With the present state of the economy, one has to become a little more vigilant when spending money, especially on food shopping and eating out. Maybe this is a good excuse to start cutting down on our meat intake since some of the most expensive food items are meat, fish and shellfish. You don’t have to totally avoid them; just cutting down on the portion size can make a difference.
It’s a known fact that Americans eat large portions of meat. There’s absolutely no reason to order a 32 oz steak at a restaurant. So maybe instead of ordering a $50 steak, you could buy a nice filet mignon or rib eye at the grocery store for $5-$8 per piece and cook it at home instead. Can you imagine how much money you could save? Not to mention how much cheaper it is to buy wine at the store rather than at the restaurant!
A nice steak dinner for two at a restaurant can easily cost between $150 and $200. The same meal at home with an even nicer bottle of wine would cost less than half that. Another advantage of spoiling yourself at home rather than dining out is that you can easily control the amount of extra calories added to your meal. You know…the ones that seem to always slip in when eating at a restaurant. They put butter and sour cream on your baked potato, the creamed spinach is way too creamy and you ate two rolls while waiting for your entrée. It’s a fact that we always eat too much when we eat out; typically thinking we need to ‘treat’ ourselves.
Why not treat yourself at home where you have more control? Instead of consuming an extra 800 calories, maybe it will be just 200; 200 calories is much easier to burn than 800. Not to mention the gas you will save and global energy. I remember reading Diet for a small planet in 1971, where Frances Moore Lappé mentioned that it takes 16 lbs of grain to produce one pound of meat. I don’t know if she needed to revise this ratio when she published the second edition 20 years later, but this is food for thought.
Stay tuned as I will give more specific tips on cutting down your food bill over the next few weeks.
- Josée
Labels: food for thought, Josee, Lifestyle Change, Mindful Eating, Stress Management
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