So Lentventurous.

I am currently embarking on day six of my Lenten Adventure.  

I must say, I’ve been doing pretty well at staying away from super processed foods.  Except for the hot chocolate I had the other night.  And probably the biscuit thing I had from Red Lobster yesterday.  Which was still not terrible, considering I was given an entire bag of them and only ate one.

For the most part, I think this is sort of a quest for self-fulfillment as well as a healthier lifestyle.  So it’s not so much that I’m giving up processed or fried foods, or even Coke, as it is that I’m trying to adopt better habits

   

With that in mind, my gauge for whether or not I should put something in my mouth or even do something is:  how does my body feel about this?  If I think about something like Cheetos, my body has a conditioned reaction of YAY!  Cheetos!!!  But if I don’t immediately let myself think I want Cheetos, I realize they don’t sound appealing at all.  And I’d much rather have a small piece of cheese than an entire bag of Cheetos.

Yesterday and Saturday both I spent a little time explaining my Lentventure to my parents.  Last night I had a conversation with my dad specifically about it.  This morning, he brought me doughnuts.  (I find spelling “doughnuts” instead of “donuts” so much more fulfilling.) 

“Dad, is Lent over yet?”

“I don’t know.  Is it?”

“Has it been Easter yet?”

“No…  So, when’s Easter?”

“April.”

“So, you can’t eat anything good for two weeks?”

“Easter’s, like, the 24^th or 26^th.  So, six weeks. “

“That sucks.  You can’t eat anything good for a month and a half.”

 

Helping. 

The weirdest part of the whole conversation this morning was that at no point did I really want a doughnut. 

When he first said the word “doughnut” my ears kind of perked up and I started salivating a little.  Which I realize now is apparently a totally conditioned reaction to the thought of a doughnut.  I was salivating and weighing whether or not I really, really wanted one (since I have no willpower, I probably would have just given in had it sounded awesome).  However, I realized it did not sound that appealing.  The idea of a doughnut (which I actually used to love and crave) sounded nice, but the thought of actually eating one sounded kinda yucky.  The thought of how my body would feel after was pretty much horrible.  So I had my usual protein shake and dry sourdough toast.  Which was fabulous. 

The great thing is that I haven’t even completed six days of the Lentventure and I feel AWESOME.  I’m not tired all the time.  I’m not constantly irritable or snippy.  I can focus much better than it seems like I was previously able to.  I am super relaxed, like, all the time.  That’s not something I’m used to.  Energetic and uptight, yes.  Relaxed-ish and lethargic, yes.  Crazy relaxed and energetic, not so much. 

I feel like I’m on the edge of a new me.  Not so different from the old me.  Not less fun to be around, but maybe a little easier to be around because I won’t be dragging so much nervous energy along with me. 

Now I just have to work on only receiving and sending out positive energy.