Late New Year's Resolution

I'm two weeks into my a late New Year's Resolution of bringing my lunch to work and its has been going well so far.  In looking at my finances, and the "extravagance" of the triathlete lifestyle (expensive equipment purchases), there were some cuts to the rest of my life that had to be made.

Most everyone could see from my Mayorships at multiple Subways around town, it was my lunch of choice.  They had some great food for a $5.00 footlong.  Two things happened in the New Year.

#1 - They discontinued their loyalty program.  Getting a free lunch for every 10-12 stops was a great motivator, but no more.
#2 - The $5.00 footlong is becoming less and less of an attractive option as they reduced the number of sandwiches they offer.

I decided to adjust my lunch from the $7.00 meal at Subway of a Sandwich, pack of apples, and drink, to making my own and try to save money and remove a little processed food.  This $35.00 a week could turn into a new wetsuit and a few pounds!

My goal was to still have the right amount of food to keep me going, but alter it to be a little healthier as I'm sure Subway hits their food with some preservatives, as well as highly processed flour and wheat in their bread.

Lunch would now consist of:
- Sandwich - Salami, turkey slices, sliced cheese, BBQ sauce - 450 calories
- Mini carrots - 70 calories
- Banana - 60 Calories
- Nuts - 80 Calories
Total - 660 Calories

This has seemed to fill me up as much as the larger portion of around 900 calories the Subway meal had, and I've been feeling better in the afternoon as well, probably from the reduced sugar intake in my Hi-C/Sprite combo out of the soda fountain.

My two week purchases for groceries is as follows.
- Bread - $4.00
- Lunch Meats - $11.00
- Carrots - $7.00
- Mango - $6.00
- Bananas - $5.00
- Nuts - $5.00
Total - $38.00
Two weeks at Subway - $70.00

I've nearly cut my food budget in half and all for about 10 minutes of prep time a day.  Not only that, I hang out in a park near my office now and don't have to drive to get food, saving gas, and I can say my life is a fraction more "Green" than it was last year.

Next step is trying to figure out how to do dinner.  My biggest obstacle with that is when I get home, there is no way I'm waiting to cook something as I'm usually about the go all Hulk from hunger anger.