trash can (I keep said trash can outside) and just couldn’t be bothered to roll the half-empty thing out to the curb. I was very proud.
All-in-all I don’t think that I’ll try this same challenge again. It was a bit too much of a challenge for me. It did make me realize that I need to plan more (for packing lunches and having back-up food in lab) and find better (read: less expensive) ways for me to hang out with my friends. My budget was extremely happy with the lack of eating out and I think that I need to evangelize this to my fellow grad students.
Sounds like you did pretty well, but yes, it takes some planning.
I think it’s pretty impossible to not eat out when you’re moving, in my experience
Hypoglycemia Girl: It takes a lot of planning and I’m a born procrastinator. The two rarely mix well 🙂
Pyscgirl: Yep, I’ve proved that empirically now 🙂
sounds like me!
we sure picked a tough month for this challenge. I don’t think I’m going to have time to wrap up my month but I like your wrap up and concur with most of your conclusions.
Every couple of months, Daver and I decide that we’re NOT GOING TO EAT OUT. But we do, and then we feel guilty, and then we give up. It’s not something I could commit to, even if I wanted to. I give you mad credit for even trying.
Hypoglycemia Girl: A kindred spirit! 🙂
Jennie: We definitely did pick a difficult month (especially with your defense!).
Aunt Becky: Thanks. It turned out to be more difficult than I thought. However, Dr. Man found out how much he alone spent on eating out and he’s made this grand proclamation about never doing it anymore. I give his chances as slim to none.
I have the most success avoiding restaurants when I plan a weekly menu and buy what I need for all the meals on the weekend. That way, I get home from work knowing what I’m going to make and having everything I need to make it. I prefer that for many reasons, but I don’t always make it happen.
Committing to this challenge during a move was crazy! I bet you would both feel much better about it if you did it during a normal month. So you shouldn’t feel too bad for having only limited success during a crazy month. That’s still a big success!