Further Thoughts on Lent, and a Goal (or five)

Lent is perfectly placed in the calendar… just enough time has passed to falter on New Years resolutions and people need an excuse to regain focus.  As for me, I feel pretty good about my New Years resolutions: in 2013 I’m looking to meet more deadlines, find space, and drink more tea.

For the most part, I’m keeping my end of the bargain, but I’ve also been itching to take it to the next level.

You see, I’ve been on a diet for a few months.  Let’s call it “Weight Watchers” (because it is).  I didn’t add anything food related to this year’s resolutions because, frankly, I know better.  This is my third attempt with Weight Watchers and it’s taken awhile stick.  But now that I’ve embraced the plan it’s starting to work.  Overall the thing I’ve benefitted from with Weight Watchers is a renewed mindfulness toward what goes into my face.  The problem is, I’m not losing much weight.

Maybe this should concern me more than it does…

Part of my ambivalence has to do with realizing that I abolished the plan and joyfully gained weight over the holidays. So after four careful weeks on plan I’m now about where I started.  The other part is: my pants fit better.  I actually feel as though my body is lighter and leaner even though it’s not reflected on the scale.  Given my past piss-poor relationship with food, I consider my laissez faire attitude a huge victory.  Every shred of my intelligence about food and fitness tells me I’m on the right path, and that it’s not about the numbers, but about the overall lifestyle.  Still, it’s frustrating to not see much in the way of tangible results.

So I think it’s time to take it up a notch.  By notch, I don’t mean a juice cleanse or joining The Biggest Loser, I mean Lent.

Having mastered the vending machine last year, I decided that I was up for another 60-day challenge.  What better excuse to deprive yourself of superfluous indulgences than Lent?

Disclosure: I made a not-so-public pledge at New Years to dramatically reduce my consumption of alcohol.  I was drinking enough that my energy levels were consistently low, as was my motivation and zeal for life.  Plus, I’m pretty sure I’ve pegged alcohol in causing my waist to rapidly disappear over the past year.  I made a promise to myself that I was going to cut back, and I did.  I’ve gone from 1-2 drinks a day to 1-2 drinks a week.

Long story short, it’s working, my waist is shrinking, but unfortunately I replaced one vice with another: caffeine

Give up coffee? Are you kidding me? Not a chance.

I’m kicking the diet cola for 60 days.

That deliciously refreshing, bubbly treat.

A caffeine boost that I can drink after 4pm and get away with.

I’m giving it all up.

This will, I imagine, save me a boat load of money and dramatically lower my consumption of caffeine and chemicals.  The replacement: tea, which promotes adherence to one of my three resolutions… win win.

Teaser:

There’s one more goal I’ve added to the pile for 2013, but you’ll have to wait until the next post for the big reveal.  Here’s a hint: it involves padded shorts.  See you on Wednesday!