Eating In
Being at home for a few months (after I got laid off at Christmas last year) taught me some very important lessons:
- Eating in saves a truck load of money
- Eating in saves a ton of calories (yay 45lb weight loss!)
- Eating in is better mentally, emotionally and spiritually
So ever since I went back to work at an office, I’ve made a point to take all my food for the day. Planning out what I’m going to eat has made such a huge difference. I’m not worried about what I’m going to eat, where I’ll order from, will it be gluten-free…basically it takes the whole food issue off the table, as it were. I’m free to think about work and eat when I’m hungry. Ahhh, everything is as it should be.
But this past weekend I was sick and didn’t make a few dishes like I usually do so I didn’t have anything to take with me yesterday and today. I spent over $20 between the two days buying food that wasn’t nearly as tasty as what I cook myself and was far more caloric. I just don’t cook that way at home. I’m not going to coat my veggies in oil or use full fat mayo. At home I use reduced-fat vegan mayo! And antibiotic-free chicken.
I’m realizing that eating out for lunch at work is very different than eating out for social occasions. At work you’re hungry and it gets in the way of working. “Just take away my hunger so I can go back to work.” Lunch is not special, you rarely eat with anyone and whatever food is around isn’t really that great. It’s easier to make unconscious decisions at a lunch buffet. Even when you’re trying to be healthy everything is usually coated in oil…and who can resist potato salad?! I, for one, have a tough time not scooping just a little onto my plate.
In contrast, eating out with friends or for a nice meal is special and fulfilling in so many other ways than just what’s going in your mouth. The food quality is better, the company is pleasant…it’s an experience much more than it is nourishment. Even if I choose something less healthy than what I eat at home, I have an easier time leaving half of it alone than when I get lunch out by myself. And I eat out with friends a whole lot less than every day, which is when lunch tends to creep up on me.
But when I take my food to work I appreciate it a lot more. I appreciate the effort it took to make it. It is special to me. I feel less compelled to work through a lunch where I’m enjoying my own food. I think about the flavors and how they taste different today from yesterday when I made it. I note things I could do different next time, were I to make the dish again. I feel empowered by the experience. Even bringing my own frozen Amy’s entree makes me feel like I’m exercising some sort of control over my food intake.
The overall lesson? Make the time to plan and shop for what I’ll take to work. Make the time to look for recipes. Make the time to cook. Having home-cooked food really does make a huge difference. It’s what’s gotten me this far in my journey and I don’t envision eating out every day magically becoming a positive thing for me…it is, after all, part of what helped me gain all the weight in the first place.
