Wednesday 28 February 2018

Fast Car - Our Fast Food & Take-Out Free Month

One of my bucket list 101 in 1001 goals is to go a month without fast food, delivery or take out.  While I know we're better than a lot of families, I know how easy it can be to order Swiss Chalet or pick up pizza after a long day of work and extra-curriculars.  I also know that my coffee habit can get expensive, so I also counted buying coffee out as a part of the umbrella of fast food, that is unless I had a business coffee meeting (which only happened once this month and I had a black tea with Agave from David's Tea).

I picked February because it's the shortest month of the year, but I feel a need to add in here that Chris suggested that we also practice a dry month (meaning no alcohol) from February 5th to March 9th, with three pre-scheduled "cheat" days for events we booked before taking this leap into healthy living overload - so we really doubled down on our challenges here.

For the most part it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  And I'm happy to report that we didn't cheat once.  Here are the highlights (and low lights) of another challenge completed, a month with no fast food.



Little Havana Cafe
A picture from the coffee truck I chased all last summer



Day 1: After a particular rough school drop off I wanted to treat myself to a jumbo vat of Tim Hortons Coffee, but I crossed the street so I wouldn't be tempted to head in for a medium double double.  I later over compensated by mainlining coffee at my parents house, but it wasn't take out, so I guess we're good?

Day 2: I purposely ignored a text from a friend who asked if I wanted her to bring me a coffee, so I wouldn't actually have to say no to coffee...just the same a pedicure without my standard double double felt a little wrong.

Day 4: After a long and fun ski trip there's nothing I'd like more than to order some pizza tonight and watch movies.  Instead I hit the grocery store before we even got home to make sure our cupboards were at least somewhat stocked.  We also bought a big jar of hot chocolate mix so the kids won't have to miss out on hot cocoa from Tim Hortons after their skating lessons, and indulged them in purchasing the Timmies brand hot chocolate.

Day 7: After a late work meeting I was asked out for drinks and food, and I politely declined to head home - although it was very tempting.  I was ravenous by the time I hit Dundas West Station at 745PM and McDonald's was right there.  I kept it together and made myself some pasta at home, even though I didn't get to eat it until 830PM....I should get some sort of brownie points for this one. Mmmm...brownies.

Day 10: Today we avoided fast food after going to a hockey game with the kids and after a night out for double date drinks - one of our dry month "cheat days".  This is usually one of the most tempting times to "treat ourselves" to something unhealthy - our partners in crime suggested poutine and we declined.  Instead we went home and made sandwiches (that's not a euphemism)..Sure they weren't the healthiest sandwiches, but it wasn't poutine, a burger, or junk from 7-11.

Day 13: Not being able to grab myself a jumbo coffee during my "long" day of work seems particularly tortuous today.  I don't know why.  This tea just isn't cutting it and I'm too lazy to make myself coffee for one.

Day 14: I just realized that the coffee truck that I was stalking at the fresh market on the Lakeshore all last summer has opened up a pop up shop directly on the route to pick up and drop off the kids at school...I'm crossing my fingers that it's still open come March.

Day 15: The regular delivery offers that come to my email inbox are starting to taunt me, especially since tonight is salmon and salad night in an attempt to be healthier.  It's like they know and have set up an email campaign to win me back.  Actually I'm certain this is how their email subscription works Curses to them and their delicious coupons!

Day 18: Jack asked if we could order in sushi tonight. This is the first time one of the children has complained or noticed our new healthier eating regimen.  I guess this means they're doing better than we are.  So, we've compromised and will take him the first weekend in March when Molly's at a friend's birthday party.

Day 22: I am absolutely exhausted and would love a cup of coffee from Tim Hortons, unfortunately I'm also too lazy to make myself coffee,  So I'll just take a nap instead.

Fresh Tulips, not Fast Food for the win


Day 24: Tonight we went to a restaurant (totally within the rules) for Korean BBQ.  Eating out really felt like a treat and afterwards we went to a fruit market and loaded up on berries, cucumbers, and some fresh tulips.  Pretty happy with our choices right now.

Day 27: Chris is down 4lbs since we started this journey and although the scale has barely budged for me, my pants are feeling a lot looser, and this isn't about weight necessarily, it's about being healthy.

Day 28: Today is the last day.  I am happy to be done, but have learned a lot.  Coffee and convenience are clearly the biggest triggers for me compared to an actual want or dependency on fast food.  I have also realized how lazy I am when it comes to making my own coffee unless I have someone to share it with, and since Chris isn't a coffee drinker, it just hasn't happened.  I'm hoping some of this will stick and help us be more mindful of our choices and to treat myself to some home brew more often.  All the same I'm heading to Little Havana's Coffee pop up immediately following school drop off tomorrow morning and indulging in their Cafe Bon Bon before the pop up shop closes.  Only nine more days until a crisp Sauv Blanc!


To check out my progress on my 101 in 1001 goals (or get inspiration for a list of your own) click here


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