Yah think this photo reflects my life?! My Foursquare friends know it!!
So today is the end of my first month of this year-long challenge to only eat/drink at Starbucks and I’ve learned a LOT in these 31 days so far! First of all, the amazing amount of people who have found out about my challenge from all over the globe, it’s been truly wonderful to have you all on-board for this 2013 adventure of mine!
So when I started my year on January 1st I had one main question I wanted to learn about and I decided to focus all month on… would I gain weight from eating Starbucks food?
I set out to debunk this myth of gaining weight on a Starbucks diet and I drew a lot of my initial inspiration from the woman who already did it, Christine Hall. I spoke to Christine earlier today about her “diet” and how it was compared to my weight-focused month and I found a lot of similarities. The biggest difference between us was that Christine initially set out to lose weight so that she could be an organ donor for a dying man, so her inspiration was pretty intense and her dedication was a “life or death” situation in the complete sense of the words while I on the other hand just wanted to keep baby-weight off. Guess what? It doesn’t matter the motivation you have to lose weight by only eating Starbucks food/drinks because I am now the second person that can claim that a “Starbucks Diet” DOES WORK! I have officially lost more than 12 pounds this month and clothes fit right on me again.
Christine and I talked about what she coined as the “bottom shelf options” in the stores… basically, if you want to be able to lose weight, get all the four food groups in and have the energy to run after toddlers both us “Starbucks Dieters” know that the bottom shelf is where to shop! Also, we both have used the tools of the weight-loss trade to aid in our goals. I tried out Jillian Michael’s iPhone app (which hasn’t worked properly for weeks) and Christine chose the better option (and one I’ll be using the rest of this year) the Livestrong.com “My Plate” tool. Christine emphasized this technology part of the equation as being “key” to achieving such significant weight loss, even if you decided do a Starbucks Diet it really is the tools that give you that ability to watch all the items you put in your mouth AND to log all your activity in a day so you can balance everything properly.
Christine was a bundle of energy in our conversation about all that has transpired because of her decision to help save another human’s life… upcoming cover-story features and even a book about the Starbucks Diet! I hope to hear from Christine throughout this Starbucks year of mine and I will second her discovery of losing weight through a Starbucks Diet anytime with anybody! Christine thank you for your inspiration for this first month of my year and please save me an autographed copy of your book!
The second thing I want to showcase during this first month of my Starbucks year is the other “big question” I have gotten… “you are going to spend so much money eating at Starbucks!” Yes, this part of the equation that has been on my mind since the beginning and will be throughout the year… retail does cost money. But I also have been learning quite a few tricks about how to SAVE MONEY when living on Starbucks, so for those people really thinking about doing a Starbucks Diet keep watching my blog this year because I am dedicating all of March (in preparation for tax season in the US) to the theme of SAVING BUCKS @ STARBUCKS! So, like I did for my challenge in 2011 to only buy everything from the Goodwill, I am also saving ALL of my receipts this year to get a good read on what it would take to eat/drink only at Starbucks. Money is a very real equation and I believe that this year of mine, and all the thousands of receipts I am going to receive, will really shed some light on this subject. But, I do expect to keep these tabs down as much as possible which is why a whole month dedicated to the saving-money subject is really exciting to me!
So, the grand total for this month? Drum roll please….
I spent $571.44 on food/drinks for ME this month (I took out the costs for my children & friends in each receipt).
That breaks down to an average of $18.43 a day at Starbucks (or Evolution Fresh, Tazo Tea, Roy Street Coffee, etc.). I will add that this total does NOT include the meals that family or friends have purchased for me this month because I am not going to ask them to save each receipt too. I would like to request that Starbucks looks at a way to email people’s receipts to their email address on their Starbucks cards like Nordstrom does. This would help cut down on the environmental impact of the paper printing for not only me but I’m sure thousands of other people a day. Besides, it is another way to encourage people to utilize their Starbucks cards!
So there you go… first month down and a success! February starts tomorrow and it’s all about the LOVERS of Starbucks and I’m sure you can imagine there are a LOT of them! I have been quickly brought into this “Lovers of Starbucks” world since starting my challenge and BOY, do we have some PASSION for the brand, the items and the environment of all that is Starbucks! I can’t wait to start showcasing all the LOVE in this loving month of February!
One down… eleven months to go!
