Week three progress report
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At the end of August, I made the commitment to spend $125 or less in September on eating out. I spent a total of $34.77 during week three (September 15th through 21st) — $14.78 of which was at Olive Garden.
I mention Olive Garden specifically because eating there regularly (once or twice a week) has been my downfall. They won’t give out the nutrition information on what I eat there (chicken parmesan), which disturbs me. When I eat there I feel like my heart is racing afterwards, and I’m incredibly thirsty for the rest of the day — no matter how many glasses of water I drink afterwards. Still, I was addicted to it. I say “was” because I think I finally have the addiction licked. When I ate there last week, not only did I have the usual symptoms, but I also woke up sick in the middle of the night. I don’t want to repeat that.
I’ve also noticed that the more I eat “real” food (freshly made stuff), the worse fast food tastes. I think the longer I continue with these new eating habits, the easier they will become. The majority of places I have eaten out this month have been local restaurants that actually make their food from scratch.
At any rate, the grand total for the month to date is $68.08 — so I’ve got an excellent chance of coming in at my goal of $125 or less. This is especially good when you consider that my typical expenses for eating out usually ran $200-$250 per month, and that I’m not having the massive cravings. I’d rather use that money for travel or investments — something fun instead of something mindless that’s unhealthy.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:00 am
I’m shocked by your physical reaction from the Chicken Parmesan. I too love this dish, although I prefer it at Maggianno’s. I have never had the reaction you experience or maybe I never noticed it. I will pay attention next time.
Of course, at Olive Garden I generally order the soup and salad combo with a rasberry peach tea.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:19 am
The same has happened to me over years of eating mostly at home. Plus growing up we ate healthy home cooked meals nearly 99% of the time and my palette was affected by that and got used to a pretty high standard.
I find meals out to often be too greasy, fattening, cheesy, and otherwise not healthy or simple enough for my taste. Not everywhere mind you, but many places, esp. the chain type restaurants and of course fast food.
Some of the more pricey restaurants though serve the type of food I like, plenty of fresh veggies not cooked to within an inch of their life, but crisp, full of natural flavor and not buried in tons of sauce, oil, and additional flavorings.
Give me a fresh salad with a light splash of vinaigrette and some veggies or a nice sorbet with one or two cookies for dessert and I’m happy. But mostly eating at home allows me to eat what I want, control the amount of fat, and to eat vegetarian, low/lowish fat, and often organic, and fresh, tasty meals. Why would I want Olive Garden when I can have that?
I think your non eating out project is great, we are doing something similar, cutting down on dining out even more to save money. But we still go here and there, enjoy small tasty meals when the urge hits. We just are selective about where we go and what we eat.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
I agree with m. I tend to find chain restaurants too fatty, sweet, and salty for my tastes. That’s not to say we don’t eat there occasionally - we got takeout from Ruby Tuesday the other night when dinner was accidentally burned - but it just doesn’t taste as good as what we make at home.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
heart is racing after eating chicken parmesan? Never heard of this before?
September 26th, 2007 at 5:35 am
I wonder if there was MSG in the food. It adds flavor or it’s a preservative — I don’t even really know why it’s there. But you could’ve had a reaction to that. And by the way, they now call it all sorts of tricky things like “Modified Food Starch” when you look on labels. That said, congratulations on your plan! You’ll be richer and healthier!
September 26th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Why do americans have this blind spot when it comes to eating out. You should learn to cook my dears and never (well, once a year if you have toand preferably when someone else is paying ) You cant eat out and expect to save money !
September 26th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Just to clarify, the reactions I experienced weren’t from eating chicken parmesan in general (because I’m fine when I make it myself or eat it at restaurants that have “home-cooked” style meals) — it’s only when I eat it from Olive Garden.