Some issues that I’ll be thinking about as I do my Discretionary Eating Challenge:

1. Entitlement. Will I be really bothered if I’m out, get hungry, and need to wait until I get home to eat (assuming I didn’t pack a snack)?  Because of course it’s not a big deal to wait - it’s not like I’m starving or anything.  There are absolutely no long term consequences of waiting an hour or something to eat.  But I suspect I won’t have much patience for waiting, which has little to do with true need and much to do with entitlement.  I predict I will think: I shouldn’t have to wait.  And of course, there really is no need to wait - I can afford to buy a snack when I’m out.

But the real question is: am I truly buying a snack because I can and it’s no big deal, or because I lack the patience and impulse control to just wait?  When entitlement becomes inability to self regulate, you have a problem.  If I find myself really, really irritated at waiting, that would be very telling.

2. Money. How much money will I save if I’m not eating at Subway three times a week?  Okay, that’s easy to calculate, but what is less easy is all the money I thoughtlessly throw away on bottles of pop, bags of pretzels, sandwiches or sushi when I’m out, and so on.  I don’t often plan dinners out - I eat out because I’m busy and happen to be hungry when I’m away from home.  It’s more a product of laziness than anything else.  I tend to think eating out is enjoyable and sociable and therefore has intrinsic value.  But in real life I usually eat out alone, spontaneously, due to the need to immediately gratify my needs (hunger).  So in my case, I think it will be instructive to see what happens when I don’t eat out any more.  Obviously I will save money, but this will relate to Point 1 too.

3. Spurious convenience.  I predict I won’t really miss processed foods.  I don’t eat much of these anyway (though I do like those packages of fake soy meat, which I call smeat).  I hope that what will happen is I stop buying this stuff, don’t miss it at all, and thereby replace chemicalled food with whole foods.  Processed foods tend to be more expensive, which is a waste, and full of strange and mysterious chemicals.  I’m not one to get all hysterical about chemicals - for instance, I never hesitate to take medication if I feel a symptom that can be helped with some.  So maybe it’s hypocritcal or irrational, but I somehow figure it’s better to avoid the heavily chemically processed foods whenever possible.

4. Environmental waste. This relates to Point 3 because processed foods tend to come with a lot of packaging, which  is generally plastic.  So if I buy less of these things, I will generate less personal waste.  I’m also thinking of cutting way back on plastic bag usage.  I have a little rolling cart I take to the grocery store and there’s no reason I couldn’t just pack my purchases into it without bags.

5. Pop and osteoporosis. I don’t drink tea or coffee, so giving up stimulants really only means giving up Coke Zero.  This challenge is the perfect excuse to finally do this because I’ve been meaning to do so for a long time, because pop is a contributor to osteoporosis.  Here is the blog-appropriate level of science to explain why:  The carbon dioxide in pop (which is what makes it fizz) mixes with the water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3).  The body has to neutralize the acid, and to do so, uses buffer systems.  One of these is to take calcium out of your bones.  That’s bad.  I anticipate this being hard to give up because I do love me some pop, but I’m thinking I’ll work on finding a healthy replacement, such as waters flavoured with fruits.

6. Food pleasures. I’m also hoping that I will deepen my already pretty happy relationship with food.  I really enjoy cooking and take a lot of satisfaction in making healthy meals for myself and Husband.  Every week I plan my grocery shopping and, I guess this sounds kind of lame, but I have a grand old time flipping through my cook books to plan the meals I’ll make.  This challenge will focus me in on these domestic pleasures, and I hope I come out the other side liking it even more.  Of course, I could just come to resent the extra work and hassle and things could get worse!  So I’ll just have to see what happens.

I must say, I’m quite intrigued to do this little food values experiment.  One month isn’t a long time, but I figure I’ll learn some things about myself.  Two more days until I begin!