The Candyman CAN'T!

[apple_pathways]

It's official: I'm giving up sweets for Lent.

I already gave away my stash of candy students have bought for me. Goodbye, Godiva truffles! *sniff*

So, just so I have some measure of accountability, I'll lay down here the rules I'm setting for myself.

List of Allowed 'Sweet' Foods

• Any and all fruit, including juice, dried, and canned fruits, as long as there is no sugar added.
  
• Artificial sweeteners in diet soft drinks and for my coffee. (Hush! These are a completely separate addiction to be dealt with at a date TBD.)
  
• Cereals such as raisin bran, Kashi, etc. NO MORE Frosted Mini Wheats.
  
• Yogurt. NOT frozen yogurt or other sugary, yogurty dessert things, but my Stonyfield organic lowfat yogurt cups. They are good for my tummy!
  

Basically, no: desserts, cake, cookies, ice cream, chocolate, candy, sugar, etc. etc. etc.

Day 1: Today, March 9, 2011.

End day: Easter! April 24, 2011.

(sabriel75: let's do this!)

In other news, I got an iPhone! Woo hoo! I mean, seriously: I am SO behind the times, it's amazing I actually own a piece of technology my students would recognize on a first glance. It's such an odd feeling to be up-to-date! What else have I been missing?

ARE THERE JETPACKS YET??? :P

Comments

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

iPhone! Woohoo. I am jealous. I cannot bring myself though to buy something that pretty much allows me 24 hour access to the internet. I dunno that I have the willpower to resist then as I already feel I'm joined at the hip with it via laptop.

Okay.

So I must put aside 20 minutes a day for a hard work out. No lazy daisy oh let me stretch into a few yoga poses any more!

I shall email you at the end of the day whether or not I have done my work out and you can send me scathing remarks if I haven't. How shall I help you with the sweets?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Hey, you let me know how you did, and I'll update you on how well I did! Just knowing that someone is going to ask me if I've cheated at the end of the day will help me to stick to the plan.

This will be SO GOOD for me! I never used to be a person who liked sweets that much, but in recent years, I've developed quite a jones for them. It'll be nice to have a little detox. And since the only way to get my sweet fix will be by eating fruit, that can only improve things! (Ooh, hold on: I gotta add yogurt to the list of allowed sweets. Yogurt keeps my tummy happy and functioning!)

Oh, and as for the iPhone goes: we'll see how much I use the internet! I've never had a laptop, so I'm not used to have access all the time. I have a limited data plan, so I can't afford to get all-out addicted!

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

Limited sounds good except my daughter would probably rack up so many charges it would have been wiser for me to go with the unlimited.

Okay... nightly check-ins it is! Let's do this as I cringe in self-doubt.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Having never had mobile internet access before, I have no idea how much I'll actually use it and whether it will be difficult to stay within my limits or not.

I suspect I'll do fine, though, as I'm not the sort of person who always has her phone out. (In fact, I am notorious for never knowing where my phone is. At least once a month, I'll leave it in the car for the weekend, and just not notice that I'm not getting any calls.)

NO SELF-DOUBT! You can do this! Start strong, you'll pick the momentum in a few days! Once I get a handle on this no-sweets thing, I'll have to add an increased-exercise caveat into our bargain. MUST GET MOBILE!

We are SO going to rock this! LOOK OUT, LENT! :P

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

Ha! I left my phone at work one weekend and didn't come in to pick it up and my boss was completely freaked out by it. But seriously, I only have my cell phone because of the children. I hate people being able to get a hold of me just like that.

Okay... I am positive! I can do this. I will overcome my weak-willed exercise self.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I hate people being able to get a hold of me just like that.

OMG, me too!! (Though I can see how it would be useful as it pertains to your kids.) And I hate how people expect you to explain yourself if they can't talk to you right away. (I've broken most people of this. They know it isn't unusual for me to take 12 hours to call them back, which I think is TOTALLY REASONABLE!)

I am just old enough to remember what it was like before everyone had cell phones, and you know what I miss the most?

Making plans! If you wanted to see friends, say on the weekend, you used to have to call them during the week, pick a time and place to meet, and then meet them there! Now, people either wait until the last minute, or change times at the last minute, just because they know they can get ahold of you. I have friends who are always calling me right before I'm ready to leave to go out to ask if we can meet an hour later. NO BECAUSE I AM READY NOW AND I DO NOT WANT TO SIT AROUND FOR ANOTHER HOUR WHILE YOU GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!

Sorry. I seem to be full of rage these days.

WOO HOO we are gonna be the healthiest people in the world! :P

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

You are strange, but I wish you luck.

And are you missing out on ebook readers? Because that would be a sad thing to miss out on.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

You are strange

LOL! You noticed, huh? I could probably answer this for myself, but: how specifically do you mean? What have I done that's strange? (Being strange renders me unable to identify and evaluate social norms on occasion! :P)

I am missing out on eBook readers. I just...eBooks?

I know it makes me sound like a curmudgeonly old man, but I like my BOOK books! (In fact: Andy Rooney, the King of curmudgeonly old men, was ranting about them on 60 minutes the other day. But I gotta go with him on this one: I don't want to read my books on a screen!)

(Oh, hush! It's only slightly ironic that I spend a good chunk of my day reading things off the internet.)

[ladybracknell.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I have to give up sugar all the time for health reasons - here's my tip: don't underestimate the power of sweet vegetables to sate your cravings. Parsnips, butternut squash, roast garlic - these will help :D.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I imagine I'll be eating a LOT of fruit! Which, hey: I'm fine with! I like fruit, and eating more of it has to be good for me!

Oh man, if parsnips and squash can satisfy your sweet cravings, you are a much stronger woman than I!

[ladybracknell.livejournal.com]

I have ~issues with some fruit too (like I can't handle undiluted fruit juice, and most actual fruit that's not a berry or a melon is a total no-go) so I eat a lot of parsnips. It's not so much a choice as ANY PORT IN A STORM, lol.

[copper-season.livejournal.com]

Good for you! I too have given up most sweets (except for tootsie rolls, only three!) because of my lifestyle change and I no longer eat desserts. As mentioned above, my only indulgence is three tootsie rolls to quell my chocolate cravings so I don't go overboard since I love chocolate a lot.

Good luck! If you need support, I'm here for you!

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Likewise! (Though it sounds like you've been doing FANTASTIC!)

Having a little wiggle room in your diet is a good idea! Stops you from going crazy and binging in the middle.

[javidan.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the lack of sweets...I occasionally give up carbs but only last 1 or 2 weeks, lol.

Yay for iPhone---I recently got one and am really enjoying it. Boo for the limited data plan, though. Apparently they came up with that brilliance for the newest edition phone.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (I wouldn't even try to give up carbs. Besides whole grain being good for me and my tummy, I love them so much, I wouldn't last a day!)

We'll see how I do with my data plan. Considering I'm not much of a phone addict, I think I'll be fine!

[plumeriandeity.livejournal.com]

Good luck on your Lenten fast :)

I still have a basic, candy-bar phone. I don't know when I will ever use a smartphone :D

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I have never had anything other than the most basic, comes-with-the-plan phone, so we'll see how this works out!

The phone itself was only $50.00, and my dad (who just retired from AT&T) has an employee discount, so the service isn't bad. I don't know if I'll get a lot of use out of the 'smartphone' features, but it is a lovely phone, and I do enjoy having a full keyboard for texting!

[plumeriandeity.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to get a smartphone but I have no use for the smartphone features (yet) and I figure I will be enslaved to a smartphone in my future job, so I will enjoy the lull before that happens LOL.

I'm glad you like the phone! I always play with my relatives' iPhones whenever they visit and they are a treat!

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

ARE THERE JETPACKS YET???

YES. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

They're so 2001, too. Actually, I'm giving mine up for Lent. You won't believe how out of shape you get in a year or so when you don't even have to walk from the office to the bathroom.

Congrats on resolutions and rules and technology. :)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

GODDAMMIT! Someone was supposed to wake me when we got jetpacks! I could have used one today, too.

Pssh, physical activity is so overrated! I'm all about the MIND! :P

[lemniciate.livejournal.com]

YAY iPhone! I'm miffed that I can't use mine yet but hopefully soooon. Right now it's just an extremely expensive iPod D:

Good luck with the sweets! You can do this \o/

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! So far, so good: supposing I can make it to bed without caving and finishing off the aforementioned truffles, I've got one day down!

[alias-amy.livejournal.com]

I have been thinking about what to give up for Lent ever since I saw your previous post. I'm not Catholic, but my two best friends/roommates were, and I used to give things up for Lent all the time with them.

I think though it's not a food for me -- I'm going to give up that 1 hour of surfing I do right before bedtime. I can't bring myself to go to bed early even though I'm chronically sleep-deprived. So starting tonight I'm going to have a firm early bedtime unless I'm actually out having fun.

iPhone for the win! you will be on LJ all the time now ;-)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

iPhone for the win! you will be on LJ all the time now ;-)

Like I'm not already? :P Seriously, I live here!

That sounds like an excellent thing to give up! You'll feel so much better with the extra rest.

[tierfal.livejournal.com]

*late to the… party?*

I doubly admire your resolution here because… well, food is my coping mechanism, but especially sugary food, since I have a sweet tooth that would make a sabertooth tiger feel inadequate. XD I hope it's going well! :D

They're totally working on jetpacks. Although Cracked.com doesn't think that's viable.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

*late to the… party?*

I love that you go back and comment on posts that are a few days old! It's always a lovely surprise. (Even though I frequently have to re-read the entry itself for context!)

I never used to be a big sugary food person, but I've sort of gotten in the habit the last couple years. Though it hasn't been that difficult to give them up, the number of times I find myself in the position of declining a sweet treat has really opened up my eyes to how many I probably eat in a typical week!

Screw Cracked.com: I want my jetpack!