I’m either setting myself up for solid support or hugely public failure. Fun!

Old habits die hard. Especially when they result in rewards like not having to do the dishes.

This blog has been rather silent recently, which happens to it from time to time. I apologize for that – I am not such a great blogger, it seems. Once, it was about the wedding. Sometimes, I just get distracted. This time, well…

This time it’s because we’ve gotten into a bit of a food funk. It doesn’t feature nearly as many frittatas or stir-fries as back when we started this blog, but it features almost as much eating out (or delivery). I think so, anyway.

To be totally forthright, this is not only frustrating and embarrassing due to how this blog came about, but it was particularly so in February. Yes, February. The shortest month of the year and one of only two months in the existence of this blog where I didn’t post the entire month.

February pokes at my conscience because I had privately declared that I would only eat two dinners “out” (including delivery). Bill thought this was a little silly, as did a few people who knew about it. One or two were quite supportive and one even enthusiastic. I had specified dinners because that’s when, most of the time, I am most likely to eat out. I love all meals out, but mostly I eat breakfast and lunch at home. So, basically, I ignored them, assuming I’d just do as I had always done and eat those two meals at home every day.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of why, but February was an unmitigated disaster in terms of eating at home. In honesty, I think we ate out MORE in February than average. I certainly did, as I had several breakfasts and lunches out. After enough attempts to not eat out and failing, I finally gave up and stopped thinking about it. That didn’t help either.

We did very little cooking in February. I completely failed in that goal, and it makes me intensely grouchy.

So, I’m going to reboot and try again. This time, I’m trying in April and May. This time, I’m not just quietly telling a few friends that I’m going to try to do this. This time, I’m telling everybody. And, this time? I’ll be a bit more prepared for the traps that came up in February.

Here’s where I’m recording it. I don’t promise you a blog post daily, but I’m going to work toward making sure you see something Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’ll let you know if I succeed or if I fail. The exact details:

I will eat no more than four meals total “out” from 11 April 2012 to 11 May 2012. This IS more generous to myself than February, but still keeps it reasonable, I think. Four is to allow for some each of breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have one dinner “out” scheduled every month that I have no intention of missing, and then three other flexible chances to eat out. Hopefully, I’ll manage to eat out no more than two times, but we’ll see.

There’s a possibility Bill and I will be traveling in this time. If so, I’ll suspend the “eating in” challenge until we return, and extend it by the appropriate amount of time. Unless I can manage to successfully “eat in” while traveling. Then you poor bastards who follow this blog are going to hear some real crowing. And possibly a snap or two as I try to pat myself on the back for a week straight.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, I have what I think is a clear definition of “eating out”. Namely, it’s about paying for restaurant food. And not just me paying for it, though the money is part of why I decided to take on this challenge. So, going to a friend’s house for a meal he or she personally prepared is not eating “out”. Ordering Thai food and watching a movie in my yoga pants is eating “out”. In February, I didn’t know if I’d accept an invitation to eat out on someone else’s dime. I now know that, for a month, I won’t. I’ll happily schedule for 12 May 2012, or invite that person to my house and I’ll cook, but as part of this challenge is about eating “better”, restaurant food needs to go for a bit. I also didn’t know if drinks (but not food) “out” was acceptable. The answer is no. The first slip-up I had in February came from going out for drinks and ending up staying for dinner.

Besides, I have a rather well-stocked bar, a collection of beer (including some of my own homebrew!), and several bottles of wine. I think my friends and I can manage to have a drink or two at my place, save some money, and still enjoy ourselves.

2 thoughts on “I’m either setting myself up for solid support or hugely public failure. Fun!

  1. Good luck with your quest. My willpower is weak and I’m not sure I’d make it, but your well stocked bar and wine cabinet might make it easier. 🙂

    • I do have a decently stocked bar & a few bottles of wine.

      I have no idea if I’m going to succeed. I really want to (it starts today), but I’m already discovering minefields. I’ll post tomorrow about one of them (maybe today if I can write fast).

      Still, even if I don’t quite make it, I’m hoping to put on a much better show this time around.

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