Workout: 20 minutes strength training and 2.2-mile walk with Denali
Soda. Ice Cream. Cursing. I’ve given them all up at one time or another – with varying success – for Lent. As a child, it was mostly sweets because, well, that’s what my grandma did. As a college student addicted to Mountain Dew, I cut out pop in the hopes of losing weight. And cursing? That’s been a more recent phenomenon as I realize my mouth sometimes rivals that of a sailor.
This year, I didn’t want to give up any of those things. My soda consumption is one a day and I consider it my lifeline to normalcy. Take ice cream away from a pregnant lady? Heck no! The cursing? It’s gotten far better. So I had to think long and hard about what would be an appropriate sacrifice during this time of penance. I could stop being mean to Mark … quit Facebook … stop showering (just kidding!) …
Or … or I could give up something big. Huge. A staple in my diet.
Potatoes. White potatoes.
My decision all started with a single realization: I’m eating french fries far more than I used to. The fast-food variety make their way into my diet at least once a week, and I’ve been turning up my nose at turnip fries in favor of Ore-Idas. The key to limiting my weight gain and bouncing back post-baby will be maintaining the lifestyle I had pre-baby and that lifestyle didn’t include buckets of fries. Sure, I could limit just french fries but then I could bend the rules with oven fries or home fries or hash browns. Nope. It’s no potatoes for me.
A disclaimer: Sweet potatoes are A-OK. Hello, vitamins!
A second disclaimer: I know it’s not the meaning of lent to give up things to help you be healthier and lose weight and all that jazz.
It might be tough, especially in restaurants, but I’m ready for the challenge.
Are you giving up anything for Lent?
Soda- of any kind. I thought about coffee but there might be a man hunt in my town for my head if that happened. LOL, I found that I am limiting to myself to a couple of soda's (mostly diet) during the week but on the weekend I go nuts. What that must be doing to my blood sugar and body periods , makes me shutter at the thought. We shall see how this goes. GOOD LUCK :)
ReplyDeleteI was giving up sugar... you know, stuff that adds sugar into it? ice cream, chocolate milk, sugary cereals, Nutella.... fruits are ok, though.
ReplyDeleteThat is, until I had Apple Jacks this morning!
But I figure, eh, what the heck... I'm usually not awake anyway until I get to work, so I'm starting over now.
Also, even though Lent is not about sacrificing things for the sole reason to be healthier, I'm also focusing on Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit. Especially the part of about self-control!
Good luck!
I like you're style! I'm wavering on forgoing the sweets...you know how those pregnancy cravings can be.
ReplyDeleteNot giving anything up for Lent - should, but really hate failure so . . .
ReplyDeleteGood luck with 40 days sans potatoes.
Good post!
I actually gave up soda in high school for the same reason you gave it up in college, and I swear it worked! Giving it up forced me to drink way more water. I didn't diet at all and my exercising was extremely minimal back then, yet I still lost like 10-15 pounds.
ReplyDelete