out and about just without the car

This week the fast for the 7 experiment is waste.  It is hard to focus on waste and being "green" in just one week.  It is also hard when you already incorporate simple earth friendly practices in your normal routine such as recycling.  I have plans to make a worm compost bin, but haven't had a chance yet, but I still wanted to do something meaningful in these first couple of days so we decided to not drive anywhere today.  There were many temptations to hop in the car and go somewhere, but we didn't.  Neither car left the driveway today, heck neither car was even turned on.  Even though our cars never went anywhere, we didn't stay at home all day.  We went to church, the grocery store, the park, and 7-11 for Slurpee's, all on our bicycles.  We estimated that we rode about 6 miles today, that doesn't seem far, but my body feels like we rode 16.  Fortunately it was a gorgeous day and the perfect day to get out on a bike, I just wish our city was a little flatter without so many hills, I probably could go farther and longer.  No matter what, we did it, and realized it isn't that hard, even when you are out of shape like I am. 
This afternoon while riding, Jeff and I realized how our house is in a great location, we can ride our bicycles to the swimming pool, the grocery store, our favorite pizza place, a nice restaurant, a deli/gourmet food store, the post office, a Mexican restaurant, several churches, the kids' school, my mom's house, a park, and to the trail system that can get us a lot of other places (though there is a HUGE hill returning from the trails and the kids haven't tried that yet).  We left off quite a few other places like Walgreens, Starbucks, another grocery store, a shopping center, and more restaurants because we hadn't ventured to the next shopping center over with the kids on bikes.  I realized how good we have it, some people that live out in the surrounding counties don't have anywhere they can walk or ride to or no where safe because the main roads are all highways. 
Today was really good and fun and I hope that this spring and summer we can do a lot more riding and get more and more people doing the same, it is good for your body, good for the environment,  and good for your wallet. 
I joke and say that I am slowly becoming a hippie, but it is true, I really do feel like I am being called to live my life differently, simpler and "greener."  I have a lot of resistance, but the pull is there, I am little scared, but curious of what the future holds, what does this simple life look like for us?  Is this the change I have been yearning for?  Who knows, but today was good, it was nice to ride around and get exercise and make the world a better place.

media fast

This past week for the 7 fast, it was media.  I didn't completely cut out all media, especially when I was sick in bed, but I did cut out twitter, facebook, instagram, most Internet, tv, and iPhone games and apps.  I thought it was going to be really hard, but it wasn't.  I read a lot of books, granted they were chick lit, but I read 1 book in a little over one day, if I could keep up this pace I would have my huge stack read in no time.
Most importantly I learned that social media is NOT good for me.  I am a curious person, I like to know everything about everything.  I also hate feeling like I am missing out or NOT knowing something that everyone else does.  I hate being the last to know something.  My fear of missing out on something or everyone knowing something that I don't has lead me to be a bit of a social media addict.  I feel like I should be constantly checking in, in fears that I am missing something, it didn't help that Facebook noticed I hadn't been on and would send me daily emails trying to tell me all that I was missing.  Ahhhh, they know my weakness!  Other than the tempting e-mail staying away wasn't that hard. 
I also realized that social media especially Facebook isn't always good for me because I fall victim to comparison.  I have a tendency to compare myself to others and easily believe that other grass is a whole lot greener than mine.  This is quite silly, I know, but I can't stop.  People, for the most part, put there best side of them out there on social media, their well crafted, best self, not always there true self and comparing my life with someone's best spin is like comparing apples to oranges and yes silly.  In order for me to be happier and more content, I need to live my life not in comparison to others and this is a whole lot easier away from social media, especially Facebook. 
So I am standing at a crossroads, do I shut down the account or do I just strictly limit it? 
I love being able to easily communicate and share photos with friends and family across the country, but I need to stay away.  I should probably continue to reduce my friends down, but it is hard.  I feel like Facebook, in a way is like opening Pandora's box.  Right now I am trying to stay away as much as possible, it just isn't good and yes I am missing out, but I am also learning that sometimes that isn't a bad thing.

7 Fast- Day 3- Clothing- not a big deal

I must be doing this wrong, this isn't hard, not like the food fast and not like the media one will be, am I doing this wrong?
Maybe I should count shoes as 1 clothing item and not use the tunic.  
I don't have many clothes, I have a lot in comparison to someone from a third world country, but not as many as I have had in the past and as many as my mother has, I don't hold onto things, I guess living in a small space will do that to you.
So, this week hasn't been tough so far.
I guess being poor and living in a small space has its advantages.

7 Fast- clothing and possessions day 1

This week's fast is clothing and food.  It's not the greatest picture but above are the 7 articles of clothing that I am going to mix and match from for the next week.  Today I wore the khaki pants, the white shirt, and the navy sweatshirt.  So far, this isn't a big deal for me considering it the first day and haven't repeated anything yet, let's see how I feel come Monday after I have worn everything at least once.  This week we are doubling up the 7 study and besides clothing, we are giving away or setting aside 7 items a day to give away.  After talking with everyone last night I decided that I would start today off by choosing 7 items from my clothing that I like, but don't really wear and I could donate to a clothing closet in town.  So I have set aside 7 items of clothing that are one the nicer side, ones that I would normally yard sale of e-bay and I am going to donate them in hopes that someone who needs clothes for a professional job could use some nicer clothes.  Today also was the return to all my normal foods, sugar, bread, etc, I have been thinking about what I have been missing out all week and so far, my chick-fil-a breakfast that I had been looking forward to since Monday just wasn't all I had hoped for, it could have been that I was so hungry that I didn't stop and enjoy it, but it was a bit of a let down.  I think there is an application lesson in there: sometimes the things we think we want and don't have and might be envious about, really aren't that wonderful when we do get them. So week 2, so far, so good, but the real lessons are coming.

7 Fast- Day 4- Temptations everywhere

So I have survived Day 4 of the week food fast, I am halfway through.  Today was a day full of temptation, some were very hard not to given in and others pretty minor.  This morning it was hard having bacon and eggs without muffins or toast, but the real test came after church.  The kids got a hot chocolate and coffee cake treat at Starbucks, then at my mother's house everyone enjoyed pancakes, yet another food on my fasting list.  We got home and I put the finishing touches on the cake for the auction at cub scouts, the real temptation was the icing and cake pieces we cut off of the sides to make a perfect square, I did not give in.  The temptation of cake was followed up by the yeast rolls I made for the cub scout dinner.  The dinner was pretty bad, we were the last ones to get food and so it was slim pickings on most items, but plenty of bread, the one thing I didn't plan on eating.  There was also cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and even more cake.  It was hard to just stick with tiny bit of salad and pork and pass on all my favorites. 

 The amazing thing though was I didn't focus on what I didn't have, I focused on Thursday when I could resume my chocolate and bread.  I didn't feel like I was missing out and I am so thankful.  After the dinner, I came home and had a snack of granola and yogurt, it isn't my favorite, but I am trying to like it more.
 
My conclusions from today: I was content with my fast and my choices this week, today had some tough moments, I could have cheated and no one would know the difference, but I didn't and I am glad. I am thankful that I could focus on the positives and not on what everyone else had, it probably helped that I wasn't starving too.  So today was easier and I am halfway done.  I can't wait for Thursday morning, after class I am either going to Chick-fil-a or maybe a chocolate chip bagel from Panera, oh the choices, it is ridiculous. 

7 Fast- Day 3- Dealing with my junk

So today I broke it down and finally did a big grocery store trip to Walmart.  I hate going so I have been putting it off for a week now and today I finally just went.  As I was getting food for this week's menu and food that worked with my fast, all I could see was what I couldn't eat.  I have been so focused these last three days on all the things I can't eat, that I am totally overlooking the things I can eat.  A few of the women in the group are only eating 7 things all week, only 7 things and they are only using salt, pepper, and olive oil to make their food tasty.  It hit me in the dairy section, why am I whining about my 7 missing things, when I have hundreds of other options?
Tonight for dinner we are having turkey burgers, olive oil french fries, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese.  I am lamenting on my lack of bun and fries but I can still eat the beans, macaroni, and the burger itself.  Why is the lack of bun my main focus and not on the fact that I can eat a whole and filling meal, where some of my others friends are eating beans and rice or bland chicken for the third night. 
Focusing on what I don't have and not what I do is something that I am totally guilty of every single day.  I am not a glass full person when it comes to myself and my life, for you I totally am, but not for me.  I realized today that I look at the negatives in my life and do not always celebrate the positives and I don't know how to change that.  I don't know how I got so focused on the negatives and what I don't have especially in comparison to others. Comparison kills, I know that, yet I am stuck in a cycle and can't seem to break the habit. 
I want to be a glass half full kind of person and truly grateful, I am in some areas, but not in a lot of others.  The negatives or the things I lack seem so loud and blaring and the positives so quiet and minuscule.  I need to change, I just don't know how to start.

7 Fast- Day 2- overwhelmed

I made it through day 2.  Yesterday was a crazy day and thanks to some planning the night before and Jeff being awesome by making me bacon and eggs for breakfast the day flew by and I wasn't the total whiner I was Thursday.  I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, I missed my muffin or toast and glass of OJ, but it was a good start to the day.  By 11 though I was starving, didn't quite see that coming because I thought the all protein breakfast would keep me satisfied a bit longer.  So after lab I had my "lunchable" that I had bought at the grocery the night before.  An apple, raw almonds, a slice of cheddar cheese, and carrots.  I felt quite healthy and full of myself enjoying my very healthy lunch.  By 2:30, I was starving AGAIN so I had a bag of pretzels.  Two hours later I was starving again and had peanut butter crackers and due to a consignment sale I didn't get dinner, homemade chicken nuggets, strawberries and a tiny bit of vanilla yogurt until close to 8pm.

So Day 2 wasn't the total disaster that Day 1 was.  There were lots of temptations to cheat, but I stuck with the fast and glad to make it through another day.  I really don't like to think so much about food and what I should or should not eat.  I also realized when I was eating my lunch that I could easily become prideful on the "healthy" and "whole" foods that I was consuming and potentially look down at others who don't make "good choices."  I firmly believe everything in moderation and give me any food and I can tell you how it is bad for you, we live in an imperfect world, everything can kill you and I try not to get obsessed.

Day 2 conclusions:
I still believe that I am a spoiled brat when it comes to food and I am really appreciate of all the options that we have.  Think about it, the options are ridiculous, even crackers, say butter crackers: you have the name branded Ritz, you have the store brand, then there are the whole grain, the no salt, the reduced fat, the roasted vegetable, the garlic butter, the honey butter, there's even bacon flavored.

Is bacon flavored for real?

We have over 10 different options of Ritz crackers! Crackers people! I don't even want to think about how many crackers become stale and get thrown out especially when 7.1 billion people are undernourished and would love our stale crackers.  I feel drawn to make a difference, but I am not sure what that looks like and how little me can make a difference.  I don't necessarily want to move to a third world country and eat rice and beans for the rest of my life.  I also want to make a difference in this country where 1 in 6 people go hungry and who knows how many additional people are getting by but not always making the best food options because a lot of times an apple cost more than a bag of chips.  The food situation in the world and in our country is overwhelming and I feel silly lamenting this morning that due to the 7 fast I am not having pancakes. 

7 Food Fast- Day 1- I am a spoiled brat

So during this season of Lent I am doing a Bible/book study on Jen Hatmaker's book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.  I read the book last spring, absolutely loved it, tried a few fasts, possessions and spending (no Target for a month!) and jumped at the opportunity to really experience the lessons in the book with others.  What was I thinking?????

So the first week was introduction.  This week is food.  The ideal would be only eating 7 items for a week, but I have young kids, a limited budget and little time and would not be able to make 2 separate dinners each night, so I decided to eliminate 7 items from my diet for a week.  I chose 7 items that I love/ eat regularly and even though I am only 2 meals and 1 snack in, I am hating this.

The 7 items I have eliminated:
- eating out, no restaurant food (not too hard usually)
- chocolate (there goes my chocolate/almond morning granola bar)
- dessert (oh how I crave something sweet)
- bread (my favorite, I love bread, the challenging one)
- sweet breakfast/bakery items (muffins and pancakes)
- french fries (do tater tots count?)
- anything to drink other than water (i.e. the occasional soda that I can crave when I cut out chocolate)

So I am 2 meals down, 19 more meals to go.  I am already grumpy and craving all the things that are on my list.  I am regretting my meal planning because the meals I planned before I knew I was going to fast includes all my favorites.  Not only am I regretting the food choices, I haven't made a real shopping trip in over a week so our food stash is low and the options are sparse especially when you get rid of the regulars i.e. bread.  No rolls, no bread for sandwiches, no bun for hot dogs or turkey burgers, no fun. 

So here I am whining and complaining and missing certain foods.  Wow! What a small little world I live in.  I am cutting out these foods for 1 week.  1 week!  That is 1.92% of a year.  Say if I live to be 80 years old (4,160 weeks), my fasting from my favorites would only be 0.02% of my life, that isn't even half a point!  What a spoiled brat I am.

There are some people who never get to eat fresh out-of-the-oven homemade chocolate chip cookies or a loaf of french bread.  I have a tendency to compare myself to others, well actually to the haves, not the have- nots, and so my life seems lacking, yet it really isn't.  Even with my elimination, I will have plenty of food to eat and next week I can go back to my chocolate and bread, but some people in the world's poorest countries would take my simplest, 7 free foods any week.

I also have to admit that I am amazed at how I went from eating when hungry to obsessed about food overnight.  I didn't think I would be.  I am not a foodie.  I am not constantly thinking about food, when I am hungry, I eat, usually what sounds good and don't really give it much thought.  Yes, I am someone who can forget to eat, food is not usually a weakness for me, or so I thought.  Maybe food is a bigger deal and I just didn't realize it because I always had what I wanted.  I have never been without food.  I don't know what it is like to go hungry, yes we have struggled to pay bills, but we have never gone hungry and even with my eliminated food choices, I will not go hungry.  

So today I have realized that I am rich, not necessarily by American standards, but compared to most of the world, I got it good.

Just some food for thought.