Thirty Days -- Day 4: The Slippery Slope

It is 10:10pm, meaning ten minutes past my "bedtime", and yet I am waiting for the pot of water on the stove behind me to begin to boil.  No, I am not in need of a late dinner, nor do I need a late night snack.  Rather, I am preparing a lunch for my husband for tomorrow. 

So far, this whole not eating out thing has not been too difficult.  Rarely do we go out to eat during the weekdays as I create The List every week and am ready to make a home cooked dinner every night.  Since this 30 day challenge started on Monday and today is Thursday, I have only encountered week nights so far.  So I have to say no to a parfait in the afternoon when I am bored and have a few minutes to run down the street to grab one, whatever.  Not too bad. 

Yet.

And then we came to tonight.  I made delicious chicken thighs cooked in BBQ sauce with onions, a good sized salad, and some garlic bread.  Fantastic.  But what I thought would be enough for dinner and leftovers, well, let's just say I underestimated.  The conversation that followed went something like this:

Paulo:  "Can I have seconds?  Do you have enough?"
Tiffany: "Sure, but don't eat too much, you need some for your lunch tomorrow."
P:  "There is no way that is going to feed me tomorrow.  I will just eat it now."
T:  "What?  That's enough, for sure."
P:  "No, Babe, it's not.  Maybe enough for you, but I am bigger than you.  I need more food."
T:  "But I don't have any more food..."
P:  "That's OK, I will just grab a sandwich."
T:  "NOOOOOO!  You can't do that!"
P:  "Why not?  What else am I supposed to do?"
T:  "But the 30-day challenge... we will break it... it has only been four days..."
P:  "Babe, it's only once."
T:  "NO!  That's how it all starts!  You do it once and then you want more!"

My neighbors are probably saying a prayer right now asking for intervention on what they most likely (and understandably so) assume to be a potential drug addiction.  The poor man asked for a sandwich, yet by my response you would have guessed he asked for a joint. 

But I still stand by it: JUST SAY NO.

Running through options in my head, I came up with a plan.  Trader Joe's, oh-so-conveniently located next to our gym which we were headed to anyway, carries fresh packs of tortellini for $1.99.  I have left over red sauce in the fridge.  Hence, I am now cooking pasta at 10 o'clock at night.  A sandwich costs about $5, right?  So really, what are we saving? Three bucks?  It's not that much, but $3 is $3, and if I can save that much ten nights, that is $30.  So, yes, that is some motivation right there.  But the bigger motivation?  I don't want to have to come to you, eyes downcast and voice low, admitting defeat this early on.  No leftovers for lunch?  I will make it happen! 

I have a feeling Paulo will be sick of tortellini at the end of this month...