How do you save money in your food or restaurant budget without cutting out your favorite ingredients or more pricey dinner items? Consider today’s experiment: Eat Less.
Okay, I feel like I’m going to have to explain myself well with this one. A of all, I am not condoning anorexia in the least. B of all, I’m definitely not encouraging you to go hungry, laying in bed at night, unable to fall asleep because you are dying for a bowl of cereal.
Let me share a little personal experience. When I was pregnant with and later nursed my daughter, I ate way more than normal. My body was working overtime, so I felt totally comfortable consuming way more calories than I normally did. I didn’t lose weight while nursing. I maintained my weight (not the norm) because I knew that I could eat more. So I did. And I enjoyed it. Until I stopped nursing.
When I quit nursing, I kept my eating habits up even though my body had gone back to regular hours. I quickly noticed an expanding waistline. But when I tired to cut back, my body protested, being used to bigger portions.
I decided I had to decrease my portion size because I knew that I was eating way more than I needed to. The scale proved that one.
I have to tell you, it was SO hard! When I scaled back on my eating, I felt hungry constantly… for about four days. For four days straight, my body thought I was going to die of starvation because I was denying it the amounts of food is had been used to. That fifth day, my body gave up complaining and decided to go with the flow. I was hungry at normal times and not in between meals.
I have another friend who wanted to scale back. She simply cut her portion size and lost all her unhealthy weight that way.
I know another person who is losing weight simply from eating half of what they desire to eat.
Is this unhealthy? No, I and these other people are giving their body the nutrients that it needs without over indulging. This is not anorexia. This is eating what your body needs and desires without letting lust for good tasting food pressure you into eating extra.
The money savings are tangible. Our family stretches the food budget a lot longer than we used to simply through eating less in a healthier way. My husband and I can go out to eat and split an entree instead of both gorging ourselves onto two individual meals.
If you give this idea a shot, don’t just keep track of the weight you lose through eating healthy amounts of food. Watch how it stretches your dollar too.
Have you been there, done that? Tell us your story!
My husband and I LOVE to eat out. We eat out all the time. I would probably guess that the majority of our budget each month goes to eating out. We are not over weight at all….we choose very healthy options when dining out…but we are being awful stewards of our money. I sit back and I think of all the people that I could be helping with the money that I spend on eating out and it literally makes me sick. I love the idea of sharing a meal….I think that I am going to have us try that. (I have to break my husband in slowly to any new ideas). You are an amazing writing and I appreciate all of your advice! SO PRACTICAL!!
It sounds like you already have a lot of discipline in your life. When we eat out, I never choose the healthy options!!
When my husband and I go over our budget each month, we take out charitable giving first before we allocate money anywhere else. That way we don’t feel bad later in the month about spending on ourselves. We also want to show ourselves that it is our priority.
Thanks for the encouraging words!
4 days of feeling hungry and then normal on the 5th day, huh? I can put up with that! Knowing the end is in sight makes me much more likely to stick with something.
I started taking a class at the YMCA, too. I think it’s giving me muscles!