Tag: vending machine

Grounding and granola

I admit it.  I have a easy time making goals, and a hard time keeping them.  Some say I’m over-committed, others say I’m wishy-washy. Over ambitious. Unrealistic. Even simply a jerk for making promises that I can’t possibly keep.

In a last-minute lenten experiment in February I swore off the vending machine for 60 days, and hopefully for good.  While it might seem trivial, this was no small feat for me.  Perhaps more so because of my reputation for making and breaking goals, as time wore on my chemical dependence on sugar and chemical additives faded and my resolve grew stronger.

And I did it.

It’s in those dark moments of your life that you go toward the toxic things that give you shallow comfort.  It could be drugs or alcohol; cigarettes or food.  For me, the vending machine was that thing.  So I find it particularly awesome that during a particularly chaotic time for me I haven’t strayed off the path. Even after Easter came and went.

How did you do it, Lauren!?!

Simple: granola.

I can’t completely deny my personality – I’m a person that requires a pacifier from time to time.  I replaced M & M’s with granola and yogurt, nature, and namaste.   Not only did this satisfy my need for a crutch, it gave me energy and health and fortitude.  And now, not a day goes by that I don’t get a little granola in my life.

Loosing my religion: Lent

I’m Catholic, technically,

but fully admit that I’m not at all Catholic.

However, in a moment of religious fervor, I decided that Lent is a pretty good idea.  I mean, giving up something excessive for the sake of understanding that you don’t need it is an exercise in self-control and a reminder that we live in a world of obscene abundance.

My friend Erin is currently sweating it out in Benin, Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, bathing out of ceramic pots.  So, it’s pretty much the least I could do to put the kabbash on the vending machine.

The vending machine and I have had a tumultuous relationship, at best.  We’ve had our ups and downs, but mostly downs.  Nothing from the vending machine tastes good.  Nothing from the vending machine makes me feel good.

After a particularly rough “Fat Ash Wednesday”, I’ve joined up on this lenten hootenanny and sworn off those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad chips, and chocolates, and fruit snacks for the next 39 days.

But really,  I hope this is the Lent that never ends.