speaking of mardi gras, i would like to publicly announce my intentions for the lenten season that is now upon us:

1. I will not purchase any of my primary meals at restaurants. Neither will I starve or subsist on cookies at colloquia. I will bring food from home whenever I will be out of the house for mealtimes.
2. I will get up every morning by 8:30.

I have jokingly referred to the second item as my “diversionary” proclamation, by which I mean that, if I feel my resolve wavering, maybe it will be easier to keep the first goal if I can offer myself the chance to cheat on the second as a distraction. I say this not because I view waking up early as a lesser goal; in fact, it is one of the most powerful white whales of my aspirations in personal behavior modification. I would be positively tickled pink if the limited nature of lent somehow placates the grog enough that i am able to try out an extended experiment in early awakening, but prior experience has taught me to be skeptical of that possibility.

Ironically enough, it might be the fact that I am adMitting to be less than fully invested in the goal that will allow it to work this time (the grog has a somewhat sadistic sense of humor), but whatever. I intend to do my best to honor both goals, and I’ll keep you posted, but my real commitment is to the restaurant meal boycott. In the week after WV I found myself caving into the “well, you have to Eat, don’t you? isn’t it better to spend a little money than starve yourself?!” argument Far too easily, and my busy schedule right now makes it a simple matter to leave the house without taking a few minutes to pack something for later, or to allow weeks to pass without a real trip to the store. It’s partly a financial issue (I need to start pinching pennies to prepare for the unknown months ahead), but it’s mostly a matter of principle. I like to cook. I like to have food in my bag when I need it. There is no reason for me to have such a mental block when it comes to picking out easy snackables, making a sandwich or two, or planning for leftovers. I fall into traps where I say things like “well, you’re not going to want carrots and hummus every Day. or peanut butter sandwiches. what else will you bring?!” which is really ridiculous, because i’m sure that i can think of things to bring, and i really have no proof that i wouldn’t enjoy carrots and hummus every day. or peanut butter sandwiches.
so it’s silly psychology tricks, i want to snap out of it, and this seems the perfect opportunity.

so there you go.
:)

i’ll still participate in the Informatics Weekly Day of Food, i think (on Tuesdays we have both lunch and dinner at restaurants. because it just evolved that way).
i’ll just eat my own food before or after and have a cup of coffee or something.
i’m still allowed to buy snacks and beverages, so it’s not like i will have to avoid social outings altogether.
it’s really just about encouraging myself to plan ahead.

and speaking of planning ahead, anyone up for a dinner date on the monday after easter?
;)

This entry was posted on Friday, March 3rd, 2006 at 5:49 pm and is filed under food, introspection, things i do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.