It’s been a long time since I shared a good self-deprecating story about my own financial foolishness. Let me remedy that today.
For the past month or so, I’ve been buried deep in writing my book. (I have bookhead, I tell Kris — my mind is wholly absorbed by this project.) I now spend most of every day (seven days a week) holed up in my office up the hill from the house. I walk up in the morning, work through the afternoon, and then walk home in the early evening.
Before I started writing the book, I’d take breaks to walk around the neighborhood or to walk home for lunch. I don’t do that anymore. Instead, I sit in this chair all day, staring at the screen. And I’ve developed the habit of breaking quickly to walk a few steps to the mini-mart next door.
I grab a candy bar, a bag of chips (or, more commonly, pork rinds), and a diet soda. I’m eating like crap and I’m frittering away my nickels and dimes. This stuff isn’t expensive, but it does cost me $3-$4 a day — more if I eat it for two meals.
As a result of this silly habit, my weight has ballooned and I have less money to spend on things that really matter — like comic books or steamed clams at my favorite Italian place.
“You’re being dumb,” Kris told me over the weekend. “You know better than this. You should be walking home to eat.”
“I know,” I said. “But when I have bookhead, all I want is to grab some quick snacks and get back at it.”
“Well, why don’t you take some good food to the office instead?” she asked. Good question.
This morning I drove the quarter mile to the office instead of walking. Actually, I drove to the grocery store first, stocked up on raisins and nuts and Clif bars and canned fish and fruit. I also bought a case of bottled water. (In another time and place, I’d groan about shelling out $3.49 for 24 bottles of stuff I could have for free, but it occurred to me that I’m spending that much on two bottles of soda alone. The bottled water is an instance of doing what works for me.)
How will this new set-up work? Time will tell. I’m a stubborn old cuss sometimes, and when I get set in my ways, they can difficult to change. For now, though, I’ve created a sort of barrier in front of my office door: a stack of food that’s good for me and cost much less than the junk at the mini-mart next door. In fact, I’m eating an apple and a bag of almonds even as I type this.
I don’t want to make it sound like I’m beating myself up over this. Yes, I’ve been lazy and stupid, but it’s not like I’ve ruined my life or anything. But I do find it interesting how easy it was for me to slip into bad habits: I’ve probably spent $100-$150 on junk food over the past month. It’s a reminder to keep a closer watch on my spending habits!
I’ll bet you find yourself doing silly stuff like this, too, sometimes. Right? Right? (Please tell me it’s not just me.)
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JGood work, J,D, but you should stop with the bottled water. its good for you sure, but think of the environmental impact! How about a nice Brita water filter?
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Whoops – just caught Mimi’s comment! Sorry, Mimi – didn’t mean to echo you.
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It’s not just you! When I went through a cancer scare that took weeks to get settled (no cancer, fortunately!), I think I ate about half my body weight in chocolate. Once my mind was clear again, the constant craving went away, too.
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I started bringing a brown bag at work and my figure has improved (I felt stuffed before, even if I did not eat that much outside). Once a week I have lunch outside with my colleagues, and that’s enough for my social time.
No coffee for me, it was messing with my sleep.
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I’m guilty of everything on this list. The only way I can keep myself in line is to:
1) pack my lunch immediately after dinner, by making savers of leftovers, grabbing whatever fruit we have, and stuffing it into my man-bag;
2) keeping a supply of mostly-healthy easy things in my cube (instant oatmeal, green tea, raisins, etc);
3) forcing myself to stop for at least 20 minutes to sit and eat; and
4) keeping almost no cash in my wallet.
Forces me to eat what I have, which I know is better for me than anything else I’d get anyway. And on days when I plan to eat out, I savor every minute.
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Though I agree with what’s been written in the post and in many of the comments, it’s worth noting why junk food is even a problem in the first place…
1) it’s generally less expensive than the alternatives
2) it’s almost always faster to obtain and eat
3) there’s usually less clean up, if there’s any at all, and
4) while it’s politically correct to be concerned about the virtues of healthy choices, most of it tastes pretty stinking good!
If none of the above were true, none of us would struggle with junk food at all, but clearly it has some “virtues”, even if we’re uncomfortable admitting as much in public.
We’ll struggle with junk food as long as it exists.
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hahaha! Love Dan K’s completely OT comment at #41.
you can’t buy ANYTHING in dollars these days!!
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Alternatives: boil some eggs, eat dry apricots, cook some rice and make portions in advance- add fish or leftover chicken, eat a steak once in a while: it takes less time than junk and it gives you the feeling that you are in control. Canned corn, sweet peas, asparagus are good with mayo and a thin slice of turkey.
Be inventive, it will help your writing.
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Ugg, JD, you cannot eat that crap! You should try reading something that inspires you to eat better, like facts and percentage about getting really bad diseases if you eat terrible. I’m really into The Abs Diet and have been blogging about it on Squidkid. The word ‘diet’ sucks but just look at it as a word to stay away from these items:
-High Fructose Corn Syrup. Your body cannot respond to HFCS so it cannot break it down and stores it as fat. In fact, it does nothing to suppress your appetite and makes you EAT or DRINK MORE (hence the invention of a 32-Ouncer at 7/11).
- Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. It’s basically margarine or veggie oil in solid form. This is also Trans Fat. So bad the food companies have been after the FDA to drop it on labels but lost the battle in 2003 (must be on all labels). 7 grams is like an order of fries; daily intake of 7-10 grams increase your chances for heart disease by 50 percent.
-Saturated fats. Animal fats (ie. fatty meats and whole milk). The HARDEST fat to get ride of and goes right to the gut.
If the first items on the package have sugar, PHVO, or HFCS, throw it away! That leaves actually A LOT of really great stuff you could eat, but you have to make time to prepare it. Fail to plan and you plan to fail.
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I just wanted to add a note for those who believe they’re eating “healthy” by getting a salad at a fast food joint.
McDonald’s Caesar salad (the one made with “Renee’s Mighty Caesar” dressing) has the same amount of fat as a Big Mac burger. They both contain 29 grams of fat. Look it up.
Those who indulge in the junk guilt-free, you should know the full extent of what you’re eating. If you get an Angus Burger with Bacon and Cheddar, with a large fries and large Coke, you’re consuming (wait for it) an incredible 1,620 calories, and 72 grams of fat (23 of which are the artery-clogging kind: saturated and trans).
See for yourself:
http://www.mcdonalds.ca/pdfs/NutritionFactsEN.pdf
As for JD, I’ve found that making big batches of healthy food (rice, chili, pasta, etc.) and freezing them in individual ZipLoc containers has completely cured me of being caught without lunch. With a deep freeze full of 40 ZipLoc containers full of tasty, healthy, homemade meals, there’s no excuse for being too lazy to bring luch to work. I just grab a container, fill a bottle with some juice or milk, and go to work. But you really need a fridge at work, and a microwave.
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One of the easiest ways to pack something simple to munch on is to grab a piece or two of fruit before you go to the office. Many types of fruit are quick, simple choices that are great for eating on the run. Obviously there are exceptions (oranges, melons, etc), but you could easily take things like apples, bananas, grapes, etc. wouldn’t even require a refrigerator.
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I’m guessing that J.D. is fairly well-versed on *what* to eat. As his own comment indicates, though, it’s behavior we’re talking about – *why* he’s eating. Loneliness/need for interaction set off his bell, and having that out in the light might be all he needs for a little gentle behavior modification.
Since there’s a shared kitchen in the office space, I would just suggest, label your snacks and put them in there. It will make you leave your office if you get hungry, but in a way that is more likely to result in interacting with another human! Keeping them in the office won’t serve that need and you might end up eating *more* out of boredom.
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You also need to factor in the health costs of these quick snacks. You also have your medical bills and a recovery time.
My dad had a stent put in his heart a couple days ago due to a blocked artery. He is not fat. He is healthy, active and only in his 50′s. It has made me re-think all the quick snacks I have had over the years.
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I just stopped at the grocery store before heading into work today since I’ve found myself staring at the vending machine or change pile a little too often recently. Having some fruit and a paring knife also helps because the fruit has to be eaten or it goes bad at some point.
Bring a Brita filter and put it in the shared kitchen. It’ll allow you to socialize a bit more with your building mates and get you out of your chair for refills. You can always take a large glass to your desk. Or bring a large Nalgene with you to work for some weight training exercise.
As an aside, when I get really busy and stressed, I tend to eat less. I have to set an appointment and remind myself I have time to eat, socialize, and go for a walk. Otherwise I’ll find myself eating a stale bagel around 3pm for my lunch…
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Bottled water? This is a waste of money – seriously how much does water out of the tap cost with a bit of tang or filtered if it doesnt taste so great? (sorry I love tang and we don’t get it in Australia… I know sad) I have to have lots of snacks when photographing a wedding and lots of refreshments in the car. I try to have them all without packaging so nuts, sandwiches all in tuperware and fruit and refillable bottles of water – this way I can resist the temptation to stop on the way home for not-so-cheap fast food and my day running after a couple burning all those calories isn’t completely ruined (if only I could say no to the wedding cake…)
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Stocking up on bottled water will advance you on your goal of better health but is a disaster environmentally and isn’t the cheapest answer either.
But don’t freak about it – There are numerous goals that you are striving for and you can’t make progress on all of them at the same time. As long as you keep working on them, you’ll eventually get where you want to be.
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I’m the same way! Thanks for bringing this up…if I get into a work rythm there isn’t any tearing me away…especially not to make a sandwhich…gasp! no…I can go to wawa and watch them make my sandwhich…funny how we’re silly and wasteful.
I’ve taken to batch making my lunch time meals which end up costing me the most without me realizing it if I don’t make them. Sunday I make a big meal, I make a few big meals and store them away for lunches all week long. I make sure they are varied and I’ll enjoy them…that way I have something to stick to during the week…works like a charm, saves me time, saves me money…now only if I could kill my diet soda addiction…
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@ Freecia (#64) I am in the same boat!! I have to have something to make me eat or I’ll end up feeling ill because it’s been so long since I’ve eaten.
Nuts are awesome for a quick snack and there are so many different types that you can switch it up without getting bored. I have to echo the comment about Clif bars as well though, not only are they not made for meal replacement or non-workout snacks, their main ingredient is soy protein isolate which at the very least is questionable (talk about processed!).
Love the Brita idea and I wholly encourage you to set a timer to take 20 minutes for a walk outside, it’ll seriously help avoid burnout.
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JD, I understand that you are trying to get your book done, but isn’t it possible to take an hour or hour and a half to eat and walk around the neighborhood? Would it really take that much time? If it does, are you sure you set reasonable goals?
Is this the only book you’re ever going to write? Would it not be more sensible to set healthy standards now so that when you work on whatever your next project is, your health won’t suffer?
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Nuts are a fantastic snack – but be careful! They are one of the most calorie dense foods around. One cup of almonds packs 680 calories! And if you are like me, you could polish off a few cups if you are doing some mindless munching.
Get an air popcorn popper ($20 at Walmart) and use that to replace the chip munching.
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I just wanted to give kudos to all of those who mentioned the waste of plastic water bottles! Very cool to have a frugal community that also thinks about the environmental impact of their purchases.
Didn’t read all of the comments, so forgive me if this is a repeat, but get yourself a Klean Kanteen for bringing water from home – it’s stainless steel, easy to wash, recycleable, and you can get a 40-oz one that will take care of most of your water needs. I’ve had a few of them for years, and while they get dented, they’ve yet to break, and I tend to drop them from high places!
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The way I beat this habit was to make sure to never carry cash or debit card with me (as others have already mentioned.)
Fast food is my downfall. If I didn’t have the money, I couldn’t cave in to an urge!
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I used to find myself hitting the junky snack food when I was stressed at work, which was frequently, but I also noticed that I hit the junk in the vending machine when I am procrastinating. I bring my lunch (leftovers from the night before or little lunch size meals that I make in bulk and freeze) and a $20 bill with me for emergencies. Can’t stuff a $20 bill into a vending machine. I also make sure that I bring a SATISFYING healthy snack with me so that I am less tempted by the vending machine. However, about once a month, the coworkers and I do go out and it’s a nice team building thing.
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