Fast Car - Our Fast Food & Take-Out Free Month

One of my bucket list 101 in 1001 goals is to go a month without fast food, delivery or take out.  While I know we're better than a lot of families, I know how easy it can be to order Swiss Chalet or pick up pizza after a long day of work and extra-curriculars.  I also know that my coffee habit can get expensive, so I also counted buying coffee out as a part of the umbrella of fast food, that is unless I had a business coffee meeting (which only happened once this month and I had a black tea with Agave from David's Tea).

I picked February because it's the shortest month of the year, but I feel a need to add in here that Chris suggested that we also practice a dry month (meaning no alcohol) from February 5th to March 9th, with three pre-scheduled "cheat" days for events we booked before taking this leap into healthy living overload - so we really doubled down on our challenges here.

For the most part it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  And I'm happy to report that we didn't cheat once.  Here are the highlights (and low lights) of another challenge completed, a month with no fast food.

A picture from the coffee truck I chased all last summer

Day 1: After a particular rough school drop off I wanted to treat myself to a jumbo vat of Tim Hortons Coffee, but I crossed the street so I wouldn't be tempted to head in for a medium double double.  I later over compensated by mainlining coffee at my parents house, but it wasn't take out, so I guess we're good?

Day 2: I purposely ignored a text from a friend who asked if I wanted her to bring me a coffee, so I wouldn't actually have to say no to coffee...just the same a pedicure without my standard double double felt a little wrong.

Day 4: After a long and fun ski trip there's nothing I'd like more than to order some pizza tonight and watch movies.  Instead I hit the grocery store before we even got home to make sure our cupboards were at least somewhat stocked.  We also bought a big jar of hot chocolate mix so the kids won't have to miss out on hot cocoa from Tim Hortons after their skating lessons, and indulged them in purchasing the Timmies brand hot chocolate.

Day 7: After a late work meeting I was asked out for drinks and food, and I politely declined to head home - although it was very tempting.  I was ravenous by the time I hit Dundas West Station at 745PM and McDonald's was right there.  I kept it together and made myself some pasta at home, even though I didn't get to eat it until 830PM....I should get some sort of brownie points for this one. Mmmm...brownies.

Day 10: Today we avoided fast food after going to a hockey game with the kids and after a night out for double date drinks - one of our dry month "cheat days".  This is usually one of the most tempting times to "treat ourselves" to something unhealthy - our partners in crime suggested poutine and we declined.  Instead we went home and made sandwiches (that's not a euphemism)..Sure they weren't the healthiest sandwiches, but it wasn't poutine, a burger, or junk from 7-11.

Day 13: Not being able to grab myself a jumbo coffee during my "long" day of work seems particularly tortuous today.  I don't know why.  This tea just isn't cutting it and I'm too lazy to make myself coffee for one.

Day 14: I just realized that the coffee truck that I was stalking at the fresh market on the Lakeshore all last summer has opened up a pop up shop directly on the route to pick up and drop off the kids at school...I'm crossing my fingers that it's still open come March.

Day 15: The regular delivery offers that come to my email inbox are starting to taunt me, especially since tonight is salmon and salad night in an attempt to be healthier.  It's like they know and have set up an email campaign to win me back.  Actually I'm certain this is how their email subscription works Curses to them and their delicious coupons!

Day 18: Jack asked if we could order in sushi tonight. This is the first time one of the children has complained or noticed our new healthier eating regimen.  I guess this means they're doing better than we are.  So, we've compromised and will take him the first weekend in March when Molly's at a friend's birthday party.

Day 22: I am absolutely exhausted and would love a cup of coffee from Tim Hortons, unfortunately I'm also too lazy to make myself coffee,  So I'll just take a nap instead.

Fresh Tulips, not Fast Food for the win

Day 24: Tonight we went to a restaurant (totally within the rules) for Korean BBQ.  Eating out really felt like a treat and afterwards we went to a fruit market and loaded up on berries, cucumbers, and some fresh tulips.  Pretty happy with our choices right now.

Day 27: Chris is down 4lbs since we started this journey and although the scale has barely budged for me, my pants are feeling a lot looser, and this isn't about weight necessarily, it's about being healthy.

Day 28: Today is the last day.  I am happy to be done, but have learned a lot.  Coffee and convenience are clearly the biggest triggers for me compared to an actual want or dependency on fast food.  I have also realized how lazy I am when it comes to making my own coffee unless I have someone to share it with, and since Chris isn't a coffee drinker, it just hasn't happened.  I'm hoping some of this will stick and help us be more mindful of our choices and to treat myself to some home brew more often.  All the same I'm heading to Little Havana's Coffee pop up immediately following school drop off tomorrow morning and indulging in their Cafe Bon Bon before the pop up shop closes.  Only nine more days until a crisp Sauv Blanc!


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Hold On

For all the boasting about self-care and couple time, I can be pretty garbage at making it a reality - we all can.  Sure I book date nights, manage to get out a few times a month with friends, book necessary appointments, and get in some runs, but as a parent a lot of the time the kids come first.  Mostly because that's what we need to do and what we get used to.  It's easy to forget that the original family line-up was just Chris and I.

Then, every once in a while, I get reminded about our couple team and how we both step up to the plate for each other when pitched a curve ball.

Chris has been experiencing back pain (which manifests itself in pain walking or standing in the lower back and legs) for nearly two months now, and it shows no sign of letting up - it's actually getting worse.  He's been to the doctor, he's been to the physio for hundreds of dollars of care, and after over a month of special exercises, X-rays, and a diagnosis of what we thought was spinal stenosis, we're back to the drawing board.  His X-rays have come back normal, the physio tapped out and now we've been referred to a specialist sports physician.  Good news right? Not exactly.

Image Courtesy of Giphy

Yesterday a call came in from the doctor's office confirming an appointment, six weeks from now.  I don't know if it's lucky or unlucky for Chris that I was the one who got the call.  While in terms of the world of specialists another six weeks for an appointment after eight weeks of pain seems like a lifetime. I understand how lucky we are to be in Canada where this treatment will now be covered under OHIP, but it still sucks to play the waiting game.

This mystery problem has been unrelenting.  He's been in constant pain.  It's impacted his mood, his patience and all of our lives, and his ability to do everyday things with us ranging from going for a simple walk to playing with the kids.

So I protested, I begged, I pleaded, and I got us on a cancellation list so as soon as there is someone who bails on their appointment, Chris can run/hobble there in a heartbeat and we can figure out what the heck is going on and do what we can to improve his pain and try and get things back to normal.

I later found out that Chris has been telling everyone how I wouldn't take no for an answer.  At first I thought he was annoyed about me and my big mouth.  Then he explained how I said things he wouldn't have if he had received the call about the appointment, how I, hopefully, was going to get results. I guess in the mess of parenting, I don't go mama bear all that often for my husband, and it's easy to forget to take care of your partner or yourself.

Sometimes it's nice to be taken care of, even when you're an adult.  So parents, do something nice for your spouse without them asking - even if that something involves you saying "that's unacceptable" over and over again to a doctor's office receptionist.  It means more than you think.

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