Tangential Arguments

TLDR; No sugar, no booze during February.

Originally I was going to call this one “A Sobering Experience”. But that doesn’t really apply anymore. It made sense when the challenge was going to be purely not a drop for 28 days, but that didn’t feel like as much of a challenge as it may have when I was 21 or 22. So I changed it up.

The plan now is more health focused and still includes the no alcohol* thing. Given that the very first day after the end of this month I’m going to be on my way to a tiny caribbean island, where the average high in February is 82+ and the average low is 75ish, I think we might have some time enjoying the beach. Coming from the land of below zero temperatures this winter that is going to feel amazing. I know there will be photos. It seems like I got a little sidetracked thinking about how blissful that will be, because I did. Circling back, with the foresight of knowing that this trip is fast approaching I want to make sure I’m in reasonably good shape. Of course I will carry over in some form my January challenge and continue going to the gym some number of times per week/month. Hopefully I will continue through completion of the onehundredpushups program that I’m kind of sort of doing on my own, with my own little twist. Kind of like when I cook things for the first time, that I’ve never eaten before, and instead of following the recipe to get a baseline I start changing it upfront. Again, I’m off track and rambling.

The main points though are going to be no alcohol* and no unnecessary sugar*. I do think it’s important to say “unnecessary sugar”. If something is branded “no sugar” and is made with sugar substitute then I’m not going to count that. Diet Coke is fine not that I can remember the last time I’ve purposely had one of those (without rum, which I won’t be having this month anyway). My new soda of choice, Zevia, made with stevia is fine also. Fruit? That’s ok too, it’s necessary. Caribou coffee drinks, at the least the ones I usually order, not ok. Creamer for coffee at the gas station is going to have to be of the unflavored variety. Donuts? No. I generally cook dinner most nights of the week and I don’t often use sugar. Lunch is typically leftovers so it shouldn’t be too difficult for me to accomplish this with just a little willpower and elbow grease.

I wouldn’t be totally shocked if there are some lapses. Some times you just need a drink. Other time you just need a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie. To try and mitigate this I’m going to force myself to keep an actual physical, written list of each time I violate the challenge and I’ll try to use guilt as the driving force to stay on track. Hopefully just being mindful will be enough to abstain for this 30 (28) day challenge.

*There’s going to be at least one acceptable exception on or around February 15th when we check a restaurant off of our list with Snacks, lil’nipper and Charles.

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