We also spent over $2,200.00 dining out this year – nearly 7% of our net income!

That is a hell of a lot of money to spend on stuffing your face. For a family of three that has got to be just outrageous. Every week I write out a check for nearly $200 and that can’t be right.

Actually, its about normal. According to the USDA a moderate cost plan for a family of two is about 533.40, and for a family of four it is 771.10. We are a family of three, so we should fall right in the middle, and it appears that we do.

Okay so we spend the American average amount of money on groceries. How does that factor in your income though? That average is 22% of our net income, but it may only be 5% of someone else’s. It seems that the percentage is what worries me, not the actual dollar amount. Well, unless my income is going to drastically increase in the very near future I guess I will just have to get used to it! Or stop buying healthy, organic, brand name foods and start buying crap. Yeah thats not gonna happen.

That isn’t surprising – the surprising part is that I didn’t do it.

Here is how it usually goes down:

1. I remember that we have a certain food in the house. (Notice that step one here isn’t Feel Hungry, as it should be, but just thinking about available food. Pathetic.)

2. I try to recall the last time I ate, and what I ate today. If it was long enough ago, and I ate healthy enough earlier, then I try to use that to justify the splurge.

3. I think about the food that I’m craving …. about how it is just sitting in the kitchen all lonely and calling out to me …

4. I think about repercussions. Will my husband and/or my son be a witness to this binge? Or if they aren’t around at the time, will they notice later that the aforementioned food item is gone? What will their reaction be?

5. Attempt, once again, to justify my potential action. Try to convince myself that its okay to eat  because I am depressed … lonely … angry … bored … sick … whatever.

6. Make a last ditch effort to talk myself into it by using the whole “You’re already fat so what’s 25 more grams of saturated fat going to matter” argument.

7. Am ready at this point to go binge. Will start eating better tomorrow, I promise myself. Today doesn’t matter. These calories don’t matter. This isn’t how I really eat. Tomorrow is a new day.

8. Remember my heart. Back away from kitchen – physically and mentally. Can my heart take the added pounds that will surely result from a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream right before bed? My poor heart – it is already handling twice the burden that it was created to handle. My current lifestyle is robbing me of at least four years of my life according to realage.com. THAT SUCKS. I don’t want to die. If I can have four more years, I’ll take ‘em. I try to think of my heart now as  a newborn babe, or a teeny tiny kitten, or a very fragile, beautiful old lady. It must be treated with utmost care – I would wrap it in swaddling clothes if I could. These are the things I have to remember.

Breakfast:

*Hot water this morning made sore throat go away. No headache today. But felt a little depressed.

According to an assesment at mypyramind.gov I need more vegetables and less sodium. Also, my caloric intake was high, which surprises me because I have been eating less junk food and less  food overall for the past few days. Protein is perfect considering I didn’t have one bite of meat today. Carbs too high. Fat too high. Fiber wonderful. Need more vitamin a. A little more potassium wouldn’t hurt. Overall I still think its much better than the average diet.

Physical Activity Results:

WebMD

MDJunction

Spark People – this is the one I joined today: HEARTHEALTHY23

Healia

blueberry herbal tea w/

banana

Honey Nut Cheerios w/ soy milk

Lunch:

water

honey wheat pretzel sticks

sandwich (whole wheat pita pocket, red pepper hummus, sprouts, organic tomato, albacore tuna)

Dinner:

water w/ lemon

mashed organic potatoes w/ spread, light sour cream, 2% milk taco-style shredded cheese

peas

Snack:

organic fat free vanilla yogurt

mixed berries