Now for your regularly scheduled blogging…
Lunch
It’s official. My breakfast bagelwich has transcended breakfast and is now acceptable for every meal. As demonstrated by the fact that I wanted to dig into my lunch at 9:30 a.m., just knowing that this bagelwich was waiting for me had me looking forward to my lunch all morning.
Wednesday Lunch
I topped a toasted Thomas’ cinnamon raisin bagel thin with two slices of muenster cheese before microwaving it for 15 seconds (my work doesn’t have a toaster oven). After adding a smear of raspberry jelly to one half of the bagel, the sandwich was ready!
The Goods
Zucchini slices topped with Italian dressing served as my side.
All Dressed Up
I’m just waiting for the day when I’ll finally get sick of this bagelwich. I’m not sure it will ever happen.
No Sweets: Week One
A couple of you have asked me how my no sweets throughout Lent commitment is going. Thankfully it’s going very, very smoothly. I think this is due, in large part, to the fact that I basically gave up desserts and didn’t swear off sugar entirely.
While I cannot have ice cream, I can still have yogurt with honey and berries. Though I cannot have a milkshake, I can still have a protein-packed smoothie.
Smoothie-Induced Smile
Since it has only been a week, I haven’t been faced with too much temptation, but I have noticed a couple of random changes I’ve personally made since forgoing sweets:
- I chew more gum. I’m already a gum-chewing addict, but I’ve added a couple more sticks into my daily gum-chewing habit.
- I eat more nuts. After dinner, when I might otherwise eat something sweet, I’ve been enjoying nuts… and lots of them. I went through an entire jar of nuts by myself last week in three days. Let’s just say I wasn’t stopping at one or two portions. I’m now trying to be more cognizant of eating nuts in more reasonable amounts, not just mindlessly munching on them like it’s cool.
- I crave more fats. I’m not sure if eliminating sweets (and therefore some added fats) from my diet has sparked this, but I find myself really craving greasy foods like buttery popcorn. I’m not sure what that’s all about, but bring on the butter! 😉
If you gave up something or added something positive to your life for Lent, how are things going for you?
Before signing off for the afternoon, I must leave you with a link for the most hysterical pictures of Basset Hounds running. Click it. They’re awesome. (#40 is my favorite!)
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I added trying to be more kind and more patient at work. While I feel like I’m a nice person and patient for the most part, sometimes it becomes hard when you have differences of opinions! So far it’s going really well 🙂
I need to try these bagelwich sandwiches, you need to post a full blog about your recs!
mmm that bagelwich looks delicious as always!
mmm your bagelwich looks fab!! 🙂
bagelwich, mmmm, tasty idea.
Hah! I was relating with you until the buttery popcorn part, where I was 100% with you. Giving up the desserts has been smooth sailing for me as well, but instead of reaching for a York Peppermint Patty after lunch I’ve be CRAVING popcorn!!! So weird how our bodies work 🙂
I don’t participate in Lent but if I did, I’d like to think I’d give up wine.
Yeah, right. 🙂
I gave up stairs. Walking to the 5th floor of my office building all day long…no elevators or escalators allowed anywhere I go.
Glad to hear things are going smoothly with your no-sweets! I do have a question… do you cook your zucchini slices or just throw em in the bowl raw? They look super YUM!
I gave up Fast food and coke for lent. Now, without sounding terribly unhealthy, I was stuffing my face with this every time I got stressed (I’ve been PARTICULARLY stressed lately) and decided I needed to give that up. It’s been HARD. Extremely hard. For other people, this might not be so big but for me it is. I feel like I went cold turkey but I’ve been making “faux fast food” at my house and it’s much healthier for me! So, hopefully when Lent finishes, I won’t need any of that dangerous food anyways 🙂
I found that when i went lower carb (and not so much sugary stuff) my fat cravings went up too!
LOL on the basset hound pictures.. Totally made my morning!
MmmM i just ate my own version of your cheese/jelly/cinna-raisin combo sandwich – fabu!
I used strawberry and had to use a lactose-free cheese…but, the flavor was really complex.
Great idea!
#14 and #16 are my favorites. Those are some happy dogs! Thanks for the link and the laughs
I gave up coffee. I reeeally want coffee! Especially when my family and I go to IHOP and my mom keeps forgetting that I’ve given up the stuff and asks if I’d like some. :/ ha.
I “added in” drinking more water throughout the day. It’s actually been easier than I thought! But I’m going to the bathroom a bazillion times now (and I went pretty often before, too!) I’ve even had to stop on a few runs at random portapotty’s b.c. i can’t make it home… haaaa!
That basset hound link made my WEEK! I laughed so hard!! Thank you!
I gave up sweetener (altogether) and sugar in my coffee. Also, I gave up Starbucks. And processed foods.
I feel amazing, I’ve grown to love the true flavour of coffee, and I’ve saved a lot of trees (and money!) by bringing my own coffee in a ceramic Starbucks travel mug!
Have you tried banana “soft serve”? All you have to do is freeze 2-3 cut up bananas and put them in your food processor for a few minutes until they get light and fluffy (just like frozen yogurt) then you can add in any flavor you like (peanut butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon). It’s my favorite treat when I’m craving something creamy and sweet.