Earning our Food Step-by-Step: Walking to the Supermarket to do Our Shopping
Beautiful, isn’t it. This is Teide, in Tenerife, the Canary Islands (Spain, Europe), where we currently live.
Even though the islands are Spanish they’re very close to North Africa. Have a look at the pic below, the Canary Islands are the ones in red and Tenerife is the biggest one in the middle.
We moved here in 2016, and enjoy the fabulous weather and culture. If you’re interested in travelling to Tenerife we found a fantastic website that will help: The Real Tenerife. Having been born in Tenerife I was surprised to see a website that truly reflected our culture, traditions and the more touristic areas as well. Behind the website is a British couple living in Tenerife for many years now.
We Needed to Exercise!
Anyway, the point of this article is to show you the daily routine we came up with in order to walk as much as we can without making it a task that we stop at some point because it became too much for us.
Lynn and I are aware of our sedentary life (I work as an SEO so I’m behind the computers a lot of the time) and Lynn retired with me here in Tenerife.
The thing is – we both hate exercising. Anything to do with the words ‘gym’ and ‘sweating’ is so-not-appealing to us. That’s the truth. But we know we need to do something in order to keep the weight under control as well as make it part of our wellness journey.
So we came up with a plan.
Walking to the supermarket as part of our exercise plan.
Walking to the Supermarket to do Our Shopping
We both love Mercadona, a supermarket chain that ticks all the boxes for me. We have other supermarkets around which we also like, but besides being our favourite, Mercadona is just far enough for us to have to make an effort in order to get there by walk. That means we have to walk around 2km to get there, and 2km back, making it 4km in total which I think is a great way to exercise.
The view is stunning (see the pics), the walk is lovely (not busy) and because Tenerife is a big hill (Teide being the highest point) it means we have to walk uphill for the first 2km (great for getting the heart pumping nicely) and then downhill for the other 2km (around 2.5 miles). We’re burning 200 calories every time we do the walk which is great. (If you want to calculate the calories you burn by walking you could use this online tool).
If We don’t Walk There, We Have to Eat What’s in the Cupboard
The plan is a little more complicated than just walking. If we don’t walk there and back, we have to cook from what we have in the cupboard (we can’t just walk to the supermarket nearby and shop there). This is very important because it means we have to ‘earn’ what we eat. If we fancy something, we have to walk to get it.
The lovely Teide (highest mountain in Spain) accompanies us in our walk to the supermarket. It is a majestic volcano.
That’s Not All… We Can Only Spend 5 Euros Daily (on a Rollover Basis)
That’s right. There’s more to the plan. Our daily allowance is only 5 euros (not including water and milk). If we want to eat something that’s not in the cupboard we have to ‘earn’ it by walking the 4km/2.5 miles plus keeping what we buy within our 5 euros budget, and we’re very strict about this!
Because we’re very conscious about each product or ingredient we sometimes end up not needing certain ones and so we save a little bit of money (yes, we manage this too!), so whatever we save rolls over to the next day. And the days we don’t spend also roll over to the following days; which allows us to have the more expensive products.
Exercise + Appreciation of Food + Being Present with All the Ingredients
The result of this plan is amazing in so many levels! Not only we get to exercise by walking through the lovely back roads and enjoying a spectacular scenery, but we get to enjoy shopping in a supermarket we totally love (Mercadona was ranked the 9th most reputable company in the world in 2009). This means we are REALLY conscious about the items or ingredients we buy; both in terms of prices and also asking ourselves how good is this particular ingredient for us, do we really need it, does it add to our daily dish (I cook from fresh almost daily) or is this more of a fancy whim?
All these things are so important! Without a budget I would add things to the trolley I don’t need without thinking I don’t need them. I would just place there the ‘next’ item and move on to the next one in order for me to get faster to the next one… A horrible way of food-shopping, where ‘next’ and not-needed items feed food-hoarding addictions as well as anxiety and stress.
Each needed/picked item deserves our conscious attention and grateful appreciation. By checking products beyond mere quick-glancing we can truly say each has been chosen with love and care for both the product and our selves. How amazing is that? And it feels great.
Benefits in a Nutshell
Here’s a breakdown in bulleted points, easier to see the benefits we are reaping:
- Walking to the supermarket and back (4km/2.5 miles), burning 200 calories each time
- Enjoying a spectacular scenery, good for inner-spacing
- Earning what we eat (deserving), rather than unconsciously feeding a sedentary body (undeserving).
- Sticking to a tight 5 euros budget; good for 1) appreciating what we buy, 2) unnecessary spending 3) being organised and responsible
- Using what’s in the cupboard so we don’t food-hoard (a terrible habit)
- We learn about the different prices for the same products on different supermarkets
- You get creative with dishes ideas (very creative!)
- You find many different uses for one ingredient, and you get to use it all (there’s no throwing away)
- You learn to budget for other things too, you’re on a roll yourself!
- Incentivates a frugal lifestyle which is healthy for the mind
There you have it. Those are the benefits I could find but I’m sure there lot’s more.
And, best of all, we simply love it.
