Food-Levels-Induced Stress due to the social distancing situation
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gallicinvasion
Posts: 1,015 Member
Hi all. I live in NYC and am distancing as much as possible. This whole situation is REALLY bringing some food-related anxieties back to me.
1. Should only get to the store once a week, and there are worries that this situation could last like 9-12 months, so I was prompted to try to get stuff that I’d be worried about not having in a few months (four containers of my favorite peanut butter, for example).
2. House is full of staples that shouldn’t go bad before we eat them, but also full of fresh food, and it’s hard cooking enough to keep up with it so it doesn’t go bad
3. Freezer is full of meat and frozen veggies and some frozen meals I’ve batch cooked from a while ago, so putting more in the freezer is not an option til we can clear up space
4. Bf’s mom keep bringing us more groceries and fresh food.
5. I have been instilled (by my very frugal and anxious dad) with an anxiety about food waste.
6. have lost about 100 lbs In 2018/2019 and have been maintaining on about 2200 calories. This is wonderful, but also has worsened my food waste anxiety because even if I cook up all the food before it goes bad, I physically can’t eat all of it before it goes bad since i limit my intake to 2200 on average per day. (Just the two of us in the house, and he has recently started tracking his food as well).
All this has erupted into food-waste food-scarcity emotional-eating time-management anxieties for me during this time. Just the other night, I started crying because I didn’t have enough space in my food diary for the meal my bf cooked for us (in order to use up the leeks and the potatoes and the peppers and the tomatoes, he’s very thoughtful). When I think about all the veggies in the fridge, it feels stressful and overwhelming. And i LOVE to cook.
Over the past two years, i have totally changed my way of looking at food. Since beginning to track, I’ve learned that I stick best to my plan when I’m really really enjoying what I’m eating. This means I love having the control of cooking, swapping foods and ingredients, measuring out exactly how much cheese I want, making my favorite kind of salad just the way I like it so I don’t get resentful that I’m not eating a different side dish, etc. this whole situation is making it harder and harder to control all those things, because we aren’t necessarily choosing what we want to eat, we are just cooking what needs to be cooked first. I started crying because the carrots in the salad my bf made were cut too big and it made the salad less enjoyable meaning I resented spending calories on it.
This isn’t healthy. I’m getting through day by day, but work stress and general grief around the whole situation (don’t know when I’ll see friends and family again, or travel again, or have holidays again) is making it worse. Can anyone relate, or offer a few helpful words?
1. Should only get to the store once a week, and there are worries that this situation could last like 9-12 months, so I was prompted to try to get stuff that I’d be worried about not having in a few months (four containers of my favorite peanut butter, for example).
2. House is full of staples that shouldn’t go bad before we eat them, but also full of fresh food, and it’s hard cooking enough to keep up with it so it doesn’t go bad
3. Freezer is full of meat and frozen veggies and some frozen meals I’ve batch cooked from a while ago, so putting more in the freezer is not an option til we can clear up space
4. Bf’s mom keep bringing us more groceries and fresh food.
5. I have been instilled (by my very frugal and anxious dad) with an anxiety about food waste.
6. have lost about 100 lbs In 2018/2019 and have been maintaining on about 2200 calories. This is wonderful, but also has worsened my food waste anxiety because even if I cook up all the food before it goes bad, I physically can’t eat all of it before it goes bad since i limit my intake to 2200 on average per day. (Just the two of us in the house, and he has recently started tracking his food as well).
All this has erupted into food-waste food-scarcity emotional-eating time-management anxieties for me during this time. Just the other night, I started crying because I didn’t have enough space in my food diary for the meal my bf cooked for us (in order to use up the leeks and the potatoes and the peppers and the tomatoes, he’s very thoughtful). When I think about all the veggies in the fridge, it feels stressful and overwhelming. And i LOVE to cook.
Over the past two years, i have totally changed my way of looking at food. Since beginning to track, I’ve learned that I stick best to my plan when I’m really really enjoying what I’m eating. This means I love having the control of cooking, swapping foods and ingredients, measuring out exactly how much cheese I want, making my favorite kind of salad just the way I like it so I don’t get resentful that I’m not eating a different side dish, etc. this whole situation is making it harder and harder to control all those things, because we aren’t necessarily choosing what we want to eat, we are just cooking what needs to be cooked first. I started crying because the carrots in the salad my bf made were cut too big and it made the salad less enjoyable meaning I resented spending calories on it.
This isn’t healthy. I’m getting through day by day, but work stress and general grief around the whole situation (don’t know when I’ll see friends and family again, or travel again, or have holidays again) is making it worse. Can anyone relate, or offer a few helpful words?
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Replies
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I'm in Chicago, so also a distancing hotspot.
I've been thrown off quite a bit, too. My husband and I normally work long hours and only eat a few meals a week at home. But now, we are both home for three meals a day, so it takes more elaborate planning when I grocery shop.
I did stock up on our favorite non-perishables...our preferred cereal, peanut butter, soup.
As far as fresh foods, I am only buying what I know I will use weekly. Produce has not been in short supply, so I'm not worried about stores being out of stock. Fresh dairy has been a little more challenging, but we've just had to settle for non-ideal brands or prices. But I have been careful to not over-purchase these items...I'm with you, I hate wasting food.
If the worst happens and my husband and I get ill and can't get to the store, we still have our non-perishables and freezer foods that would probably get us through a few weeks.
I think that so much is uncertain right now, so everyone is looking to take comfort in anything that seems "normal". If we can eat our favorite foods, keep with our regular eating habits, then at least that is the same. Initially, I joked that I would flip out if the store didn't have the Honey Nut Cheerios that I eat for breakfast every morning. But then I realized that it really would make me upset. Not because there aren't other cereals I could eat, but because it disrupts my routine. And we take comfort in routines.
Honestly, I'm just trying to take this week by week. Plan your meals meticulously every week, and only buy the food you know you need for the week. And tell your BFs mom that you are all set and if she has extra food, she should find an elderly neighbor or a food bank to give it to. Best of luck, we all need to find strategies to get through this.7 -
I'm in NYC also and I try to plan by the week... my local supermarket has a roulette of things that might be out of stock. It's always a gamble.2
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Can you donate excess produce to a food bank or a homeless shelter?11
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I have been unofficially distancing since the 14th and will be officially distancing starting Friday.
I have been limiting my fresh food purchases to what I would normally get -- what I would use in a week. I don't want to rush to eat stuff, even if it's relatively low calorie stuff like vegetables. That's a stress I don't need. When it comes to other stuff, I'm generally ensuring I've got about two weeks worth of stuff to eat, which I pretty much had anyway.
If there is more significant disruption in my life/area and I am not able to get fresh stuff for that week, I know I can adapt to some less fresh meals for a couple weeks. It won't be perfect and it won't necessarily be fun, but I know I can get by. The human body is resilient, we don't need fresh stuff daily even though it's nice to have. A couple weeks where I'm eating meals planned around rice and canned beans or whatever isn't going to be harmful to me.
I can really identify with wanting to choose what I eat and wanting it to be "worth" the calories. I couldn't find sun-dried tomatoes last week and I really wanted them for the dish I was planning, darn it! I let myself feel the frustration and then I'm reminding myself what an incredibly fortunate problem it is to have right now.
Is there anything you like that can help bridge the gap? Here is some stuff I'm focusing on: My copy of Animal Crossing is arriving today. I can still give myself cute manicures at home. I ordered a book I was looking forward to reading (and it's still in hardcover, which is a big deal for me!). My siblings and I are experimenting with video chat. I've been watching wildlife/travel videos on streaming to give me the feeling of "escaping" my apartment.
Your list may look different, but I've been trying to find stuff each day to give it a "spark."4 -
I've no solutions for you, but I just wanted to say you're not alone. I'm in London and I'm so stressing about either not being able to buy healthy food or ending up buying too much and wasting some. The shops (last time I went - I'm also trying not to go food shopping much, as per Government guidelines) were bare of most things, except fresh veg. Little meat or staples at all. Bearing in mind, in the UK the veg is at the front of the store in order to make people think about buying it (and you therefore can't go back to pick up suitable veg once you know what meat you can actually get hold of) -it's making cooking nutrious meals really difficult. Add to that uncertainty my anxiety and method of self-soothing being massively over-planning things and I'm losing it daily. Add into that knowing what I'm doing and not being able to stop it and ... yeah.
So yeah, I can relate and I hear you. Many (virtual) hugs to you. I'm in to hear if wiser folk than myself can offer any practical advice to you.3 -
I think it is fairly normal to have disruptions and increased stress/anxiety around the current situation, unfortunately. I am experiencing it too, for me I am noticing a significant lack of appetite and survival mode, meaning I am trying to feed my family and sacrifice my own intake due to fear of food shortage (warranted or not). However I also need to make sure I eat enough to keep up my breastmilk supply to feed my 6 month old. I keep thinking I was able to go very lean and maintain my supply with my others and I am noticing trying to rationalize losing weight to do this (as long as I set a lower limit just above underweight). It is definitely not healthy. But this situation is not a normal situation so trying to remember that it is not bringing out the best qualities in many of us.5
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SuzySunshine99 wrote: »I'm in Chicago, so also a distancing hotspot.
I've been thrown off quite a bit, too. My husband and I normally work long hours and only eat a few meals a week at home. But now, we are both home for three meals a day, so it takes more elaborate planning when I grocery shop.
I did stock up on our favorite non-perishables...our preferred cereal, peanut butter, soup.
As far as fresh foods, I am only buying what I know I will use weekly. Produce has not been in short supply, so I'm not worried about stores being out of stock. Fresh dairy has been a little more challenging, but we've just had to settle for non-ideal brands or prices. But I have been careful to not over-purchase these items...I'm with you, I hate wasting food.
If the worst happens and my husband and I get ill and can't get to the store, we still have our non-perishables and freezer foods that would probably get us through a few weeks.
Also in Chicago, and pretty similar to the above.
I think the big concern about "stocking up" is in case you get sick and can't go out at all. For that, I made sure I had easy to prepare non-perishables on hand, and I also just generally made sure I had non perishable staples on hand so I'm not reliant on food being available (although I see no reason to think it won't be, running out of food has not been part of this, they are still able to buy food in Italy, the supply chain should be fine, just sometimes disrupted due to panic buying at the beginning of this that should subside or be adjusted for).
I normally shop pretty often since there's a little grocery I like near my L stop and my main grocery is not far from my house and I often like to hit WF on the weekend and hit the green market that without the coronavirus would be open even now, etc., and I decided only to shop once a week now, but I just bought one week's worth of produce. I get it can be hard to know how much you need since the number of meals at home is so much higher. You will figure that out and be able to adjust.
One thing you can do if worried about waste is use the produce in cooked dishes you can freeze for later (edit: sorry, forgot about the freezer full aspect). But also try to give yourself a break about accidentally wasting some produce if it does happen. It's a new and difficult situation.3 -
Can you donate excess produce to a food bank or a homeless shelter?
Typically not.
https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-blog/what-donate-food-bank-and-what-avoid1 -
Thank you so much for your words. I definitely feel you on the Honey Nut Cheerios issue! The routine of having my peanut butter for dessert? I am clinging to it. CLINGING.SuzySunshine99 wrote: »I'm in Chicago, so also a distancing hotspot.
I've been thrown off quite a bit, too. My husband and I normally work long hours and only eat a few meals a week at home. But now, we are both home for three meals a day, so it takes more elaborate planning when I grocery shop.
I did stock up on our favorite non-perishables...our preferred cereal, peanut butter, soup.
As far as fresh foods, I am only buying what I know I will use weekly. Produce has not been in short supply, so I'm not worried about stores being out of stock. Fresh dairy has been a little more challenging, but we've just had to settle for non-ideal brands or prices. But I have been careful to not over-purchase these items...I'm with you, I hate wasting food.
If the worst happens and my husband and I get ill and can't get to the store, we still have our non-perishables and freezer foods that would probably get us through a few weeks.
I think that so much is uncertain right now, so everyone is looking to take comfort in anything that seems "normal". If we can eat our favorite foods, keep with our regular eating habits, then at least that is the same. Initially, I joked that I would flip out if the store didn't have the Honey Nut Cheerios that I eat for breakfast every morning. But then I realized that it really would make me upset. Not because there aren't other cereals I could eat, but because it disrupts my routine. And we take comfort in routines.
Honestly, I'm just trying to take this week by week. Plan your meals meticulously every week, and only buy the food you know you need for the week. And tell your BFs mom that you are all set and if she has extra food, she should find an elderly neighbor or a food bank to give it to. Best of luck, we all need to find strategies to get through this.
I took your advice and asked my boyfriend to share with his mom that we are definitely ALL SET on fresh foods 😂 I think this will definitely help.
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Can you donate excess produce to a food bank or a homeless shelter?
I absolutely definitely can. I think I hesitate to do that because my irrational and selfish side says “but what if I neeeeeeed these things next week? What if we aren’t allowed to leave our homes?” But honestly, I’m very lucky to have what I have. It’s only right to share what i have that’s currently more than I can eat.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I have been unofficially distancing since the 14th and will be officially distancing starting Friday.
I have been limiting my fresh food purchases to what I would normally get -- what I would use in a week. I don't want to rush to eat stuff, even if it's relatively low calorie stuff like vegetables. That's a stress I don't need. When it comes to other stuff, I'm generally ensuring I've got about two weeks worth of stuff to eat, which I pretty much had anyway.
If there is more significant disruption in my life/area and I am not able to get fresh stuff for that week, I know I can adapt to some less fresh meals for a couple weeks. It won't be perfect and it won't necessarily be fun, but I know I can get by. The human body is resilient, we don't need fresh stuff daily even though it's nice to have. A couple weeks where I'm eating meals planned around rice and canned beans or whatever isn't going to be harmful to me.
I can really identify with wanting to choose what I eat and wanting it to be "worth" the calories. I couldn't find sun-dried tomatoes last week and I really wanted them for the dish I was planning, darn it! I let myself feel the frustration and then I'm reminding myself what an incredibly fortunate problem it is to have right now.
Is there anything you like that can help bridge the gap? Here is some stuff I'm focusing on: My copy of Animal Crossing is arriving today. I can still give myself cute manicures at home. I ordered a book I was looking forward to reading (and it's still in hardcover, which is a big deal for me!). My siblings and I are experimenting with video chat. I've been watching wildlife/travel videos on streaming to give me the feeling of "escaping" my apartment.
Your list may look different, but I've been trying to find stuff each day to give it a "spark."
I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one struggling with frustration over not having complete control over my meals. Thank you for sharing; I like that you feel the frustration and let it pass.
I had a really lovely group game over Zoom with my friends on Tuesday. Definitely gave my day a needed “spark.” Will try to repeat that and find other things that can help me de-stress and feel connected.
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I've no solutions for you, but I just wanted to say you're not alone. I'm in London and I'm so stressing about either not being able to buy healthy food or ending up buying too much and wasting some. The shops (last time I went - I'm also trying not to go food shopping much, as per Government guidelines) were bare of most things, except fresh veg. Little meat or staples at all. Bearing in mind, in the UK the veg is at the front of the store in order to make people think about buying it (and you therefore can't go back to pick up suitable veg once you know what meat you can actually get hold of) -it's making cooking nutrious meals really difficult. Add to that uncertainty my anxiety and method of self-soothing being massively over-planning things and I'm losing it daily. Add into that knowing what I'm doing and not being able to stop it and ... yeah.
So yeah, I can relate and I hear you. Many (virtual) hugs to you. I'm in to hear if wiser folk than myself can offer any practical advice to you.
Thank you so much for sharing that you’re feeling similar things. I am definitely trying to self-soothe by planning WAY too much and not being able to follow through. “Okay I have to make banana muffins, I think I have everything for that and it will let me use up the bananas, then I will defrost the chicken thighs and make a soup to help me use the open package of bacon and the celery that’s going bad, but then I want to make my granola for weekday breakfasts because I’m almost out, but I also have to pack this stuff away, wash the dishes, and make dinner for tonight. Also it’s Sunday and I have to work nine hours a day M thru F this week, so I have to make sure I have enough sleep to get in my walk tomorrow morning “ etc. I just over-plan and feel frustrated.
Like, I feel like food should not take up so much of my brain. And it used to be positive (I used to just shop and batch cook on Sundays and LOVE every minute), but now I’m finding that since we have too much food in the house, I’m having to spend way more time on it than I prefer.
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I think it is fairly normal to have disruptions and increased stress/anxiety around the current situation, unfortunately. I am experiencing it too, for me I am noticing a significant lack of appetite and survival mode, meaning I am trying to feed my family and sacrifice my own intake due to fear of food shortage (warranted or not). However I also need to make sure I eat enough to keep up my breastmilk supply to feed my 6 month old. I keep thinking I was able to go very lean and maintain my supply with my others and I am noticing trying to rationalize losing weight to do this (as long as I set a lower limit just above underweight). It is definitely not healthy. But this situation is not a normal situation so trying to remember that it is not bringing out the best qualities in many of us.
I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. You deserve to eat; you are a person who deserves to stay healthy and well-fed through this tough time, just like the rest of your family. This goes TRIPLE because you are breastfeeding and losing lots of calories through that! I hope your family can support and help you eat more in this time. Many hugs!
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SuzySunshine99 wrote: »I'm in Chicago, so also a distancing hotspot.
I've been thrown off quite a bit, too. My husband and I normally work long hours and only eat a few meals a week at home. But now, we are both home for three meals a day, so it takes more elaborate planning when I grocery shop.
I did stock up on our favorite non-perishables...our preferred cereal, peanut butter, soup.
As far as fresh foods, I am only buying what I know I will use weekly. Produce has not been in short supply, so I'm not worried about stores being out of stock. Fresh dairy has been a little more challenging, but we've just had to settle for non-ideal brands or prices. But I have been careful to not over-purchase these items...I'm with you, I hate wasting food.
If the worst happens and my husband and I get ill and can't get to the store, we still have our non-perishables and freezer foods that would probably get us through a few weeks.
Also in Chicago, and pretty similar to the above.
I think the big concern about "stocking up" is in case you get sick and can't go out at all. For that, I made sure I had easy to prepare non-perishables on hand, and I also just generally made sure I had non perishable staples on hand so I'm not reliant on food being available (although I see no reason to think it won't be, running out of food has not been part of this, they are still able to buy food in Italy, the supply chain should be fine, just sometimes disrupted due to panic buying at the beginning of this that should subside or be adjusted for).
I normally shop pretty often since there's a little grocery I like near my L stop and my main grocery is not far from my house and I often like to hit WF on the weekend and hit the green market that without the coronavirus would be open even now, etc., and I decided only to shop once a week now, but I just bought one week's worth of produce. I get it can be hard to know how much you need since the number of meals at home is so much higher. You will figure that out and be able to adjust.
One thing you can do if worried about waste is use the produce in cooked dishes you can freeze for later (edit: sorry, forgot about the freezer full aspect). But also try to give yourself a break about accidentally wasting some produce if it does happen. It's a new and difficult situation.
Absolutely; thank you for this. I have told my bf to not take anymore groceries from his mom, and I want to make it my goal to go two to three weeks on the food we have. It’s DEFINITELY possible.
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I would also suggest you take the opportunity to learn about alternate preservation ideas that you might be able to use. I am not suggesting you have a full mason jar set-up (I have one) but explore ideas like drying foods. If nothing else it might give you a distraction as you learn if you can go pioneer.
Some can be hybrid if you have the fridge space. You can pickle fruit and vegetables without vacuum sealing if you keep them in the refrigerator. They will stay good for months.
I would also look for the best methods of keeping things longer as is. Look for the proper way to store things to get the most longevity out of your food. Some of them will not be feasible because they take up too much space but you might be able to use some.
This kind of thing has always fascinated me so I have done most of it at one time or another.5 -
I'm with people about freezing what you can then trying to meal plan around what you have and plan to buy. I tend to eat similar stuff for breakfast and lunch then make something for dinner every couple days and eat that, freeze the rest if it's too much. Stuff like vegetable soups and chili are easy to use up a lot of vegetables and freeze well. Roasting veggies and stir fries are great using up vegetable batches. My lunch salad is at risk because everyone's snatching up those plastic bins of lettuce and spinach, heads of lettuce, and bagged lettuce. It's stupid but throwing me off after eating that way for over a year! I get dried beans every shopping trip too and those are gone, luckily I have at lot at home. For dinner I prioritize produce by what goes bad first, like any greens, zuchinni and summer squash, then broccoli and cauliflower, then root vegggies and winter squash and look up recipes for each of them. Tonight's roasted chickpea and broccoli burritos, in two days I'm making an Indian recipe with cauliflower, then something with cabbage and ground turkey. It's tough right now not being able to depend on food but we really don't have a choice but to be flexible.1
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I would also suggest you take the opportunity to learn about alternate preservation ideas that you might be able to use. I am not suggesting you have a full mason jar set-up (I have one) but explore ideas like drying foods. If nothing else it might give you a distraction as you learn if you can go pioneer.
Some can be hybrid if you have the fridge space. You can pickle fruit and vegetables without vacuum sealing if you keep them in the refrigerator. They will stay good for months.
I would also look for the best methods of keeping things longer as is. Look for the proper way to store things to get the most longevity out of your food. Some of them will not be feasible because they take up too much space but you might be able to use some.
This kind of thing has always fascinated me so I have done most of it at one time or another.
Yes, I love this! I have delved a tiny bit into pickling (green beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, and red onions). My brother has a fermentation hobby; I want to get some tips and tricks from him as well. I do have a fair amount of mason jars with screw lids (various sizes).
A good alternative when freezer space is limited.
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I'm with people about freezing what you can then trying to meal plan around what you have and plan to buy. I tend to eat similar stuff for breakfast and lunch then make something for dinner every couple days and eat that, freeze the rest if it's too much. Stuff like vegetable soups and chili are easy to use up a lot of vegetables and freeze well. Roasting veggies and stir fries are great using up vegetable batches. My lunch salad is at risk because everyone's snatching up those plastic bins of lettuce and spinach, heads of lettuce, and bagged lettuce. It's stupid but throwing me off after eating that way for over a year! I get dried beans every shopping trip too and those are gone, luckily I have at lot at home. For dinner I prioritize produce by what goes bad first, like any greens, zuchinni and summer squash, then broccoli and cauliflower, then root vegggies and winter squash and look up recipes for each of them. Tonight's roasted chickpea and broccoli burritos, in two days I'm making an Indian recipe with cauliflower, then something with cabbage and ground turkey. It's tough right now not being able to depend on food but we really don't have a choice but to be flexible.
Roasting is my FAVE way to eat veggies. I’ve been doing that and stir-frying as well. It’s just the making sure I have room in my calorie budget to eat them that’s the problem sometimes.
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Even in the hardest hit areas of the world, people are able to get some groceries, so maybe try to focus your stockpiling urge on shelf stable stuff and really put effort into reminding yourself that you will be able to get more fresh food next week. Maybe not exactly what you want, but something, and you have plenty of shelf stable food to make things work.
I haven't been able to find eggs for two weeks, so I find myself trying to "save" the eggs I have. It's not logical of course, how is not eating eggs this week but having eggs for next week better than just eating them this week and taking next week as it comes? Our fears find all kinds of annoying ways to come out!
You're not alone, it is really hard to stay logical and positive right now, and all this takes some getting used to
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Even in the hardest hit areas of the world, people are able to get some groceries, so maybe try to focus your stockpiling urge on shelf stable stuff and really put effort into reminding yourself that you will be able to get more fresh food next week. Maybe not exactly what you want, but something, and you have plenty of shelf stable food to make things work.
I haven't been able to find eggs for two weeks, so I find myself trying to "save" the eggs I have. It's not logical of course, how is not eating eggs this week but having eggs for next week better than just eating them this week and taking next week as it comes? Our fears find all kinds of annoying ways to come out!
You're not alone, it is really hard to stay logical and positive right now, and all this takes some getting used to
Thank you for this! I’ve got to work on my perspective. Luckily other people do too.
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