Bad, bad blogger

I don't feel like I've developed a blogging rhythm. Must one have a blogging rhythm before people really enjoy their blog? Or is not having a rhythm actually a fun thing? It's like a grab bag - you never know what I'm going to write about :)

I have to say, even though I have a computer at home - I don't spend a lot of time on there at night and on the weekends. I used to, but I also used to have an ass glued to my couch and TV that was roughly 30 pounds heavier. So the more weight that comes off, the less time I spend on my couch watching TV and screwing around on my computer. I guess this a good thing right?

Well maybe for my ass, but not for all of my dedicated readers :) :)

Seriously though, I've cut back A LOT on my TV habits. I only watch a few shows now, I stopped watching the TWO soaps that I watched every week (hello 10 hours a week (with commercials) that I have cut out of my life) and if I'm watching TV now, I dedicate all my attention to the TV. I was one of those people that had the TV on, Radio on and was on the phone WHILE cooking dinner and chatting online. As I get older and my priorities shift, my love for multi-tasking has fallen to the wayside.

Anyways, I digress. I hate feeling guilty because I haven't blogged in a while and I haven't posted my food pictures for you. Since I try to take all my food pictures with my real camera and not my iphone (trust me, the quality is unbelievably better), I dont' always have time or the energy to upload the pictures to my blog at home. And since I'm generally bored at work a lot, that's where I normally blog. I'll find a way around this, I promise.. but I also want to tell you.. I'm not going to feel guilty anymore about not blogging all the time. At this point, I'm not going to blog 2-3 times a day.. I just don't have that kind of time. Maybe one day. :)

Also I want to tell you that I'm not really an exciting eater. I almost always eat the same thing for breakfast for like 1-2 months straight, then I move to something else and it's that and only that for months. I'm in a cereal and nectarine phase right now and have been for the past 4 weeks. I typically eat the same thing from the night before for lunch the next day. I'm horrible at repurposing left-overs, so I just eat the same thing again! No one wants to see the same things photographed every day, right? This is my justification for not snapping a picture of every.single.thing.that.goes.in.my.mouth. I hope you understand!

So dear blog readers, yes, I will post pictures of my meals when I can and yes I will update you with step by step recipes I've created (or changed), but I'm not making any promises on how frequently - and therefore you should have no expectations :)

There, I feel much better already! My intention tonight is to upload the pictures I've been taking of meals that I loaded to my computer last night (ran out of time to post). But right now - my intention is to talk about my 14 day no eating out challenge. I am proud to report, I am successfully on day #5 right now.

Here are a few findings.

1. Not eating out is hard for me primarily on the weekends. I'm tired, I don't feel like cooking, or I'm just out and about ALL DAY LONG and don't have the time to make healthy fast things at home. But, I kept reminding myself all weekend that eating something fast and quick at home is still 100X healthier and cheaper than eating things out.

I had a horrible food day Saturday because I was running around so much and by 5pm when I came home, I had barely had 800 calories for the whole day. I was at a Big Brothers Big Sisters event that only had snacks, and I didn't have enough time after my spin class to sit down and eat a proper second breakfast/early lunch.. so I only refueled with about 150 calories after burning 600 in spin. It was miserable. I was STARVING and tired and grouchy and felt awful. Then I proceeded to eat about 700 calories at 5pm when I got home within like 30 minutes and was still hungry. Gah it was miserable. That's one time that eating out, while not as healthy, would have been appropriate to help me stay sane.

2. Even though I've almost cracked a few times, I'm so glad I haven't. I WANT to finish this challenge. I want to see what I learn about myself and how creative I can get in the kitchen. I want to have a reason to eat leftovers because I want them and they are there - rather than go find something else and throw away the leftovers. This is more than just not eating out - this is a challenge to shift my style of thinking about food and start thinking outside of the box and practicing self discipline to eat the right things. Right as in good for you, and good for my bank account.

A majority of my money goes to food. That isn't a bad thing until I'm wasting. I spend a ridiculous amount of money at the grocery story, only to throw out about 1/4 of what I buy - and also spend a ridiculous amount of money eating out. It's not worth it! I have food I can cook! I can think outside of the box and this challenge is REALLY pushing me to do that. Last night I made bean nachos as an appetizer and chicken noodle casserole using items that I had in my pantry that I didn't even realize were there. Most of the time I go to the store and buy food without a purpose or idea of how I'll use it... and then I find myself sticking to my normal stuff I make. It's been so nice to HAVE to think outside the box and mix things together and be surprised with the outcome. I'm also repurposing left-overs, something I'm horrible at, but finding that it's actually not that hard!

3. I don't binge nearly as much when I don't eat out. Aside from a pan of brownies I made for Matt on Friday (I ate like 1/4 of the pan over the weekend - ugh!).. it's so much easier to not blow my day when I'm eating at home. Aside from my high day Saturday, I'm realizing that even when I want to eat bad food - I can make something healthy at home that's already been paid for and not feel too guilty about it. Yes I had a super high day Saturday.. so yesterday I had a super low day. It balanced itself out and the scale DID NOT ( for the first time maybe ever?) show a bad artificial number after the weekend because of salt and dehydration. That feels awesome!

I know I'm only 5 days in, but I definitely am going to keep this up. I think after these 14 days I won't say absolutely NO eating out.. but I will say question when I want to eat out if I really need to. So when times like Saturday come up and it would really really behoove me to stop somewhere and grab something healthy, but filling, I'll do it. And other times like yesterday afternoon when I just as easily could have gone home and cooked instead of stopping somewhere and buying something, I'll remember that I really do enjoy eating at home and it's not as hard as I sometimes build it up to me.

So far, so good!