Why do this?

There is no doubt that changing our eating habits is going to involve more work than cooking already does.  It is so convenient to grab a loaf of bread at the store, pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, or open a jar of spaghetti sauce and pour it over pasta.  Even my favorite Indian food will have to be rethought.

If it is going to cause extra work, why do it?  Thankfully, it really shouldn’t be all that much more to do.  I already cook many things from scratch.  Frozen dinners don’t make an appearance in our house all that often, maybe a pizza now and then.  There are a number of things I hope to gain.
 
Improved fitness – As I mentioned in a previous post, we both have known for a while we need to lose weight.  I used to run, a lot; as in training for a marathon a lot.  If I tried to run now, you had better look for a slime trail, I am a slug!  I get out of breath easily.  Body parts hurt that shouldn’t.  Activities that I used to do regularly seem to take much too much effort.

Improved mental clarity – I feel foggy brained so often and have a hard time remembering things.  I often say I have a mind like a steel sieve.  It’s really annoying to sit down at the computer, bring up the browser and then forget what I had wanted to look up.

Lower my food bills – I know, that sounds counter-intuitive.  Eating better food should cost more, right?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  We have a couple of great farmers’ markets near here in the summer.  The produce is fresh, and usually much cheaper than what we buy in the grocery.  We’re also planning on expanding our own vegetable gardens.  But, what I’m really hoping is that we will have less waste.  I heard a statistic that on average, families throw out $500 of food a year.  Five hundred!  And, unfortunately, I believe them based on what I toss.