So, this post is about a week late. With moving Dr. Man back and working in the lab to get ready for Major European Conference, I just... well.. forgot. The last week of June was a bust. I tried to figure out things to make in the microwave at Dr. Man's before we moved him and I was prepared to do so. What I wasn't prepared for was how tired we were after packing/moving all day. Plus, Marie came up and helped us move. I felt bad subjecting her to poorly made frozen dinners just because I was doing this challenge. And I have no willpower whatsoever to go to a restaurant and not eat (reason, excuse... po-tay-to, po-tah-to). Then coming back to the house there was the lack of food issue. No food leads to a very grumpy Amanda. That triggered an episode whereby Dr. Man practically shoved me in the car, drove to a restaurant, and begged the staff to just give me something--anything-- to eat.
However, I did learn a lot about my own eating habits. I tend to eat worse when I go out to eat. By this I mean that when I go out to eat, I almost always get dessert. But if I have dessert-type food at home, I'm more of a take-it-or-leave-it kind of girl. Also, I'll eat a salad with some sort of protein on it (chicken, etc.) at home, but I won't if I go out to eat. I do this mostly because it seems silly to pay so much for lettuce and I think that I'll be hungry again later (at home I can have more to eat if I do get hungry later, which rarely happens).
Another thing I noticed was all the lack styrofoam! I usually end up with some food to take home and 9 times out of 10, I was given a styrofoam container to take it home in. I usually feel very guilty come trash day with my puffed up garbage bags full of styrofoam, but this past month I was able to skip a trash day completely! I just didn't have enough trash to fill up my trash can (I keep said trash can outside) and just couldn't be bothered to roll the half-empty thing out to the curb. I was very proud.
All-in-all I don't think that I'll try this same challenge again. It was a bit too much of a challenge for me. It did make me realize that I need to plan more (for packing lunches and having back-up food in lab) and find better (read: less expensive) ways for me to hang out with my friends. My budget was extremely happy with the lack of eating out and I think that I need to evangelize this to my fellow grad students.Labels: No Eating Out Challenge