I haven't been cooking or doing any grocery shopping for the last two months at all. I had purchased a meal plan that delivers all your meals at a certain calorie, in a box every day. It was nice at the beginning but then after a while one gets tired of eating somebody else's choices. So, after this detox that I am on till tomorrow night, I shall be preparing my meals to take to work.
I will use the lists my old dietician gave me. Although, I was able to lose a bit of weight due to the meal plan, it is not as much as I had expected. I will go back to what worked for me. It is much cheaper to follow her list and yet it is healthy and nutritious.
On Monday, I will weigh myself and then, I will weigh myself only every two weeks and keep a chart.
I will also see how much money this saves me. The meal plan was not inexpensive at all.
I want to have turkey and eggs for protein this week. I will see what I would like for a vegetable dish.
Tomorrow, I will do some cooking to last me till Wednesday night and then I will cook on Wednesday for the rest of the week. I must be very careful about my portion sizes.
After I wrote the above, I went to check my pantry and sadly noticed some items way beyond their "Use By" date. Mostly they are legumes so, I will boil them and put them outside for birds. I hate wasting food and it looks like having two residences is a problem. I noticed some condiments are also past their "Use By" dates. I do not know how Americans keep up with this stuff. They usually have giant pantries and and using everything up before anything goes bad must be difficult.
I then went grocery shopping and got these:
Cauliflower
Turkey Leg
Cheese (2 kinds)
American Bell Peppers
Kohlrabi
Onions
Ginger
Avocado
6 Tangerines to snack on
Probiotic Yogurt to snack on
Organic Eggs (dozen)
Hummus w/dried tomatoes
Lemons
Lemon and Ginger Tea (20-count pack)
Pumpkin Seeds to snack on
Smoked Salmon (BOGOF) Enough for 4-6 salads
Listerine Mouthwash (BOGOF)
Toothpaste (BOGOF)
All cost about USD 45 in case you are wondering.
If you have noticed that is a very low carb list. Except for breakfast, I am giving up bread. For some breakfasts, I am planning to eat eggs and cheese to avoid bread further.
When I lost 46 lbs. in three months, I rationed 2 slices for each day, and had a Hershey bar, too...lol. Legumes do not go bad magically on a certain day. Eat them. We eat things past the use by date. If my Miracle Whip is in the refrigerator and the use by date has passed, I just keep on using it until it is gone. If a can of food is on the shelf, most us eat it after the use by date. Rarely does food expire. There is a sell by date so merchants will remove it from the shelf.
ReplyDeleteI left Kraft cheddar cheese, a chunk, in the car unopened for two weeks in the summer. The whole package was limp. I ate it and did not suffer a bit. Old spices won't kill you or make you sick. Your food may not be as tasty.
Good luck on losing weight. I have to weigh each day so I can change my eating if I gain an ounce. But, that is just me.
How long will that $45 worth of food last? I need to get back on my healthy eating habits.
I use legumes if they are 1-3 months past their use by date but these were over a year past. So, the birds will have them. Not a total waste.
ReplyDeleteThat food will last a week with some other items already on hand. The tea, toothcare items and the salmon will last longer than that. So, not a bad deal at all.
I have legumes that are at least five years old that I will eat. The only thing that would keep me from eating them is if they were rancid. Rancid beans and peas will make birds ill. So, I never gave my chickens anything rancid.
ReplyDeleteIf you are worrying about bugs in beans, that can happen. To keep it from happening just put the beans/legumes/peas in the freezer for three days. If they have bugs, they will infest your whole food supply. The eggs comes in the beans from the store, so they did not necessarily come there from your pantry. Bugs can infest the nicest, cleanest homes.
Gosh, that's a great price for a list like that! I'm actually making a conscious effort to make my portions smaller to start with - as you know, this also extends the food purchases, which I'm trying to cut down on. I've got loads of stuff in the freezer to eat my way through this week, as well as lots of legumes. Mine are a long way outside 'best before' dates too, so will do as you do and cook them up a bit for the birds. I think the chickens will love them, as well as the wild birds.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on losing some weight - it sounds like you've been making good progress up to now, so hopefully this will help even more. x
Thats why I don't shop at Costco. The huge sizes always go bad before I can finish. I threw out a bunch of spices before we moved. Most all were way past date.
ReplyDeleteHi! First time visitor here :) Will add your blog to my blog list as I see my blog listed in yours. I've noticed your comment on many blogs that I read so it only makes sense to add you to my list!
ReplyDeleteDo you have access to any type of bulk food store? That's where I go to purchase legumes (or "pulses") as they are called around here. There are so many varieties and you can add them to just about anything you make and buy smaller amounts (no waste). They help to fill you up without the bad side effects of too many carbs. Good source of protein too. I am about 10 years older than you and have finally stopped the habit of getting on scales. Now I just "lighten" up my eating habits when my pants get a little tight!
Hi! Thank you for adding me to your blog list and also thank you for the tip about bulk food stores. I can do that.
DeleteHave a Wonderful Thanksgiving!