The Lenten challange... Who is with me?

[kyle5434]

Only one day in for me, but it went OK. As part of my goal of not reflexively giving in to physical hunger/desire, and of developing my spiritual chops, I'm foregoing both alcohol and dinner during the season of Lent. (Lord knows I'm not in any imminent danger of wasting away). I'm not sure yet if I'll have any "cheat days" or not. In the Christian tradition of Lent (which was more or less "codified" in the 5th century), Lenten fasts during the 46-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday excluded all the Sundays during that time period, as Sundays were celebrated as "feast days" in celebration of Christ's ultimate victory over death.

My plan - for now anyway - is to carry the alcohol part of the fast all the way through to Easter (aside from the small tastes of wine batches in process). The dinner part I'm going to try to follow, but with some flexibility. For example, I've been on a civic task force in my small town for the past year, and there's a final meeting tonight to report our findings/recommendations to the city council, which includes a dinner. As my focus for this Lenten fast is to quietly develop my spiritual chops but not call attention to myself in doing so, for today I plan to skip lunch instead. Tomorrow I'll resume the skipping of dinner.

God willing, I'll make it through this 6-1/2 week gauntlet and come out the other side a better and wiser human!

 

[cgallamo]

Giving it up, with the exception of the sabbath (Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown)

 

[cgallamo]

By the way St Patricks day is also a feast day - so you should take that off too!

 

[jswordy]

LONDON — For Lent, many Christians give up indulgences like tobacco, alcohol or sweets, or transgressions like lying and swearing. And for Anglicans, don’t forget synthetic fabrics, wet wipes, and those little boxes that hold dental floss.

The Church of England has asked people to add a new culprit to the list of ills they forsake for the six weeks of penance that begin on Ash Wednesday: plastics. Specifically, the church wants people to avoid the plastic consumer products and packaging that have become a major environmental problem, polluting oceans and rivers, fouling beaches, killing wildlife and clogging landfills.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/...&gwh=FCCF45BC750812FA18C5BCBD9DF693B8&gwt=pay

 

[JohnT]

Pretty hard to do Jim, Everything is associated with plastics these days.

 

[pgentile]

In since monday, but did taste a wine racking last night. I'm not going to make it 100% but maybe 70-80%, but I'll take it.

 

[JohnT]

Day 8 (for me)

OK, so this weekend was a big fat challenge thrown in my face.

I had Monday off and we had a snow storm Saturday night. I hit the grocery store and ran some errands Saturday morning, then settled in and hunkered down for 2 days.

I shoveled, cleaned the house, cooked dinner, and built a fire in the fire place. I have to admit, as I sat in front of the fire relaxing, a glass of wine was missed.

Proud to say that I AM master of my own domain!!!!


TIPS:

Had steak, baked potato, sautéed mushrooms and salad on Sunday night. The perfect "Lent Beverage" is an ice cold glass of whole milk.

Yesterday, it was schnitzel. had diet coke with that.

 

[Boatboy24]

I'm just getting started. Sunday was my 'last supper'. We were over at Mom and Dad's. Mom made a fantastic Chicken Piccata and Dad and I had our share of a nice, unoaked Chardonnay. Breezed through yesterday, though it's amazing how easily habits can form. I don't drink every day, but my drinking days certainly outnumber my non-drinking days. Around 6pm last night, I ran downstairs to the spare fridge (which happens to be in my production area). Force of habit had me stopping and looking at the wine rack, then my brain kicked in and reminded me. I'm sure my wife would have 'saved me' if I happened to make it upstairs with a bottle of wine though.

 

[JohnT]

OK,

For me, it is day 15. On Sunday, I have a 50th wedding anniversary party for my Aunt and Uncle. Made it through and am STILL MASTER OF MY OWN DOMAIN!!!!

Here is a cheery thought.. only 25 days to go!!!

How about Y'all??

 

[meadmaker1]

All good here. Did a bunch of racking last weekend but nothing I have going is ready for a sit down glass. As for the other, after a week or so of the routine change its not that tough.
It seems its the habbit not the affect that keeps me coming back.

 

[JohnT]

All good here. Did a bunch of racking last weekend but nothing I have going is ready for a sit down glass. As for the other, after a week or so of the routine change its not that tough.
It seems its the habbit not the affect that keeps me coming back.

Well said!

 

[Boatboy24]

Breezing on through!

What I'm loving about last year's fast and this is that in both years, I've been training for a 10 mile run. This year's is the weekend after Easter - perfect timing. No drinky drinky really helps with training and making it very easy to get out and get the runs in.

A little over 4 weeks to go - and my cheat day comes a week from this Sunday.

 

[Trevor7]

I too am one of those who asked, "Can I?" since I only have a glass of wine on those days that end in the letter "Y". Fat Tuesday was my last glass. Thank you @JohnT for kicking this off. Over the last 2 weeks, I have commented, "I picked a bad week to stop drinking" with work stress, but Tuesday marks 2 weeks. Something becomes routine after 40 days so I just might call it after 39.5 days!

 

[JohnT]

You set your own rules Trevor.

I too found that "getting out of the habit" was the most difficult part. The time that I did miss it was after we had a snow storm, Had shoveled the driveway, and sat in front of a roaring fire.

Agreed, after just a few days it got real easy.

It makes me rest easier knowing that it has no real hold on me!

 

[balatonwine]

The time that I did miss it was after we had a snow storm, Had shoveled the driveway, and sat in front of a roaring fire

That is very interesting. Sitting inside by the fire after shoveling snow is when I least think about having wine. Prefer a warm, non-alcholic beverage. Warm eggnog is not just for Christmas!

Agreed, after just a few days it got real easy.

Of course. A bit of withdrawal, but it passes. In some cases, one is battling the puppet masters in your intestines and they are fighting back. I stopped eating chocolate some years ago. The first few months were tough as my internal flora fought back hard trying to influence my mental will in their act to survive.
.

 

[Boatboy24]

Of course. A bit of withdrawal, but it passes. In some cases, one is battling the puppet masters in your intestines and they are fighting back. I stopped eating chocolate some years ago. The first few months were tough as my internal flora fought back hard trying to influence my mental will in their act to survive.
.

It's kind of frightening how those little bugs can seem to control your mind at times.

 

[JohnT]

Day 19 for me (lent began on 2/11 for me).

This weekend, I am going to a wild boar roast at an Irish Pub. You would think that I would not get a lot of invitations being that I am dry for lent, but never underestimate the power of being a willing and available Designated Driver!

Let's just see how hard it is to get through this without and "Adult Beverages". I do not expect it to be any problem. I did make it 19 days without too much effort.

How is everyone else doing??

 

[Boatboy24]

Continued easy ride thus far. I will be doing some racking tonight or tomorrow, as well as kicking off a kit. Maybe a sip or two with that.

 

[Trevor7]

Day 17 and all’s well. It’s good to know that it’s been so easy (I was questioning myself). The only issue is that I’m not emptying bottles that I have planned to use for the new batches that are ready to be bottled!

 

[meadmaker1]

An evening at a pub and not joining in the favored beverage is more than a test of will.
Several years ago a friend and I raced IMCA modifieds ( oval dirt track racing). having people we knew come into the pits afterward, after drinking beer all night, was nearly untalerable. We would actually post guards and hide from them. They thought they were insightful and or humorous, rest assured they were neither. This experience realy opened my eyes to what it meant to have enough. And beer? lol, literaly pissing away money.