Life laundry and making a workable Budget part Two

**Englishlady** · 11-22-2005, 10:30 AM

Part two.

As someone who has had serious issues with food and weight in the past( maybe that's why I went to University to study Psychology?

)

I think food, like money has to be "thought about" differently in order to be frugal and stick to a budget, be it one of calories or cash.

When you are out shopping, you don't just blindly drop $50 on something you like the look of, because you are " in the moment" and "mindful" of what you are doing.

In order to control your eating OR your budget you have to get out of the " entitlement" frame of mind.

The Oh, well I cleaned out the whole house and did 3 hours mowing in the garden I DESERVE a big mac& fries, half a box of chocs, or whatever

 

Lot's of people work hard at difficult jobs all the time and don't blow their budget on a dress they don't need or an expensive meal they can't afford. Do THEY deserve it? of course they do, but to give in to all your wants means you haven't grown up, our inner child will always choose candy over vegetables every time

But if your inner child is now triplets, you gotta get with the program!

I like my food to be tasty and easy to make and not something I will live to regret eating.

I got into bad habits, by having one   small bag of crisps ( potato chips) most evenings, and with each cup of tea one biscuit, plus my usual two little treats each day, my trousers were gettting a little tight, so I wrote down what I ate

Oh, dear, time to get back to THINKING about what I was eating, I cut out all the crisps ( but allowed myself a bag on the weekends) and made myself choose between a biscuit OR a small bit of chocolate............................I lost about 4 or 5 lbs in 3 months or so doing NOTHING ELSE!!!

Now I have either 2 biscuits a day OR 2 bits of chocolate a day ( about half of a SMALLbar

When I am in the shops and looking at all the wonderful chocolate, yes, I desire it, but I also view it as body  junk!

It is quite demoralizing and depressing to be surounded by "junk" all the time, so why make your body junky?

When I am going through a particularly strong "eat me" phase, I will buy a brand of chocolate I don't like!

The reason I do this, is that when I eat it, I don't enjoy it that much and wish I hadn't bothered! I believe this tricks my brain into thinking that "well chocolate, isn't THAT nice, I will skip it this time".

The reason a lot of people are unsuccessful with controling binge eating,  or a dietry laspse is because they have got into the "all or nothing" mentality", Oh, I have eaten two bars and messed up my diet, what's it matter if I have another four or five!

If you eat something you didn't plan on eating, don't shoot yourself in the foot by eating more and more, be kind to yourself and say, well I wish I had not eaten that, but hey, what the heck it's done, let's get back to it.

Don't succomb to diet food, in fact  DO NOT DIET!!!! I think that the word  itself conjures up deprivation, doing without, misery and feeling hungry all the time.

So do yourself a favour and just eat smaller portions (trick the eye by using a smaller plate),eat a little of what you want, but be honest with yourself.............no one feels your weight problem, but you, no one knows the reason why you sabotage yourself but you.

No one put's a gun to your head to make you eat anything, be it good or bad.

Don't buy cakes/biscuits, make your own but don't see them as a "right", they are a treat.

We eat out about 4 times a year, we eat desert at home less than that!  I don't spend much money on food because I don't give in to my inner greedy child, I observe my restrained outer adult with the either or choice, of a biscuit or chocolate NOT both!!

If you stopped buying sodas(I drink sparkling water mixed with a litle fruit juice for interest!)and stopped buying candy and chips and all the rest, you will notice a big reduction in your budget.

Even those of you who bake from scratch, the LESS sweet goodies you make the LONGER your ingredients will last!

The food budget is one of the easiest ways to save money, but we need to be honest with ourselves.

Commerce is ready to fatten you up and slim you down, but most of all THEY want YOUR money!!

To be continued.........................................................

 

 

**sanderson76** · 11-22-2005, 10:45 AM

Thanks

That is the one thing that I refuse to buy (junk foods)..I just can't justify spending that much money on fattening treats.

**Michele Annette** · 11-22-2005, 11:12 AM

So do yourself a favour and just eat smaller portions (trick the eye by using a smaller plate),eat a little of what you want, but be honest with yourself.............no one feels your weight problem, but you, no one knows the reason why you sabotage yourself but you.

Bravo! I couldn't have said it better Karen! I, 100%, believe this statement to be true for myself especially.

**Scattymum** · 11-22-2005, 11:19 AM

very interesting

I cant wait for the next installment!!

the last couple of months I have stopped buying *treats* all the time with my monthly shop and have noticed a huge difference, I also was pretty bad at buying the kids a small bar or sweets or crisps while stopping at the shop to buy something I ran out of ( every other day).

By making a proper list and planning each months I have cut out the trip to the shop as I dont run out of things very often, and because of that have stopped buying the junk and havnt really missed it

The kids really didnt notice either and are quite happy with a healthy snack when we get home..of course it has always helped that both my kids have a cucumber fetish and will choose that over chocolate any day

( mind you I get some strange looks at the vast quantities of cucumber I buy ( 10 a week!

)

thanks for this Karen

**alabamagirl** · 11-22-2005, 12:13 PM

I don't know why, but for the last several weeks my consumption of sweets has been going through the roof. It's little bits here and there . . . a piece of candy from the dish at the office, a small slice of pie here, a few chips passing through the kitchen . . . blech!

It's such a coincidence - last night I was thinking about trying to get through today and Weds. without any sweets. For Thanksgiving, I am going to try my hardest to limit myself to just one slice of pie.

Thanks Karen!

Debbie

**favesis37** · 11-23-2005, 01:19 AM

well tonight at work a friend called and we were talking about chocolate( my downfall) i made the comment that i didn't have any at home so i needed to get some to go to bed with. i left with out any! i grabbed a apple instead! very proud of myself

**hollyhill** · 11-23-2005, 01:38 AM

I am enjoying this thread and can't wait for the next installment!. I have never been prone to excesses (therefor I must have grown up?) and so my housekeeping and food consumption styles seem to be similar to yours. I have never bought any sodas and junk food (crisps etc) only finds its way into our home at birthday parties.
I do however bake alot. Mostly breads but some sweets. Mostly because my Dh and children are very thin and need the carbos. I feel the best eating lots of vegies and some high quality protein. however, right now we are eating alot of beans and starches and I just keep watching my weight go up and up. So I can't cut out treats, and junk because I don't eat those. So I have just cut down my portions to very small amounts. But my weight loss has been soooooo slowwwwww.

**RuthNY** · 11-23-2005, 08:04 AM

if your inner child is now triplets, you gotta get with the program!

**MACMOM6** · 11-23-2005, 08:34 AM

Thank you for your insight...It is very interesting. I can't wait for the next installment.

Take Care,

**thrifty gal** · 11-23-2005, 12:26 PM

Another inspirational lesson! thanks so much

**Lori Biever-Launder** · 11-27-2005, 03:38 PM

I agree with everything but ONE point: What kind of chocolate is there NOT to like? I love it all!

Seriously, I eat the sugar free kind now and it is waaay more expensive than the regular kind, so I have to think about how much of it I buy. This makes me eat it sparingly.

**daddys3chicks** · 11-27-2005, 05:05 PM

Wonderful Karen! Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

**SHOPGIRL** · 11-28-2005, 01:00 AM

You are soo right about eating because we think we deserve it. I like your word, "bodyjunk". I never really thought of it that way. O.K. time to reprogram my head. I don't know if I could buy yucky chocolate and then eat it. I am going to start with the food journal.