If there was ever a good time for me to give-up fried foods and sugar, the past 6-ish weeks was NOT it.
Work was super stressful. We moved again. There were a lot of last minute fire drills with closing escrow. All classic situations where I could have easily picked up a cookie or a pint of Ben & Jerry's (hey, maybe both!) to alleviate my anxiety. I was needing a reset button BAD. Lent was a good time to do it.
I've done this before and it still wasn't easy this time around. I thought about treats - multiple times per day actually - and that was alarming. Obviously I have an unhealthy relationship with sugar and it needs to be checked, maybe twice yearly. Here were some fixes that helped me get through it all:
- 1/2 a peanut butter and banana sandwich
- Fresh cut fruit (coconut, jicama, melons, mango and papaya) from a street vendor, with lime, chile and salt on top
- Fage plain yogurt with frozen cherries or fresh strawberries with some non-sweetened coconut mixed in
- Crackers or bread with cheese or european butter
- Mixed nuts
I even had multi-grain pancakes sans syrup. Wasn't terrible, but it won't be a normal occurrence. Come Sunday (hallelujah!) I will be breaking the fast with a few worthy treats. I've been planning for it the last few weeks. Here's the menu:
For breakfast: I'm going to be super efficient and eat something that's sweet AND fried! My favorite donut is a glazed Buttermilk Bar. This one's from Primo's but Mom's or Dad's (no, really) would be delicious too. If I were in SF, I'd for sure do this donut.
For lunch: Fried Chicken. Duh!
For dinner: I might be full from my earlier meals. Depends how much moving around I do that day. I predict naps happening because my body just won't be able to keep up with the incoming calories. In the event that I decide to keep things light, I'll go straight for dessert: Tin Roof Sundae from Jeni's.
All kidding aside (though I don't think I'm kidding about my planned menu for Sunday) my plan moving forward (sounds so official) will be a once-a-week cheat day. There is no good reason to make treats an everyday occurrence. Limiting my indulgence to once per week, I'm hoping to be more mindful about what I'm eating and really make it count.