My Experience With Frugal Living and Weight Loss

1. It tasted good

The first reason I felt that I was overeating wasn't necessarily that I was hungry, but it was more about the choice I could make.

I thought, isn't it that we sometimes overspend because it's about the choice? It's not about the need or what's going to happen in the future.

Frugal living is the same way. We pack in the items sometimes because they're a good deal or because we think that'd be nice without thinking about the $20, $30, or $100 we spent and the impact it will have later.

2. Comfort

My second reason for the analysis was comfort. I would buy it because it comforted me. It made me look forward to something. I thought, isn't that the reason sometimes we buy things, to make ourselves feel better or to comfort ourselves?

3. I was unhappy with myself

When you're unhappy with yourself, you sometimes think it'll hurt less if you get that sugary snack. If you pick up that sugary snack and eat it, life will be easier or more fulfilling. But after you do, you don't feel better. It doesn't do anything for your happiness with yourself.

Spending money is the same way. Sometimes, we buy something thinking this will make us feel better. I feel down today so I'm going to buy myself a new shirt to make me feel better about myself.

Then you get it home, and it doesn't do that. You might feel good the first time or two you wear it, but then you're back to feeling unhappy.

4. Hopelessness

There were times I would feel hopeless. I would feel like everything was just a rat race. I'd feel like that sugary snack would make me feel better. Again, it would make me look forward to something.

Isn't that what we do sometimes when we feel down and overwhelmed with money? We'll think, if I buy something, I won't feel so hopeless. I won't feel like everything I do every day, day after day, is just for nothing. I'll feel like I'm benefiting from all of this hard work.

5. To reward myself

I would feel I deserved this like I had a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I had a reason to go to work every day: I would get myself something later that would be a reward for everything I had done that day. I feel like many of us fall into the category that we want to reward ourselves for all our hard work.

Sometimes, it's in the shape of a sugary snack, a salty snack, or a drink that is high calorie. Sometimes it's in the form of money. Sometimes, those things go together. Sometimes, that sugary or salty snack we're giving ourselves as a reward also equals a lot of money over time.

If we're doing it daily, rewarding ourselves with something every day that costs six or seven dollars adds up to a lot of money.

6. Stress

In high school, I used not to eat when I was stressed. Then, over the years, as I became an adult, I used to eat when I was stressed. I would overeat because I was trying to reduce that stress. T

hen afterward, you think, I just took in this many calories that didn't reduce my stress. Now I feel worse, and it's the same way with spending money.

Sometimes, we think going out and buying something will reduce our stress, and it becomes our coping mechanism to try to reduce our stress by buying something.

7. Boredom and avoidance

Another huge reason that I would overeat is I was bored. If I were bored, I'd get something to eat, along with avoidance.

You know, if I didn't feel like I wanted to do the tasks that I needed to do, I'd grab something to eat because if I was eating, I felt like that was a reason that it would put me off a little bit until I had to do that. Or if I was bored, it was something to do.

8. Habits

Another one of my reasons was overeating just became a habit over time. It just became a habit that I would get the same snack daily. It was too many calories, but it became part of my daily routine, and adding something in as a habit is so much easier than getting it stopped.

Spending money is the same way. It becomes a habit that maybe we're getting deliveries several times a week because we're browsing our computer and buying things. It is more of an impulse thing that we do than really stopping and thinking about it.

9. Hobby

Baking all those sweet desserts almost became a hobby. It was something that I chose to do instead of doing something else as a hobby. Eating became a hobby.

Shopping can become a hobby by doing things that cost money, like going out every Friday night can become a hobby.

So we have to think about whether this is benefiting my goals, whether this is something that I want to put all of my time, energy, and calories into, or whether I would instead go another direction to help me achieve my goals.

10. Scarcity mindset

I gained weight while working because I thought I could only eat now. I'm not going to have time later, or I'm not going to have anything later.

I didn't want to get hungry in the afternoon because I didn't eat lunch, so I would eat when I thought I had time to eat, even if I wasn't hungry. That's a scarcity mindset.

I think the scarcity mindset is the same. We're worried that we won't have enough of something or that we won't have what others have. We could go into a scarcity mindset of overbuying things for many reasons.

Frugal living weight loss

The reasons I was overeating could also apply to spending money, so frugal living and weight loss are intertwined.

Let me know in the comments if you can identify with any of these or if you have other ones that you've noticed. Share your success stories as well.