In my effort to be healthy, I've cut down and cut out a lot of stuff. I try really hard not to have added sugar, too much dairy, or just about any bread. I use honey, if anything to sweeten. We use cocunut milk instead of regular milk. I make meat roll-ups or salads instead of using bread or wraps. For the most part, Tim does the same. I definitely feel healthy, and I think* I'm not as bloated as I used to be.
However...
In thinking about our budget, I realized that a lot of the cheaper meals that I can make rely on types of bread. Spaghetti came to mind. Turkey sandwiches for lunch. Pancakes. Or tacos without meat.
So...
I'm thinking I might have to suck it up and eat it up. PB&J once in a while won't kill me. Beans and quinoa alone are good in a taco -- skip the meat. Eat pancakes when I make them for the kids, rather than making eggs for myself. Keep to the greens and healthier stuff, but don't make a special trip when I run out, and don't make two meals for one meal time. Eat one pot, eat in bulk, and like it.
I read an article a couple of years ago that talked about how only richer nations, America specifically, are concerned about diet drinks, diet foods, and calorie counting. Because in a lot of other areas, people need all of the calories they can get. And when I start to go overboard, and spend overboard, I feel truly convicted by that thought.
Let me say that as far as I know, I don't have any dairy, gluten, or other food issues. I've made my food choices totally based on health and/or calorie preference. That is what makes me a food snob in my mind. If you have food issues, then it makes 100% total sense to cut out food groups and make substitutions to any extent necessary.
Even though I doubt I'll be having a big pasta dinner anytime soon, I am going to work on loosening up. I want to find the balance between budget and health. I think it is a fine line between eating as healthily as possible (primarily whole foods) and being stringent to the point of being wasteful (throwing out a bun that came with a hotdog).
Besides, until beer and ice cream can be considered "whole foods," I'm a lost cause anyway.
*This may totally be mind over matter.
