Why I Enjoy Walking My Groceries Home

I feel like people are always calling me a weirdo for some aspect of my life. I’ve started to wear the label with pride. One part of my life that seems to be met with the most shock and horror lately is that I walk my groceries home. This might be surprising to friends because we live halfway up a 400 foot hill. There is a grocery store at the bottom of our hill and at the top. Either way, you’re climbing a hill in one direction, often with pounds and pounds of groceries on your back. When someone asks where my car is and I tell them I’m carfree for life usually the first question is: “But how do you get groceries?!” Continue reading “Why I Enjoy Walking My Groceries Home”

Simple Living Like A Princess

I’ve always been fairly frugal. I’ve always bought generic brand everything – maybe it’s because I was in advertising, but I knew that the only difference was the label. I didn’t see the point. When I cracked down on my budget at the end of 2014 and started paying attention to what I was spending and trying to reduce it I discovered that the one place that wasn’t out of control was my grocery budget…possibly because I didn’t cook 🙂 . Continue reading “Simple Living Like A Princess”

1 Year of Keto Weight Loss: 45 lbs Gone!

I’ve done it. Previously my longest streaks of weight loss were 3-6 months. The only time I went 6 months the last 3 months included a scale yo-yo while I fought my body’s starvation instincts. I lost maybe 5 lbs in those last 3 months.

Continue reading “1 Year of Keto Weight Loss: 45 lbs Gone!”

Over a Year of Food Logging

I’ve been recording what food I put in my mouth on and off for 5 years. I started this journey after gaining 30 lbs my first year out in the real world and discovering I am horrible at estimating calories in food and more importantly booze (Hint: It’s a lot!) This logging never lasted long: my longest stint being 6 months or 182 days. After I hit my goal I logged on and off while steadily gaining weight. Continue reading “Over a Year of Food Logging”

I Don’t Miss Beer

[Actual interaction at Pyramid Brewing during my company’s happy hour. They don’t serve liquor]
Me (to Bartender): Hi – Can I have a pinot grigio please?
Random Barfly: You came to a brewery and order wine?
Me: Yep! (Walks away rolling eyes) Continue reading “I Don’t Miss Beer”

Shocker: I Don’t Love Going Out Anymore

I used to eat out several times a week. If someone suggested it I was always down (unless it was near the end of the month and I’d run out of budget…). In January I did the Frugalwoods Uber Frugal Challenge where I severely cut down on eating out. I ended up only eating outside food twice for a total of $12.34: A friend lunch date at Chipotle (my suggestion 🙂 ) and a take out burger on 1/2 priced Wednesdays. Luckily this was the same month I started eating low-carb and as a result discovered that butter and cheese make anything delicious 🙂 . Continue reading “Shocker: I Don’t Love Going Out Anymore”

Eating High Fat Made Me Like Cooking

I’ve never enjoyed cooking. I’ve always seen it as a chore. I cook something for an hour, dirty many pots and pans and since I’m a fast eater scarf it down in about five minutes. This does not seem like a great use of my time. Bad ROI 🙂 . Now that I’m eating Low Carb, High Fat food while doing an Uber Frugal Month challenge I’ve discovered something weird. I don’t hate cooking anymore. I haven’t done a full 180, but I don’t mind cooking. I usually do it at least once a day. I make my breakfast from scratch: 3 scrambled eggs cooking in half a tbsp of butter, an ounce of mozzarella cheese, an ounce of an onion (high carb/sugary – who knew?) and whatever treat I want to put it in: yesterday it was pesto (yum), today it was avocado (YUM!). It takes maybe 10 minutes and I eat it slowly with my tea in a sun-soaked living room. Continue reading “Eating High Fat Made Me Like Cooking”

Dietary Musings Part II: High-Fat, Low Carb

I’m surprised by what my brain absorbs and clings onto. I just re-read my original Dietary Musings post. It was two years ago when I looked into a vegan/whole food plant based diet. I planned to record my ailments that the books I was reading claimed would be resolved by eating this way to track my progress. It….didn’t go well :). Cutting all animal products out of my diet made me tired, constantly hungry and didn’t cure anything. I dropped it after less than a month of creating unique recipes that frankly didn’t taste like much of anything at all and went back to my original American diet which includes bouts of low calorie eating combined with overeating at restaurants and binge drinking. Continue reading “Dietary Musings Part II: High-Fat, Low Carb”