Eat in Month Stress Eating Challenge

Not gonna lie…Eat in Month was a bit of a challenge for me today (I know, I know…it’s only the third day! Whatevs.).

Things started this morning when my I’m-used-to-sleeping-in-thanks-to-vacation a$$ didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t snooze too long, but I barely had enough time to down a quick bowl of banana oatmeal. But hey, I managed to eat in, so I’m taking it. I tried adding some almond butter to breakfast for staying power, but I was still pretty hungry by around 10:30am. I managed to wait till after noon to dig into lunch (which, by the way, was packed in about 4 minutes as we were rushing out the door this morning). I had a turkey sandwich on Great Harvest High Fiber bread with some BBQ chips. Simple does it.

I had snacks packed for the rest of the day in case I got hungry, but I ended up too stressed to think about food. I was playing catch up from being on vacation (email inbox h*ll – know what I mean office people?), plus I had to review an important document with about 50 people for an hour and a half for the last part of the day. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially since I didn’t 100% understand the subject matter, but I made it (I have 3 more of these meetings later this week, though…ack!). And then there were the multiple databases and excel files…but that’s another story for another day (who am I kidding, you guys don’t care about that, so that story will likely never be told…hehe).

By the end of the day, I was thinking I could use a cocktail and a stop at the local BBQ joint…till I remembered that we couldn’t go (d*mn you Eat in Month!). Boo! Luckily, hubby had researched some dinner ideas and proposed we turn our leftover pot roast into shepherd’s pie. And since I’m a big fan of shepherd’s pie, I thought that was a great idea.

PotRoastShepPie-0719.jpg

Here’s a preview photo of the finished result. it’s a goodie!

PotRoastShepPie-0656.jpg

And here’s a little something-something-else – a preview of a breakfast recipe I played with while I was on vacation.

***

Anywho, stress eating challenges or not, I still made it through another day of the EIM challenge! And the best part (besides rising to the occasion and sticking with the challenge) may have been thinking of all the money I saved by not eating out. Had I eaten out any of the meals today, I may have spent an additional $3 for breakfast, $8-10ish for lunch, and $15 for dinner. I’m not sure exactly how much all today’s meals cost, but they were definitely cheaper than my estimated eat-out expenses!

***

At the end of a stressful day, do you prefer to eat out (or order take-out) or do you prefer cooking at home. Sometimes I think cooking is a great way to de-stress…sometimes I just want something easy and tasty without the effort. What about you?

17 thoughts on “Eat in Month Stress Eating Challenge”

  1. The epitome of a lazy meal for me is PB&J with a glass of milk. It used to be eggs, but I’ve obviously become lazier.

    Yesterday I used the crock pot to make a Brown Sugar Balsamic Pork Roast- finally I used that appliance for something other than applesauce and beans! While the pork clocked in at $14 (!!!!), there are leftovers for me today (and prolly tomorrow). I signed up for a home delivery service that gets me a sizable bin of fruits and veggies to play with for the week. What’s awesome is you get notified ahead of time so you can swap out things you don’t like…although I got stuck with rainbow chard this week. Pinterest to the rescue!

    Reply
  2. The hubs and I enjoy eating out, especially since there are just two of us. We take the opportunity to just relax and enjoy a nice dinner out. ANyway, we aren’t doing EIM, but we are significantly reducing our eating out. We plan to have only one “table service” meal (tip restaurant) per week and one “quick” meal (no tip) per week. This will be kinda hard, but I know we can do it!

    Reply
  3. Hi Diana! I’m trying the EIM challenge – first timer! and I’m really excited about it BUT my boyfriend has a tennis tournament next weekend about 5 hours away and we are going for the weekend. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can limit (or eliminate) how much we eat out? Keep in mind that he has certain limitations bc of tennis and let’s throw in that he’s new to my quirky “new-to-him” foods. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Hey Abby – welcome! 🙂

      I think your strategy will depend on how strict you want to be about the challenge. I had to travel during one of my EIMs, and I just realized that I’d have to eat out (I think I was traveling with co-workers or something), so I tacked on a couple extra days to the end of my challenge. So you could just do that.

      If you really want to eat in, it would be difficult if you don’t have a kitchen area. You could make no-cook things like sandwiches and salads, though.

      You could semi-cheat. One year for EIM, we were renovating our kitchen and didn’t have a sink or stove, so I ate a lot of yogurt and granola for breakfast and for a couple times, we had to go eat at the grocery store. I found some great eats at Earthfare, so it was sort of like a compromise given the situation.

      You could a combination of these options. I think you could pretty easily pack a meal to eat on the way there. Maybe make sandwiches, hummus, etc. and pack it in a cooler to enjoy on your trip? You could pack meal bars, granola, etc. and stock your hotel mini fridge with yogurt/milk for “in” breakfasts and then maybe eat out for the other meals you couldn’t do.

      Hope this helps! And have fun at the tournament. I hope he wins!

      🙂 Diana

      Reply
      • Hi Diana!

        Thanks for following up. We stopped and got take-out dinner on our way up at his brother’s house. Not exactly eating in, but better than eating out. I ate breakfast and lunch “in” from a cooler and we ate out 2 nights, stopping at a friend’s on the way home for a dinner from the grill. So all in all not bad under the circumstances! 🙂

        Now that I’m back, I’m back on track and we’re more than half-way done!

        Reply
  4. Newbie over here! :-]

    I’m definitely a “cook at home” type no matter how tired I am. Usually my default is breakfast for dinner (ie, eggs + salad or something). Tres gourmet. ;-]

    Reply
  5. I can go either way – stress but with trapped energy and I’ll cook at home. Washed out and crashed on the couch and I’ll get dinner delivered. We have a company that delivers salads locally, which makes me super happy 🙂

    Good luck with your inbox – I know that feeling only too well…

    Reply
  6. I work in databases all day – I am probably one of your only readers who would want to talk shop! LOL. (Not a DBA, more of just SQL code writer…)

    The end of a stressful day typically has me ordering out… but not dinner – dessert! A trip to the ice cream parlour is my vice.

    Reply
  7. Definitely. When I’ve had a long day that is when I pretty much always opt to eat out. Thankfully I’ve been cooking really big meals and have A LOT of leftovers so that’s helpful. I don’t have to prepare anything I just choose between the chili or the bb

    Reply
  8. Definitely. When I’ve had a long day that is when I pretty much always opt to eat out. Thankfully I’ve been cooking really big meals and have A LOT of leftovers so that’s helpful. I don’t have to prepare anything I just choose between the chili or the bbq chicken legs. Haha.

    Reply
  9. So happy I checked out your site- the layout is great and it’s fun!

    I’ve been meaning to make some type of pot pie with all of our leftovers but haven’t gotten around to it- definitely a great way to [re]create a fabulous meal!

    After a long day I prefer to go home, change into my PJ’s and make a simple [yet satisfying] meal at home… Going out is easy but then you still have to go home 😛

    Reply
  10. I like to cook, and since I’m a teacher I get home on the early side, while my husband commutes from the office. That gives me some time to destress and through something together. Spending tons of cash on food actually stresses me out, so that’s a factor too. We grab quick, cheap take out on Friday (or he does while I go to happy hour) and Saturday is usually date night at a restaurant or out with friends. All about balance.

    Reply

Leave a Comment