FIghting the Watch and Wallet

One of the most frustrating things about a food/diet/lifestyle change is that you aren't just fighting your own desires for food or whatever.  You aren't just fighting boredom or outside influences.  You aren't just battling ingrained behaviors.  You also are battling two things that seem very much out of control: your watch and your wallet.  That is one of the biggest frustrations that I have had to deal with in these past few days of this effort of mine.  Changing my eating and approach to food has not been limited to changing what I put in my fridge.  It also has forced me to change my whole daily schedule and the way I use my money.

The time issue has been particularly vexing.  We are busy - just like most families.  Admittedly, we are not as busy as many families.  We don't have sports leagues and dance recitals to run all over the place for.  We've intentionally forfeited some of those to avoid being gone all the time.  But we have the normal time restraints.  There is homework and bedtime and cleaning up the house.  Due to parking issues at FSU, I drive Heather to school several days a week - and then pick her up after class.  That usually lands in the middle of dinner preparation time.  In days past, what I would do on nights like that is resort to something easy and quick.  I had a stock of those items in the freezer and pantry for that reason.  Frozen ravioli heats up quick - the whole process takes 25 minutes from putting water in the pan to pulling the sauced entree out of the oven.  Hamburger patties can be defrosted and cooked quick.  Frozen pizzas cook up in 20 minutes.  Pasta with sauce on it takes hardly time.

Well, the problem is that now I can't eat any of those things.  And Heather isn't eating most of those things..  So there isn't a fast option all the time.  Roasts take a long time to cook - hours instead of minutes.  Chicken has to defrost and get made up - along with sides that need microwaved and such.  In addition, the dishes multiply even faster.  Instead of a pan, or a pot and pan, there are multiple pots and bowls and plates.  All of this contributes and dinner becomes a long ordeal instead of a quick hit.  We have always tried to get dinner going around 5:45-6:00.  That gives us time to eat and then get things done afterwards before bedtime.  Since the diets began, our dinner time has drifted back to 7:00, or even 7:30 some nights.  The kids go to bed right after, which means they have to do everything before dinner - which can get hairy when we are getting Heather.

Last night I went out to the FSU Signing Day party with Greg Ramer.  It was nice to get out of the house and hang out with Greg.  But I left our house at 4:40 to get Heather, got back home at 5:30, left at 5:35 to go to Greg's, got to his house at 5:55, left right then to go the event, which started at 6:00.  They had food there, but the lines were already huge with the throngs of people who got there before the doors opened.  And the food all was sandwiches and cookies and chips and brownies.  So we ended up not eating.  I got home around 8:45 and needed to find something to eat.  You can't just "whip something up" at 8:45 when you can't use the fast options.  So I ended up eating two cold pieces of roast beef.

When you add in exercise, which I am trying to do, that is another chunk of time.  I can't go walking when I have the kids with me.  Our apartment complex is not the best places to be walking around the parking lots with kids.  There are a lot of blind corners and the drivers take most of the curves very wide.  Our fitness center is nice, and they have a little kids area.  But you basically put the kid in there and hope they play and don't climb over the tiny gate.  (Yeah right)  They don't have a dvd player.  And I know Gabe well enough to know he would just scream at me the whole time.  That would get my heart racing - especially since the fitness center is in the same building as the leasing office - as in they are right next to each other.  SO that leaves either getting up an hour early to walk or going out at night to do it after the kids are in bed.  Needless to say, that is proving difficult.

Time is a huge barrier to good health and eating habits.  But the bigger barrier may be money.  The fact is, it is cheap to eat crap.  I know that is a coarse way to say it, but it's true.  You can get frozen pizzas for $3 or $4.  Bags of ravioli are $5.  Burgers are cheap.  Pasta is cheap.  The stuff to make tacos and quesadillas is cheap.  Mac and cheese is cheap.  Pizza is made cheap.  And eating out at fast food places or ordering pizza APPEARS cheap.  Even though the money comparison proves otherwise, it is all about perception.  When you are cramped for time and trying to save money, it seems like a good option to take advantage of Domino's $6 pizzas.  But you actually can make pizzas just as cheap and fast at home.  (And pizza isn't even an option - so who cares?)

When you are trying to eat right, you have to buy vegetables (not cheap) and fruit (not cheap) and meats to cook (definitely not cheap).  You get that huge $125 or $200 grocery bill.  And, face it, there is no amount of coupon clipping and being sneaky with Publix that can help that bill.  They don't have coupons for fresh food.  Our entire society pushes us towards to lousy eating habits.  The coupons direct us to more and more processed and prepared food.  So we end up consuming boatloads of chemicals, preservatives, sugar, and sodium.  The sodium on prepared stuff is killer.  I was looking at sodium content on some things the other day and was stunned.  There was a hot dog at Sam's I found that had 1000 mg of sodium in each frank!  You have to drop the big money on fresh meat.  $11 for a turkey breast roast.  $25 for a turkey. $14 for a beef roast.  $16 for a big pack of chicken breast tenderloins.  It adds up.  Yes, the truth is that those meals last for days and that they actually cost less when divided across a whole family.  But it is tough to swallow those huge payments when you are struggling to pay bills - like most of us probably are.

There have been several times lately when I have longed for the ease of my old ways.  It would be so easy to swing through a drive through on the way home from dropping off or picking up Heather.  Last night I passed several places that I could have zipped into and gotten a quick dinner on the way home.  Shoot, Burger King has $1 double cheeseburgers.  My whole meal would have been just a couple bucks.  Of course, if had just eaten at the event it would have been even cheaper and easier.  But they had meatball subs and pork sandwiches and hot dogs and chips and cheese dip.  So I couldn't risk it.

It gets to be very frustrating when you have to battle time and finances.  When I think back to where I began my downward slide - in college and just out of college - time and money always was the issue.  Once you realize the meal plan is a waste of money and ditch it, you are then dependent on a microwave to cook everything.  And, of course you are broke in college.  So even when you don't eat out, the menu is a bunch of prepared stuff.  But, it is just easier to call for delivery or to run across the street to McDonald's or BK or Miami Subs.  When you are driving all over for events, just race through a Taco Bell and bring it with you into your office.  Or eat it in the car.  Those habits have become just as ingrained as eating the junk to begin with.  I love the quickness of most food options I have relied on.  I have become accustomed to being able to whip dinner together in 30 minutes - or better yet, 15 minutes. So this is requiring me to change my entire schedule.  And it means I have to have bigger chunks of money at a time, instead of letting it trickle away in spurts.

In the long run, of course, this is better.  The food is better for us with fewer damaging ingredients.  I become more disciplined with my time.  We actually hold onto more money in the long run - it can go farther.  And I further my general goal of developing a healthy relationship with food.  But it sure is tough right now to remember that.  Sounds like another sneaky way to teach me patience and self control, if you ask me.  (sigh)  Is there a way to speed up THAT process?