My Grocery Diet Experiment: Day 1
Thanks to everyone for their Facebook and Twitter comments in support of my “grocery diet” experiment!
While I still feel a little narcissistic or “who cares what you ate for lunch?” about blogging this adventure, I’m happy to report that, almost 48 hours in, I’m having a blast and have already learned a few exciting things (more on that after the Day 1 recap).
Yesterday, I noshed on:
- 1 Fage Greek Yogurt with Cherries
- 1 mini Babybel Light cheese
- 2 cups of coffee
- 1 pint carrot ginger soup with 1/4 cup dry roasted almonds
- 1 Joint Juice supplement (shellfish-free Glucosamine!)
- 1 package Skinny Cow dark chocolate clusters
(where’d those come from? Read on.) - 1 Synergy Trilogy kombucha
- Handful of chipotle cheddar Pretzel Crisps
(yep, more on that below) - Homemade General Tso’s chicken (due to surprise find of seasoning packet at the back of the drawer)
- Jasmine rice
- Herbal tea
Up until last night, I’d never made General Tso’s chicken “from scratch” before, and I have to say it was not only delicious but not nearly as fatty as the Chinese restaurant buffet version I love. (Though adding extra Rooster Sauce to the seasoning mix may have been ill-advised…)
This morning, still invigorated, I packed a sensible breakfast, lunch, and snacks, using up the last of my 3-bean quinoa chicken chili from the weekend and some of the reduced-fat Cabot deli cheddar.
So, what have I learned so far from my first day on this groceries version of a debt diet?
- I’m definitely going to run out of proteins (including beans) by the end of this first week unless I switch at least one meal a day to strictly fruits, veggies, and grains. (Meatless Monday lovers, unite!)
- I didn’t take into consideration my stash (OK, Amy calls it a hoard) of snacks, drinks, and canned soup at work. Yesterday, I happened upon some dry roasted peanuts, those Skinny Cow dark chocolate clusters, half a dozen cans of soup, Emergen-C, and those chipotle cheddar Pretzel Crisps. Added to the kitchen inventory.
- I drink (and waste money on) a crap ton of coffee. In just two days, I’ve already saved about $13 by brewing all my own at home instead of visiting the coffee shop on my corner in the morning and the one downstairs from our office in the afternoon. Yowza. That’s 1/6 of the way to a decent pair of heels…
- Newly addicted to Kombucha, and with only a four-day supply, I might have to resort to bartering food items with friends and co-workers, or exchange some of my more gourmet unopened items on Swap.com for grocery gift cards, just to get my fix. This may become an expensive (albeit super healthy) habit…
Something I was truly worried about when I decided to embark on this experiment was that, resorting to mostly canned/frozen/dried food from my stockpile, I was going to eat like crap and gain a bunch of weight. Happy to note that, thanks to my summer/fall app obsession, DailyBurn, which logs your calories in, calories out, and exercise, I actually ate about 400 calories fewer than I usually do.
Maybe it’s because I had started the day off right, squeezing in a new 30-minute Jivamukti yoga on Exercise TV before work…or maybe it’s because I’m more than a little bit influenced by reading The Hunger Games at bedtime, too…which is so good I can’t put it down. More on that, and how today turned out, tomorrow!