Yes, really… the blog title sums this up. I’m on week 2 of the Whole30 and freaking loving it… Most of the restrictions I apply to my eating habits, but this makes me accountable for it.. there are no excuses now. I have to do for 30 days and know I can keep it up after the 30 days, because I’ve already created this awesome habit.
But back to my story! We were coming out of the grocery store yesterday {we did our shopping ahead of schedule… to be posted tomorrow!} and I was like.. Hmm I wonder if we’ll spend more or less after the whole 30 {I’ve been going through more meat, so the grocery bills have been a bit higher} and Mr. Not So Paleo was like “oh no, the Whole30 has saved us money.” And believe me I gave him a WTF look… and he was like “Think about it… we can’t splurge on butter or chocolate and cheese and wine and whatever else we normally would, so we’re saving money.”
Well… he’s right! I haven’t been splurging on the stuff I don’t really need but had wanted.. just to want. By re-evaluating what I’m eating I’ve also done a revamp on my grocery list, I’m not getting takeout in anyform now {before I’d get a salad and grilled chicken or something like that}. But now… I’m not even doing that because I have more energy so I’m not to sleepy to cook because I’m eating better… see what I mean?
If you’re looking to save some money… Re-evaluate what you’re eating and buying.. are you buying things you really don’t need / want but just buying because it’s there. Like chocolate or Cheese or whatever else it might be… I mean the ingredients for paleo cookies add up beyond fast when you think about it. And also, if you eat better you’re fuller longer.. so you’re not eating as much snack food.. which is dangerous territory in my opinion.
So just give your grocery bill from the last few weeks a once over just see if you’re buying something you really don’t need…. It might end up saving you some money in the end 🙂
As a caveat, I suck at keeping track of what I spend on food, but I’m for sure with you on saving money on Whole30.
Before I took on this challenge, my eating had pretty much devolved into take out for lunch every day (normally Subway) and a Tim Horton’s run for a breakfast sandwich at least 1-2x per week. We were eating dinner out at least 1-2x per week as well. And buying munchies after hockey games on Saturday nights. That was on top of buying some groceries (including our Organic Box of fruits and veggies which often didn’t get used up).
The way I see it, there’s no way that I’ve added $150 per week to our grocery shopping…which is a lowball on all the crappy food we were eating out. That doesn’t even include the money I’ve saved on “oh, I might as well just pick up an Iced Tea/whatever” that happened I don’t even know how many times per week.
Biggest challenge is going to be coming off Whole30…and maintaining these habits. Don’t want to sink back into the abyss!