Lent Take-aways and Japan Sale Wrap-up!

As I stated in an earlier post, I kind of quit Lent a little early. Aigh! With a little over two weeks left! So bad! Ah well. It was my first time ever "giving up" something that wasn't a life choice (I was vegetarian for 5 years -- that didn't work out either).

What I learned:

1. When I'm not eating a lot of sugar, ie, such as in desserts and lots of baked goods, I have a lot more energy, and I don't experience the "sugar crash" so much. Eating snacks that had a very low glycemic index seemed to make for a much more even energy level.
2. I was much less likely to snack after dinner, as if I didn't get to have a cookie, I kind of didn't see the point. This was a good thing.
3. I am amazed by how inundated that we are with sweets in the US (and probably all over the world!). It seems like someone was always offering a "sweet treat" as part of a special, giveaway, blogs (what's up with that?), and as a promotion. This exercise made me so much more aware of how much we are taunted with "just a little treat." No wonder we have an obesity epidemic here!
4. OK, the bad. I was really moody throughout the process. I thought that I would have sweated the sugar jones out of my system within a week, turns out not. Given the above problem with the overwhelming amount of sweets that we see on a daily basis, I could never seem to get away from the lure of the desserts!
5. People need vices. Yes, you heard me. OK, I don't smoke, do drugs, eat artificial sweetner, drive a fast car, buy expensive clothes and makeup, and I don't consume a ton of alcohol. Ah-ha! So sweets were really my only vice, and honestly, I don't eat a ton of desserts, but it was one of my few indulgences. However, with desserts off the table, I noticed that my alcohol intake increased. I think that subconsciously, I figured that since I wasn't consuming a ton of sugar and carbs, I could up my alcohol. Weird, huh?

I think that this little experiment was pretty helpful, and it made me a lot more aware of the effect sugar has on my body. Although I'll reduce my dessert intake even further (and when I do, continue to lessen my intake of refined sugars -- I was already on that road, but I think that I am now even more conscious), but cutting it out is pretty unrealistic for me.

Japan Sale Wrap Up!

I didn't raise a ton of money, but every little bit helps! I managed to raise an additional $25 to donate to Japan! Thanks to everyone that purchased items from my store!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Um, we broke Lent. And let me tell you, it was wonderful!

After an extremely tough week of sleep deprivation and stress (causing said deprivation), we had had enough. On Friday evening, we went to my favorite restaurant, Cafe Chloe, which is a little French bistro downtown with some of the best French fare that I've had in the States.

Break it we did. We started with happy hour special wines and two happy hour appetizer specials: scrumptious carrot and coconut soup, and their amazing macaroni with bleu cheese and pancetta. The plan was to "see where we were" after we had our appetizers, but we both knew what was going to happen. Before we knew it (and no blaming it on the booze), we were ordering steak frites for my husband, and I had the la lapin (rabbit! aigh! I know! Too heartbreaking to ever do again!).

Source

Since the damage was already done, so to speak, we were ordering dessert. Dang it, I had been denied for long enough! We ordered my very favorite bread pudding, the yummy pistachio bread pudding with an espresso caramel sauce, served with homemade vanilla ice cream! I'm a bread pudding lover, and this one is the tops.

I'm really glad that we did this, and we learned a lot (to be written up tomorrow -- stay tuned!), but man, it was really hard, and I'm really glad that it's (kind of) over.