I bet my girlfriend I could go 3 months shopping only at REI

If you go into REI and then use your phone to order things online from whatever sellers you wish while you are physically in the REI store, you will technically be "shopping at REI."

Dinner

rei.com

PEAK REFUEL Butternut Dal Bhat - 2 Servings | REI Co-op

@REI Co-op

Made with rich, wholesome spices alongside lentils, chickpeas and butternut squash, this Butternut Dal Bhat from PEAK REFUEL serves up incredible Nepali flavors you'll be craving on every trail.

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Breakfast

rei.com

Mountain House Breakfast Skillet - 2 Servings | REI Co-op

@REI Co-op

Hash browns, scrambled eggs, crumbled pork patty, peppers and onions for breakfast! The Mountain House Breakfast Skillet lets you eat well on the trail or in your tent.

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Between the Fettuccine Alfredo and the Breakfast Skillet, assuming you eat only one serving, you are looking at approximately:

670 calories
47% fat (23% saturated fat)
33% carbohydrate
19% protein
385 mg cholesterol (FDA recommends 300/day max)
1500 mg sodium (recommended 2300/day max)

Have you seen Supersize Me? You should film and record your daily intakes in a log and get some baselines like weight, blood pressure, etc.

Why is it so difficult to understand that he can get food from places other than REI? It's clearly stated in the original post.

I wouldn't want to live on REI backpacking food for too long, but it's good stuff to have around the house in an emergency. When we lost power at our home for 12 hours recently, we fired up the camp stove to boil water and ate a couple of Mountain House meals for dinner, and it was actually a tasty and fun change from what we normally eat at home. Mighty high on the sodium if you're not stomping up and down mountains all day, though.

Work smarter, not harder...

Eat Y'Self fitter

What's he going to do? Make his own zuchini pasta? Get most calories from potatoes? Fruits and veggies will keep him from getting sick but I doubt they'll make up more than half a normal diet. Then again maybe a meal to him is 5 bananas.

Nah that is easier than you think. He is allowed fresh fruit and veg from elsewherę. That includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, avacado, coconuts. You are allowed lemons and limes. So with the avacados, you got yourself guacamole dressing for your salads, so there are lots of fresh food options on top of your hot freeze dried stuff from REI. Its unclear whether nuts count, technically cashews are a fruit, so those could be fine if you found the right source that they were "fresh". Lack of oil might be hard, so be sure to buy lots of avacados to make sure you are getting some fats with your veggies and REI food. As long as you have discipline, and outdoors camping experience food should be ok.

The hardest part will be random unexpected things when you run into life problems or when you are out with friends, or just when you forget you are doing this challenge for a few minutes and randomly do something out of habbit. Your car might be fine, and you can get other forms of transit. But there is always unexpected things. You can problem solve your way out of them. You definitely got this, as long as you don't give into temptation.

I'm guessing that a guy who is going through this ridiculous bet with his GF because he "talks about REI too much" does not own a vehicle with an internal combustion engine.

This thread is awesome.

I worked at an REI in 2010 and 2011 (awesome employee discounts, btw). One day, a group of guys in their late teens/early 20s came to my register. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Thanks for coming in! How're you doing? Where are you guys headed?
Them: We're doing fantastic, bro! We're going to Denver, bro! Bro, it's going to be so epic!
Me: Oh, cool. What are you doing there?
Them: Bro, we're going to, like, play drums on the street and, like, make money that way.
Me: Oh, cool. Sounds like a solid plan. And maybe you can, like, do tricks with these Devil Sticks you're buying to up your profits?
Them: For sure, bro!
Me: And what about sleeping? Are you going to...street camp in this tent?
Them: Hell yeah, bro! You know it!
Me: Cool... Guess you've got it all figured out.

It was at this time, a third guy in their group who I hadn't spotted before came to the register. I'm pretty sure he was wearing a Phish tie dye. Maybe this one was you?

Third guy: Hey bros! I can't decide between a road map and this sick beanie. What do you think?
Them: Bro...we're hitchhiking to Denver, bro...
Me, under my breath: Dear God...
Them: ...so put back that f-ing map because we ain't gonna be the ones driving the car!

And with that, I finished ringing them up and sent them on their merry way. Sometimes I wonder how they're doing and if they ever made it.

Last time I checked a Subaru Crosstrek has an ICE. I think your guess that he replaced the ice with an EV is pretty far out there...

Tip: you do not need to buy water. It is free. It comes out of your tap. Millenials . . . honestly . . .

I have the hybrid. I can get about 20 miles on electric only, which is enough for most of what I do. It has a full tank of gas, this will easily last the 3 months.

Can you plan like 30 meals for me? I can’t pay you…unless you work at REI.

Working at REI just be awesome. I would get a job there, but they don’t pay enough to make it my full time job, and I’m a little afraid I’d spend too much with an employee discount. I spent $1200 on camping gear last week.

What are the stakes of the bet? What is on the line here?

Same, kind of. I did it part time to build up extra cash for my wedding. I was hired as seasonal help for the holiday season and was asked to stay. The employee discount was 50% on REI brand merchandise and 25% off everything else. I bought a bunch of stuff before I quit. It is a great company to work for, as they really do take care of their employees. I didn't want to make it a full-time job because I was happy with my "real" job; however, I know several people who started with me as seasonal help, decided to quit their other job, and stayed at REI.

And, full disclosure, I drive a Crosstrek, too. We should be besties.

I got the Saucony Endorphins on clearance sale for cheap (I think that was the model name). They were like $75 and are normal stability road shoes. Very comfy. You might also luck out and find a pair in your size in the member scratch and dent sale that's like new for dirt cheap.