Suffering Experiment - Day #2

Hooray for me!! Yes, I AM giving myself kudos!! I went a whole day cooking all 3 meals at home, using nothing but our food storage. I use the term "cook" loosely. I should say I made all 3 meals at home. Breakfast was oatmeal with chopped fruit; lunch was peanut butter/honey sandwiches on homemade bread with fruit salad; dinner consisted of baked zucchini parmesan with broccoli, yellow pear tomatoes and fresh raspberries for dessert. I had to breathe deeply, bite my knuckles and listen to my stomach scream obscenities at me...but I did it!!

It's not like we eat out every day. However, I usually only eat one, sometimes 2 meals a day and I almost never eat breakfast before 11:00 am. I have done this for for so long that it isn't uncommon that I "forget" to eat some days. "I'm too busy to eat." It's no wonder my weight is out of control. My body doesn't know when, what or how much it will get today, tomorrow or ever. So it's got it's own 2 years worth of food storage, stored in the basement cellar between my waist and knees. Don't get me started on my "back yard bunker".

Well, today was one of those busy days. Between rushing to/from doctor's appointments, 2 trips to the airport and back, the library, school and normal errands...I'm sure that I passed at least 4,593 McDonald's. I also heard 3,683,409 whining attempts from the back seat to take the easy way out and "just get a little something now".

Well, with the Lord's help, we got through it. You may laugh, but just try to go 30 days without going out to breakfast, lunch or dinner...while trying to carry on your normal life. Whoever put the McDonald's in Wal-Mart is a genius. What a sales pitch!! Whining kids that are screaming "Mom, I'm REALLY hungry", Disney movies playing on the big screen TV and mothers thinking, "hmmmmmm, $5 to fill my stomach before I shop will save me money in the long run!". Whatever!! It's enough to make you crazy.

So I took the $12.50 that McD's would have cost us, doubled it and paid $25 toward our credit card balance. There was a certain satisfaction in that...something that a double cheeseburger wouldn't be able to give me. Don't get me wrong, I'm still having withdrawal symptoms...but I have a renewed determination to do better. It's also fat free!!

Ironically, while Brynlee and I were preparing these meals today, Brynlee was more helpful, I was calmer, meals were simpler and we all felt better. Apparently, good food can affect your mood every bit as much as bad food can. Maybe I'm having an apostrophe...uh...epiphone. :-)

Now if only every fast food joint between my house and the freeway would just burn down, we'd be in good shape! :-)