Melanie

listen to me... do not over think this... too many folders, too much stuff.

this has to become second nature to you... and it will if you give it enough time.

Tell BF go without me. give him his 8 dollars and be gone... then eat something beachy.

Heh, I probably am being a bit obsessive about it. I just want to make sure I have a solution for everything, if I get stuck in the next county over (we unfortunately have to go there for basically everything, Walmart, and the mall and stuff like that). So often we happen to be stuck there, because often when we go we don't know how long it'll before we go back home, so then if I know my options, then I'll be prepared to order say a grilled chicken salad with ranch on the side rather than the Fried Chicken deluxe with nasty white bread and stuff. Because I know I can't convince the BF to not go to such places.

....Okay you're right, I'm overthinking this because I'm all acting crazy. I just don't know what to do in such events other than putting peanuts in the car like Loriann said, but then what about lunchtime when I want a meal? Arrgh! overthinking again. Sometimes though, when we are in the county, and we're home, and we're like, 'what to eat?' I definitely will just hand him his $8 and tell him to go do whatever, while I eat leftovers and whatever.

Zeffryn; tried to edit my post to add this in but my net keeps timing out: I would love some of those budget friendly recipes you mentioned, some recipes are delicious but have way too many ingredients to purchase and then become way too expensive.

i always carry nuts, string cheese bottled water and dried fruit with me.

i just always order salad and grilled chicken with dressing on the side (a creamy dressing like ranch)....


i am boring but i'm not stressing.

Mel - I'll try and get the recipes to you soon...I don't have my normal stash as I'm not at home....but I know I have some stored in my emails and such. I'll compile them and get them over to you. I'll probably get your email and just attach them that way....way way way easier than sending a PM.

Also, DH and I rarely go out for fast food but this past weekend when the s**t hit the fan in the middle of Arkansas...we didn't have much choice - the only thing within walking distance was fast food. Blech. I noticed that most things can be made to be pretty SBD friendly....a grilled chicken sandwich sans mayo can easily be turned into a grilled chicken breast (just take the bun off) with a slice of tomato and some lettuce. Most places offer salads - albeit not the best salads. Places like Subway offer natural yogurt (fruit flavored - p2 friendly), apple slices and can turn any sandwich into a salad for a small up charge. Even places like KFC can be ok if you just decide to do it right. They offer grilled chicken in their wraps.....nobody forces you to eat the tortilla....just disassemble it and eat the chicken....a little more messy, but better in the long run.

If you have days that you know you are going to be out for awhile (going to the next city or whatever) - pack a snack. Some string cheese, cut veggies, water with a drink mix are all great options and will help you when you're in 'hungry hungry hippo' mode.

Like Nessa said, it does become second nature....but it takes time.

Ladybugnessa: I'm gonna to follow your approach because I'm always stressing about the food choices I'm making and how I screw up and I don't wanna be anymore.

I'll quit with the crazy-person obsessive folders and just do the same as you, make sure everytime I go somewhere carry string cheese and nuts and stuff, then in the event we do stop somewhere, I won't be so ravenous because I've had the snacks, and will have the presence of mind to order salad with grilled chicken and ranch on the side (because I do love such salads). I just have to remember to actually bring said stuff and not forget. I probably wouldn't have made such bad choices if I had eaten some snacks and stabilized my blood sugar. That's it, I'm stocking the car with nuts galore. I can't keep giving in to junk food that I know is horrible for me.

Thanks Zeffryn, that will be awesome.

Great advice concerning the fast food places, I think when I start bringing snacks along, it will be so much easier to just take a bun off something and throw it away, or get a huge salad rather than a huge sandwich. I could just slap myself for not choosing to do these things when I could have done so, when we went to hardees, quiznos, etc. Urrgh. I keep blaming my ravenous hunger after not eating the snacks, but it's me, because I have the power to choose to eat the right things, and the power to bring along the snacks so that I don't get tempted into binging on bad stuff later.

If I have to put sticky notes on the car window saying "have you remembered to pack your snacks?" then I will. BF's mocking be damned.

haha!

Don't beat yourself up too much about this....just learn and move on. You seem to have the right attitude about this.

I found myself getting a little carried away with the nuts at first (particularly in the car) - I actually found little 100 calorie packs of plain almonds which I keep in the car now. That way I don't accidentally eat more than I should.

HTH

*horror*... I could easily see myself snacking away on like 800 calories of nuts while in the car.... *horrified*

So, good suggestion, Thin4good, I am glad you mentioned that. If I can't find those little snack packs, I will divide up the nuts into little plastic baggies, putting one portion into each bag... I didn't think of that, and am very disturbed at what sort of perverted food binging might have went on in that car if you had not mentioned that. I'd come home fatter than I started out when I first entered the car that day.

JerseyGirrl
Sorry to hear about all the trouble with people close to you! I hope things get better fast!

Ladybugnessa-
I find that having stuff like that on hand really helps me. I keep lots of recipes and info on my google notebook (nice because i don't have to be at home to access it)

Melanie-
Just this week I litterally planned out what I was going to have for breakfast/lunch/dinner (with snacks of string cheese, nuts, hummus, etc)

I wrote it all down and made a grocery list, trying to include some meals that would make good leftovers (I made the recipe for Enchiladinis (sort of like taco bake but with chicken) and I have a ton left to freeze and my boyfriend took some to work today)

I also am on a somewhat tight food budget (you're right, grocieries are crazy expensive right now), so in order to not spend all my money at the grocery store i have to plan ahead.

Maybe try planning out one week in advance and see how it works for you? Remember, it's not like you have to have EXACTLY what you put on the plan- if you don't feel like having chicken on Monday, switch it out for whatever you feel like that day...

A lot of the meats and vegetables can be mixed up too if you decide you don't like something on your plan when it comes to eat it At least it gives you some options that are readily available though- and if you plan ahead your prep time can be reduced greatly, giving you less excuse to go out.

After working all day, cooking for 1-2 hours is the last thing I want to do

Thanks Errantbehavior, that was some really great advice. Definitely plan on planning ahead a week. I see how everybody on the SBD plan freezes leftovers, and plans ahead with their grocery lists, so I've got to get on board with that because it clearly works. OMG; that enchiladini stuff?! I tried that last month from the recipe forum and it was so delicious, even my BF loved it. It was your recipe, you said? Well done, that stuff was sooo good.

Many good hints and suggestions in here, so I'm closing this thread.