In the interest of better health, weight loss, and the need to tighten the ol' proverbial wallet, I am embarking upon a year long challenge. I've procratinated putting these thoughts down in writing because the thought of said challenge is rather overwhelming to me, but I need to do something pretty drastic.
So, I'm proposing 365 days of home cooked meals and snacks. That means bidding farewell to restaurants, fast food, processed junk food, and prepackaged frozen dinners.
Now before I delve any further, let me layout the ground rules I have set for myself which go into effect on January 2, 2011:
1. There will be no dining out in restaurants or getting of fast food meals as long as I am "at home". By "at home" I mean sleeping that night in my own bed or at a bed at my parents' house. There is really no excuse to be eating at a restaurant or partaking of McDonalds, etc as long as I am somewhere where I am able to use the kitchen. If I am on vacation, the restaurant rule does not apply once I am either in the air on my way out of town or am four hours or more away from home.
2. I am allowed to have one meal and only one meal at or from a restaurant per month. If I decide not to take myself up on that offer, the missed meal out does not roll over into the next month. For example, I made it through April without dining out - I cannot then have two meals out in May. Once the month disappears, it's meal out option disappears as well.
3. Lunch and dinner must be prepared by me and not come from a box. That means things such as Lean Cuisines, frozen pizzas, deli meals, etc are non-permissable. Breakfast can still be cereal and toast, but things such as waffles, muffins, and pancakes must be made from scratch.
4. Saturday mornings and ONLY Saturday mornings, if and ONLY if I am going to spend time writing, I may go to Starbucks and order a single tall beverage and a single snack item. Again, if I choose on any given Saturday morning to forgo this beverage and snack item, I cannot decide to double up the following Saturday, nor can I decide to have Saturday Starbucks on a Wednesday. Saturday Starbucks snack must occur before 12:00 PM.
I know myself very well and if I do not laydown specific, down-to-the-T rules for myself, it would be very easy for me to say. Oh, it's April 29th...I might as well go ahead and use my May meal. OR it's Sunday, I can just use next week's Saturday Starbucks. Because this, my friends, will lead to eating out and Starbucks everyday and that in turn will lead to gaining even more weight and being even more broke.
So, these are the rules for now. I would gradually like to put more parameters into place, including limiting my diet soda intake and sugar intake, etc. But since quitting my dining out habit is a HUGE change for me, I figure it's best to take things in baby steps.
I will update daily with my progress, recipes, photos, etc beginning January 2!
