update on the lent thing

i always think of a million things to blog about over the weekend. then, on monday a.m. i have fuzzy brain and cannot remember anything!

sigh. i thought maybe it was time for an update on my lent decision this year. as you may or may not recall, i decided to give up 'sugar.'

quickly that decision changed to processed carbs/sugar...there is no way i could totally give up sweets, so i factored in eating fruit as part of the fast.

yeah. this weekend, i looked into my cart at hyvee and saw:

bananas
granny smith apples
canteloupe
strawberries
frozen blackberries
frozen peaches
frozen mixed berries


ummmm. so, i guess it really did become a fast of processed food, more than a sugar fast. i don't think i could have made it FIVE weeks without protein smoothies (thus the frozen fruit). they are truly YUMMY, and quench my sugar desire while still giving me energy, and for the most part are really good stuff - fruit/milk/whey protein - with no added sweeteners. well, some of the protein powder has stevia in it. but still. not too bad.

i've only eaten ONE slice of cheese pizza, no chips, no white bread, no pasta except for one serving of whole wheat pasta (i really am not much of a pasta person, anyway).

what i HAVE eaten is lots and lots of these. i have gotten somewhat good at making salads. much thanks to my friend anne, who is a bit of a zealot on making homemade dressing. ps. she is giving up her blog roll for lent, so unfortunately she cannot defend that comment ;)

she has made some incredible viniagrettes at church, so i have tried to follow suit at home. plus, i like lots of little bits in my salad, so i've tried to have enough goodies on hand, which is not always easy.

salads require planning!

for instance, i grocery shopped yesterday and forgot to pick up a salty/crunchy addition to my salads for the week. doh. salty/crunchy is actually almost a necessity for a good salad. usually, i do some sort of salted nuts, or a whole wheat 'sesame stick' that i have found to be quite tasty.

fortunately, i had recently found a recipe for toasted chickpeas. they look good, don't they? plus, they add a lot of protein into the mix....not a bad thing.

tastewise, i could live without them. but they do serve their purpose in a salad, so i suppose i will gag them down this week :))) ha. not everything about this 'clean eating' is a bed of roses, i suppose.

so, i know you are wondering - do i feel better? do i still miss sugar? am i skinny yet?

answers: yes. not remarkably, but a little more energy. yes. every day. no, not even close.


i'm pretty sure i will continue on in some form after easter is over, however. for awhile, i was logging my food every day, but that got a little old, and also made me concentrate on food way more than i want to. i think a month of logging kind of showed me what to eat for a good balance and for the last week i've been 'free forming' it. which is a great relief. i really don't want to 'diet' anymore, but i look forward to being much, much healthier physically next year at this time ;))
 

i even took a couple of 'before' pics on sunday so that i will have something to look back upon! (no, this is not it, but i will not post those ;))

as for what i have missed the most? not chocolate. not cake. not bread. not all the things i thought. but i dearly, dearly miss DIET COKE. and i will most certainly have one, just one, for lunch on sunday, along with my easter meal!


thank you Lord, for helping me with a really hard thing in my life!