Back Where I Began

The project is over. I should be fine going out to eat. Tonight I got dinner at Subway just because I could and I did not feel like cooking anything. As I drove there, back, and while eating, I could not shake the feeling that what I was doing was wrong.

While reviewing my seminar's film "Down to Earth: Small Farm Issues in a Big Farm World", it hit me. Sarah Hackney from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said,  "We all eat three times a day. We all have three times a day to choose what we put into our bodies and where it comes from". Wow, eating is more then just fueling our bodies. It is a way to vote with your money, for what is good for you and the environment.

I do not have to deal with the rules anymore, but who says I have to stop following them. Most food that is processed has been giving me stomach aches and I am starting to run low on Alka-Seltzer. Why should I put myself through that when I am craving apples and carrots, not cheetos or oreos?

I think for the most part, I will choose to eat local, unprocessed food from now on. It is cheaper than take-out or processed food from the store. It is less likely to make me sick. It tastes better. I know what I am putting into my body, which makes me more comfortable.

How about you, do you think about what you put into your body? Your children's?

In case you have not seen the documentary I mentioned earlier, you can find it here. It is only 35 minutes, so I encourage you to watch and consider where your food comes from.

The Final Numbers

So I am officially done with the Real Food Thesis. The experience has been amazing. One good way to show what I learned is through the piles of data I collected. So here are some of the final numbers.

• Average spent on food per day: $4.88
• Per week: $34.19
• Per month: $136.75
• Total Spent on food: $630.66
• Total Eaten: $488.39
• Total Food Waste: $47.93 (7.6% of what I spent on food total).
• Days on the project: 112, 100 of which followed the rules entirely (other days were breaks or I was sick)
• 16 Weeks long
• 10 lb. lost

What do you think? I am personally shocked by how little I spent a day. The most I spent on food while following the diet in one day was $8.57 on September 24. I had Jamba Juice for dinner, and that cost $4.90, but it still followed the rules. The least I spent on food in one day was $0 because I was eating lots of free food. Other low days were caused by me being sick. Days that I was home were not calculated into this. If they were, I would have averaged $4.36 per day.

I will have one or two more posts before I call it quits. Thank you for following me on my journey.

6 More Hours

Yes I am counting down almost to the minute now (355 left). I am ready to be done with my real food thesis. Are there any restaurants open after midnight? I am craving a pizza. I am so ready to go out with friends and eat at a restaurant. My fridge is becoming empty, so I will probably go shopping tomorrow. Honestly I predict that I will still primarily buy non processed food, but I will give you a report tomorrow.

There is one aspect of this project that I will be ecstatic to not do any more....calculate how much everything I eat costs. With this restraint gone, I think my dietary patterns will change and I will not associate as much stress with eating. Who knows, I might even eat more when I am not required to track it. I am excited to be done, but I am glad that I have gone through this process. I have learned to cook a lot of different things such as meat and hummus. I have also learned more about eating a balanced diet and noticing when my body tells me I need something.

I can do this.... 340 minutes left!!!!

A New Addiction that Goes Crunch!!

So last night was the premier of the film my seminar has been working on all semester. With any large event, there tends to food, in our case, we provided fresh local free food for the attendees. During clean up, there were leftovers, so nearly everyone got to take some food home. I got a gallon of apple cider, a whole box of assorted cranberry muffins, and best of all, corn chips.

I did not realize until last night how much I have missed crunchy food. No worries, these chips contain stone ground white corn, water, oil, lime, and sea salt. They are also GMO free. Back to crunchy food, when you reheat dishes, even if they had a crunch someplace, it tends to go away. These chips seem even crunchier then I remember. I may have even eaten half of the bag last night alone. The rest may not survive today. I do not know why, but there is something satisfying about hearing a crunch when you bite down on a chip. Even when I started getting a stomachache, I kept eating them. That crunch is addictive.

Anyway, I know that from Sunday onward I am going to go and buy chips and other crunchy foods to enjoy, hopefully in moderation.

Cleaning Out the Fridge

Just for fun, here is a post of what I ate today, all brought to you by my fridge/pantry!

Breakfast:
oatmeal with sugar

Lunch:
Lentil soup
snickerdoodle cookie dough

Dinner:
corn
turkey

I did not have to cook a thing, just reheat in the microwave. It makes the week less stressful knowing that I have food put away that is simple to reheat. It may not be the most balanced of diets, but as long as I am full and my brain is functioning, I am ok.

This is how I plan to eat until the project is done, focusing on leftovers and cleaning out the fridge.

Short and Sweet

As I begin to write this post I have 5 days, 12 hours, and 18 minutes left of this project. Thanksgiving break was a wonderful and I must have gained a few pounds with all the food that I ate.

As I go into this last week I have to admit it is harder and harder to keep to my rules. I am trying my best, eating lots of leftover turkey. I already used a loophole today and ate a doughnut, but it was free. I will finish this project strong. Some motivation for me is that I am going out to eat with friends on Sunday. I can make it that long.

I have 94 days on this diet under my belt and I am still averaging around $5 a day. My main goal this week is to not give up as I have made it this far.

Sorry for the short post, but I do not have much to say.

Thanksgiving Part 2: The Feast

I still feel so stuffed from yesterday. Here are some photos of what we made and ate:

The turkey turned out fine, a little drier then what I wanted but my family said that it tasted good.

The gravy was.... well thick. And rather flour and starch like. I have concluded that making gravy is an art that I have not mastered yet, but this was my first try.

My dad cooked a beef tenderloin in addition to the turkey. This has been tradition for many years and it is delicious.

I also made french bread; they turned out to be the largest loaves yet and the best tasting. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of it before it was eaten.

Here is all the food laid out on the table to serve. French fries, olives, pickles, and cranberry jelly from a a can were also on the menu.

I made an apple pie from scratch for dessert. The crust was nice and flakey with my secret ingredient.

So that is my Thanksgiving dinner that served 12. There is a ton of leftover turkey, so that will be going back to school with me.