Day Twenty-Five: Back to Reality

Husband's dinner: Mac and Cheese with Beef

After a weekend of socializing, I figured that eating Nutrisystem food was going to be difficult today. I managed to survive by staying busy. I had 3 hours of errands to do plus grocery shopping to keep me busy and away from the temptations of the kitchen until Husband returned from his weekend trip. 

Husband and I had dinner after he came home. He tried the Macaroni and Cheese with Beef, which he said was much better than the plain Macaroni and Cheese. However, the noodles were still a tad crunchy, and the cheese sauce a bit thin. It was a fine meal, especially after we ate baked sweet potatoes for our vegetable. I'm going to have to find more "new" vegetables to eat with dinner. I'm thinking about leeks. Not sure what Husband will think of them.

I'm sure everyone is wondering how this diet works since all you see is a plate of warm Nutrisystem food on our plates. Well, on this plan the dieter has to add his or her own fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy. Going to the grocery store is easier now because I mostly buy vegetables, fruit, and yogurt. I get to skip most of the isles in the middle of the store. However, we still spend the same amount of money at the grocery store most weeks.

Some weeks I buy OJ or cottage cheese, but mostly I buy salad, bell peppers, scallions, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and a variety of frozen veggies. We figured we'd come out even each month on the total cost of groceries (including our weekly trips for fresh food and our monthly shipment of Nutrisystem). After a full month of the diet, I am afraid we were mistaken. You still have to buy fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products. Also, some of the meals we get require a bun, which we also have to buy. One week we only spent $36 at the grocery store, but this past week we spent $128 because we were low on vegetables (completely out except for some salad).

Vegetables are the most expensive items in the grocery store aside from meat, and we're not even buying meat. We are so sick of lettuce (and we've been buying the kind you have to cut and wash yourself, not the bagged stuff) and green beans that I've tried to buy a variety of veggies that we like. My cart today had the following: Cabbage, red leaf lettuce, an onion, scallions, strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, cilantro, asparagus ($4.50 for a bunch!!!), 4 bags of frozen green beans, 1 bag of frozen Brussels sprouts, 4 bags of mixed vegetables, 3 bags of frozen strawberries, and 3 bags of cauliflower.

I also had to buy husband his carb requirements, which included a bag of whole grain English muffins (low fat) and a bag of bagel thins (also low fat and whole grain). I bought him one container of OJ (he gets a 1/2 cup a day, and he measures it!) and 2 containers of cottage cheese. I bought myself 5 Greek yogurts. I felt like I had the healthiest cart as I stood in line to pay for the food. The only "bad" item in the car was a box of Swiss Miss Sugar Free hot chocolate, which is an evening treat we sometimes enjoy.

Another view of Husband's dinner

Whenever we go to the grocery store we see signs posted by the store that apologize for the high produce prices. The signs blame the rising cost of fresh vegetables and fruit on the weather. I've been reading articles about food prices, and one article stated that while processed food prices remain stable, the cost of fresh produce continues to rise. Another article said,  that consumers — "already stung by higher prices for gasoline" — will be adding bread, cereal, meat, vegetable oil and other groceries to the list of products that will be rising in price. The USDA revealed in today's New York Daily News that fresh vegetable prices have jumped 24% this year. The article explains that tomato prices have gone up 24% compared with last winter, broccoli prices jumped 73% and lettuce is up 221%.

Maybe we need to plant a garden? That sounds like a lot of work, and I'm not ready to wage battle against the deer, rabbits, squirrels, and raccoons that are already eating our hostas. I also don't think we could plant a garden in our yard because there is no where to put one. Maybe we should sign up for the Influenza Diet — it's low effort, low cost, and lots of sleep!