An unexpected benefit occurred from my deeper dive into minimalism.
I lost a few pounds. Admittedly, I didn’t have much to lose, but I didn’t mind losing a couple. I expect that if I had more to lose I would, because with minimalism on my mind for things and stuff, it’s seeping into my behavior with food.
For starters, with minimalism (and saving money as a side effect!), I started buying less at the grocery store, kind of without even realizing it. Now, I wait until I’m actually out of something before I buy it again. In the past, I’d stock up on various foods – for what reason I really don’t know.
Not anymore though. I’m a new woman. So, yeah, my cupboards, on occasion, look like the apocalypse is happening now, but I love it!
I realize that in the past, if my cupboards were full, I ate more. By having less, I ration the foods better. I snack less. I’m not as hungry.
That’s a win for me.
So now when I grocery shop, I usually only get fresh organic produce and grass-fed full-fat yogurt(s)/butter. If the pantry isn’t out of stuff, then I hold off on adding to it. That means I’m also spending less overall. Yay.
The exception is when I load up on stuff from Costco. Cuz, well it’s Costco and I don’t have a choice. My favorite organic foods from Costco are:
- fair-trade coffee
- rice
- raw sauerkraut
- chia seeds and hemp seeds
- bananas and apples
- coconut oil
- frozen berries
- frozen wild-caught sockeye salmon
- wild planet tuna in a can
My mindfulness attitude of consuming fewer things (clothes, toys, makeup, furniture, etc) transferred to my eating. Without even trying.
Funny thing… years ago we bought this giant bin of Survive Thrive food which included 40 days/nights of organic preparedness foods. It was sealed shut and stored away. The other day I told Greg, “Let’s open that up and eat through it!”
It was funny (and cool) opening it up. Now we have a bunch of organic vacuum-sealed foods to eat through.
*Update: My intention with this writing was to share how minimalism is changing other behaviors in my life, for the better, in my opinion. I’m not suggesting everyone needs to be *skinny* or even saying that *skinny* is the way to be. I’m actually lean vs skinny but somehow that didn’t read as well in my subject line.