Lent starts with “F”
Hey guys! Happy Sunday! Hope you’re having a great day <3
Our farm fresh salads from yesterday were nothing short of amazeballs.
Chard, spinach, Organicvile balsamic, roasted asparagus, onion, stripy beet, and honey goat cheese.
No words.
We did some stuff around the casa, watched Food Revolution a la DVR (incredible), and then met some friends at Giulio’s for dinner.
Giulio’s is one of those hidden Valdosta treasures that we always forget about. Last night, we decided that it may be taking the place of our weekly Indian, since the Indian restaurant is garbage now.
Giulio’s has Mediterranean and Italian food, and the inside looks like grandma’s house. Think old tapestries, rickety tables, lace, antiques and ghosts—I’m 100% sure it’s haunted. The food, is also like grandma’s… delicious.
We all shared the mussels, which were glorious.
(x2)
With the entrees, you either get soup or salad, but since my entree was a salad, I got the soup. Had it been just the two of us, I would have gotten two salads 😉
Lentil Soup
My entree was the Neptune Salata– marinated pan-seared ahi tuna, greens, cucumbers, tomatoes and balsamic on the side.
Sorry for the blurry pic! I was in sneaky blogger mode last night 😉
I also had about 3 bites of bakalva that was still warm from the oven, and 3 bites of Belgium chocolate cheesecake.
For this, I’ve decided that I’ve pretty much failed my Lent plan of no sweets. I did well for the most part, but honestly my Lent decision was kind of impossible, considering what a big part of my life sweets are. I’m always baking or un-baking healthy goodies and save the indulgent stuff for once a week. Since I couldn’t get my sweet tooth fix, I actually think I ended up eating worse than I would have (and also got back into gum-chewing and coffee drinking for a few days). This is why many people with the wrong intention of losing weight for Lent are unsuccessful. There are so many other things to eat, and chances are you’ll just overdo it on those to make up for lost feasting elsewhere.
Of course, my Lent goal wasn’t to lose weight – I wanted to eliminate something that I truly love (SWEEEEEETS!) and see if I could handle the absence of it for 40 days. I ended up dipping into my coconut butter mug, drinking coffee, chewing gum and hating life (not really, but you know) without sweets.
That being said, I’m gonna call this Lent a fail and next year I’ll be doing something along the lines of what I usually do.. vowing to DO something, rather than taking something away.
So for this week, I’m back to Gina style of eating (toned down a little since I’m on cardio hiatus, but the healthy sweets will be in there). Then Easter Sunday, I’ll be chowing down on Liz Lovely cookies and that Bailey’s and vegan espresso gelato shake I told ya’ll about 😉
We’re off to tackle our Sunday to-do’s.
xoxo,
Gina
Today’s tip: Spend today prepping out your meal and fitness plan for the week. This way, you can chop up veggies and prep food in advance, and schedule in your workouts according to what your week looks like.
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Your salad looks delicious!
I love your new Lent plan: do something instead of taking something away! Cant wait to see your cookies and expresso gelato shake!
Passover starts tomorrow so I’ll be off soon baking some special passover sweets!
Have a great day!
Well, I wouldn’t call it an absolute fail because you learned that you can’t live without sweets. I think that’s a good lesson because you know you eat/drink other things when you try to abstain from sweets. I gave up white flour and I think it was pretty successful, but then again I mostly didn’t eat it anyway. it’s funny because people always make comments about not eating white bread, some desserts, pasta etc, but since Lent it’s like it’s acceptable to not eat it and people don’t ask anymore questions when I say I gave it up for Lent. have a great Sunday.
Lent is neatly impossible for me!! I love sweets, so I always make it about activity:)
I would never dare give up sweets for 40 days so you get a pat on the back just for thinking about it and lasting quite some time. My sweet tooth NEEDS to be fulfilled or I am a cranky biatch. Not even sweets as in desserts but sweet tasting foods like yogurt and granola bars and what not. I’m excited to see the return of sweets here!
It’s not a Fail… please, you learned something!
Now, can I tell you about my coconut lime cupcakes??
I am so much like you. I was going to try to go without sweets but I decided to go without coffee… and I failed anyway.
I would have gotten 2 salads too 🙂
Anyway, I don’t think it was a fail. I think admitting that it was hard makes you an awesome role model!
Sweets would be SOOO hard!! and 40 days! EEK!!
Good job though!! I don’t think I could do it for a week!! 🙂
oh girl i completely understand u!! I gave up the same thing, with emphasis on chocolate. I did great and didn’t have ANY at all…until 6 days ago. I’m so mad at myself because I was so close to finishing!! I am planning on doing the same thing next year (to improve myself somehow) and maybe giving up just chocolate 4 days out of the week or limiting it. Heck, at least we tried!!
exactly– we did really well for the most part 🙂
I must confess that out of my Lent Trifecta (no late night snacks, splenda, or meat) that I have only been successful with the no meat. In fact, it has inspired me to be vegetarian fo lyfe, dawg. Sorry, the gangsta-ness was needed. That being said I feel ya on the Lent thing.
I also must say that you made it WAY longer with no sweets than I would have. Likeeeeeeeeeeee…I would have cracked after hour 3.
hahah gangsta-ness is always needed 🙂
veg fo life! that’s awesome.. i’m so happy for you! it’s easy to be veg or vegan.. so many delicious things out there. i can’t survive without seafood or goat cheese though 😉
I’m sorry you’re local indian isn’t delicious anymore! have you tried the seeds of change curry sauces? They’re organic and absolutely delicious. Plus you can put any kind of favorite vegetables/meat/tofu in them!
the website is http://www.seedsofchangefoods.com/default.aspx
i’ve tried their pasta sauce but not the curry sauces– i’ll be on the lookout 🙂
Aren’t there any knee-friendly cardio options? Swimming or cycling, maybe?
i can’t swim, but i can cycle! i’ll try it out 🙂
Got a kettlebell? (Short, interesting article)
http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/kettlebells012010.pdf
I wonder if recumbent bikes are even more knee-friendly, also?
Also, perhaps when you’re more recovered, jogging on a rebounder (if your gym has one) might be good. I don’t run due to loose knee ligaments but I love to jog on a rebounder during tv shows.
Awww, sorry about the Lent “fail.” I definitely like the idea of adding something instead of taking something away. I’m sweets-crazy too, so I know how hard that must have been– I still think you did great!
Diner looks delicious!
espresso gelato shake?! holy moly, I cannot wait!
I wouldn’t consider it a fail! Realistically, you did really well avoiding something that you generally like to incorporate into your daily/weekly diet. Especially since you do so much exercise (when your body isn’t healing!) you can treat yourself with delicious sweets when you feel like it! Especially since so many of the ones you eat are healthy too!
I failed even more so and didn’t give up anything! Although I was on an unplanned hiatus from the gym around the same time and have begun going back, so that is something good!
I can’t wait to see this Bailey’s shake!
That salad sounds absolutely amazing! Honey and goat cheese are amazing together!!!
It happens… I lasted two weeks and then started looking forward to my Sunday “cheat days” and actually planned sushi/fish dinners every Sunday (I gave up fish since I already don’t eat meat). I’m still sticking to that, but still feel like a total cheater since my cheats are so planned (even if the church technically allows it)
What an amazing salad! I love, love, love fresh produce.
And hey, you didn’t go 100% through the Lent promise. But you tried! And sweet ARE a big part of your life, so don’t worry too much about it. Still excited about the Bailey’s shake =D
xo
K
Lent is not the only thing that starts with F. I love the idea of adding things in instead of taking things away!
you did a way better job than i ever would cutting out sweets for more than a week. really.
I commend you for even attempting to cut out sweets. The willpower definitely would NOT be there for me, haha. No worries!
Have a great Sunday!
I think you did a great job on the no sweets challenge! You definitely learned about yourself and that is a big part of it 🙂
Oh my gosh this wasn’t a failure at all!!! You learned something and also reinforced that deprivation doesn’t do us any good!!
All those eats look amazing! And don’t call it a fail! You still gave up something you loved for a lot longer than some people would.
I don’t think it was a fail at all – you did so much better than I could have, I don’t think I could seriously last a day without sweets. Your farm fresh salad looks delish!!
You always come up with the best sounding salads!
I’ve got sort of a random question– What are you thoughts on Quorn products? I remember reading a post awhile back where you ate them, but I haven’t seen them since. I saw some in the health food section of Kroger and thought about getting them. Just thought I’d get your input first 🙂
You are not a failure at all! I think you are a perfect example of moderation, and how healthy it is for our body (and mind)! I think some of the purpose of Lent is to help you learn more about yourself, and you definitely passed that with flying colors! 🙂
I feel the same way about Food Revolution. The young boy in the family that Jamie Oliver is working with makes me cry every time he comes on the screen just because his story truly resonates with me. I can’t wait to continue watching!
I think you have the right attitude about Lent and I remember last year when your promise was to “do” something – I loved it! I don’t see this year as a fail at all, girly. You learned something and isn’t that what it’s all about?
Love ya, G!
Oh I am so glad I’m in! I couldnt get thru for a couple days to comment. Ok so the whole Lent thing and doing worse than if you hadnt had the “pressure” of it on you. When I went gluten free about 5 yrs ago and also dairy free, and soy light as in less then 3-5% of my eats are soy, I craved bread and yogurt like it was going outta style b/c my naturopath and all my own research told me those were not good choices for my body. But once I realized that ok don’t stress and gave myself permission to eat those foods even if I knew they’d make me feel blah and did a mental shift with it, I never wanted them again. It’s the PRessure that was tripping me up, lent style 🙂
I’d gladly share a bailey’s and anything with you, too! OMG love baileys but havent had it in ages…darn. I need to!
xoxo
🙂
I gave up red meat for Lent. I had a bite of a cheeseburger as my slipup. But, I don’t miss it at all. More veggies definitely make you feel better. Thanks for your blog motivation. I saw the First Food Revolution where the kids didn’t know what the different vegetables were, so sad. Jamie’s doing a good thing.Love your beautiful salads.
love the tip of the day! good call 😀 just what i needed…
Hope your knees starting to do a little better! Bummer about the Indian place, but I’d love to see you give it a shot and make one of your favorite dishes (and post the recipe?) 😉
xoxo
agree that sometimes when you give something up it haunts you in other ways! Your dinner looks great and warm baklava? How can you pass that up!
Gina – you didn’t fail! You learned a lot. And Lent is over today anyway so you made it nearly all 40 days- would you tell a client with your story about Lent and sweets that she had even a slight fail? No, I didn’t think you would. You are doing great and doing great things 🙂
Oh gosh, there is NO way I could have given up sweets for 40 days!
Honey goat cheese sounds delicious!!
Have you ever tried making a vegan baileys substitute?
no but i think i need to get on that!
I had the exact same experience! I was good for a few weeks but I definitely started eating unhealthy food I wouldn’t usually eat because of the lack of sweets. Ugh! So it’s over for me too, but I’m following Passover food restrictions with my roommate starting tomorrow, so we’ll see how I do with that!
i think you did pretty well…even when you had a little treat in the middle you still got back on track afterwards! that’s more than a lot of people i’ve been reading about. i’m glad i made it, but it was a really hard road with no meat, chicken, or seafood!