21 Days Later

21 days later...am I any wiser?  I mean, what was the point of this thing anyway, right? Well, I did learn a few things, but I really only attempted it as a personal challenge so I consider it a goal accomplished. I will weigh in with the final statistics later but for now, what are the take-away lessons?





Scotty's Brewhouse Loaded Fries:
Not a healthy appetizer ;-)


1. Restaurant portions are OUTRAGEOUS. Even something as simple as, say, a Homewrecker Burrito from Moe's has 870 CALORIES. And of course that always comes with a side of chips and people help themselves to the salsa bar, easily tacking on another 350 calories.  That's 1,200 calories in one meal!  We went to Moe's twice during this experiment - both times on a Monday when they have their $5.99 special - you get any burrito, chips, and a drink.  Both times we either shared the burrito or ate half and saved our other half for lunch the next day, bringing our total calorie intake to a much more tolerable 435. Again, that's just for the burrito.  So, I do highly advocate sharing a meal if you're going out to eat or at least planning on bringing leftovers home to have for a meal later on. 
2. Who needs drinks? Besides my morning coffee, you will not find a lot of beverages in my food journal for this experiment. There were a couple of glasses of wine and a smoothie or two, but those kinds of recordings were much more the exception than the norm. It is far too easy for people to overlook the calories in the drinks that come with their meals. It is a rare occasion that I go out to eat and have a beverage with my meal that isn't water. Heck, I know I'm going to be eating enough food as it is - I don't need any sneaky little calories in my beverage of choice. :-P 
3.  No miscellaneous snacking! One of the consequences of eating exclusively at restaurants is it eliminates the prospect of mindless snacking. It is no longer as simple as reaching into your junk food drawer when you're hungry or grabbing a couple of cookies from the kitchen. If you want food, you have to go out and get it - and sometimes that inconvenience factor is enough of a deterrent.  This was especially a big factor for Francisco as he realized just how much mindless snacking he was doing just out of boredom.
4. Planning is everything. There were days that I couldn't go out for lunch, so it was essential to plan the day ahead to make sure whatever I ordered left enough to eat the next day. Normally, I would always keep a "back-up lunch" in the freezer at work and I have my junk food drawer stocked if I need an additional snack. Without those options, planning become essential to make sure I had something to eat when I needed it. Of course, that's an essential lesson for every day life: Reese's does not make a healthy snack. ;-) 

I'm sure there are other things I realized - or ideas that were further cemented - over the course of this experiment, but this is a quick summary. There is just one final meal tonight, and the experiment will be over!  Time to re-stock the fridge!