I’ve been depressed lately–ever since the middle of February actually. It started with eating too much chocolate the week of Valentine’s Day. Then, my friend Quebec-Martin bought me a completely decadent, no-flour, triple chocolate birthday cake the following week. So, I worked on that for a bit too. AND–I didn’t stop there. I also went shopping at Costco. What a mistake! I was hungry when I went in and I knew if I didn’t eat something, I was likely to need a half-ton truck to carry home my purchases. I bought muffins.
I put the muffins in my cart. I thought, “If I eat a muffin, it will curb my appetite and I likely won’t buy other stuff I don’t need.” So, while shopping and waiting for new tires to be installed on my Honda, I ate a muffin. And you know how big those huge Costco muffins are. It didn’t help that I’d skipped lunch and we were close to dinner. I was hungry. I ate two Costco muffins (before I even got the checkout!). TWO Costco muffins. That’s like eating an entire loaf of bread in one sitting.
I’ve been on a budget since I’ve been on sabbatical. I’m pretty good with it too I think. I’m on my seventh month and I’m just starting to look for another job. But I’m just starting so I don’t know how it’s going yet. I do know, however, that I don’t have many months of savings left so I’d better find one.
I’m on a budget and that’s why I was shopping at Costco. You know you get good things for your money at Costco and you usually get a lot of it. When you are in Costco, because the place is so huge and the carts are huge, you put something in your cart and it looks normal–like a box of cereal or some muffins. When you get it home though, the cereal box takes up the entire cupboard (if it fits) and your refridgerator itself looks obese with all the food you try to stuff in it. And you realize that everything has a context. You have to be very aware when you are buying at Costco, because when you get it home, it’s out-of-context and it becomes some sort of super-sized monster.
Regardless of the context issue, I also bought bagels. Wholly cow! Each bagel is a half a loaf of bread. When I got home, I cut all the bagels and all the muffins in half and put them in the freezer. My plan was to eat only half of a muffin or half of a bagel in the morning. EXCEPT, they were too good. And when it came down to it, I ate either a whole muffin or a whole bagel. Also, it doesn’t help that you get good cheese for great prices at Costco either. I’ve been eating creamy Harvarti cheese with a crisp fresh tomato on an open-faced bagel once or twice a day. Yum!
And now–only two weeks later–my pants are too tight. Ugh! Definitely the cause of the Costo-size muffins and bagels (and a bit of stress I’ve been experiencing lately). If I don’t do something about it, I’ll become Costco-sized Jen! With a Costco-sized butt to boot! More ugh!
Today, I went shopping at Safeway–a somewhat easier store to judge quantities in: normal-sized portions for normal-sized people. I bought only protein and fiber (fruits, vegetables, yoghurt, chicken, and cereal). I also bought a case of beer, but I do need to get carbs somehow. My new rule of thumb is: Don’t Buy It, Don’t Diet. Or–as this blog entry is so aptly named: The Don’t Buy It Diet.
Now I know where my weaknesses are, I can just plan around them. We’ll see how I feel after two weeks of protein and fiber.