"Eating Out" Fast

John and I have been on an eat out fast for about a month or two now. We are trying to change our attitudes about eating out and reduce how often we eat out (health + cost implications). It has been really good for us and has been enjoyable.

I spent the last year travelling full time and ate out pretty much every meal Mon-Thursday, and then was so exhausted over the weekend I wanted to do anything but cook (and you know, excercise lol). So we ate out a lot over the weekend too. This led to a few more pounds for both of us... being in the red with our food budget each month... and the general expectation that food should be instantaneous (no need to wait when you can get it fast or order appetizers).

So a few weeks after I came home we started our "Eating Out Fast". We have sat our desks bringing our leftovers from the day before while our colleagues went out... we have grabbed food from grocery stores to cook at friends houses when we go straight from work so we don't just grab fast food. We have gotten better at planning menus, controlling our portions so we have enough for lunch, and waiting longer to eat in the evenings.

We do make exceptions.. We have gone out for friend's birthdays. If we have a work dinner (not paid for by us...) we go and try to order something healthy. We went out this weekend on a date to a restaurant-- and it was really special. Not just a hunger frenzied attempt to eat something fast, but a special event where we enjoyed food in one anothers company.

This may not be that big of a deal for some people -- but for us it is huge. Before we were eating out 2-3 times a week. Now we are at 2-3 times a month.Anyway-- hoping to keep up this "food-i-tude" for good, has been a great change for us.