Lent: Day 6

Getting through the daylight savings time switch without sugar, carbs or caffeine is like walking with lead boots on. I woke up this morning wiped out and shaky after my fasting day yesterday and rushed down to the kitchen for my pumpkin pie shake fix.

I have not felt so drained by fasting since I first tried it months ago. I think my pattern has become to eat heavily before and after fasting days (which is probably my problem) so there was no immediate recovery.

I rounded up the children for their morning dance class and we went grocery shopping for a few items afterward. I needed to stock up on sweet potatoes and black beans in particular.

I let the children each pick out one doughnut to enjoy and they downed them quickly in the car before we could get home. Our local Giant has amazing doughnuts. In some ways I like them even better than Krispy Kreme.

When we got back home, I was glad to have my turkey chili leftovers ready to heat and eat. I just popped a bowl in the microwave, added the cashew topping and jalapenos and was ready to go.

By late afternoon, I was totally wiped out. I remembered this article from Harvard Medical School about ways to boost your energy. When I read it I thought that none of the ways sounded very energizing or realistic to me. But, number two, “Take a nap” was just what I needed. I awoke feeling greatly energized.

Since Lent is also a time of spiritual reflection, I wanted to share this talk by the Dalai Lama at Washington National Cathedral. It was a bit hard to understand in some parts but there were many meaningful messages that resonated with me. One of them relevant to my blog posts recently is where he said “A healthy mind leads to a healthy body.” He indicated that the most difficult human emotions to conquer are fear, anger and hatred. His words made me think about how important it is to fill our minds with things that inspire us and keep us focused on issues beyond ourselves. Much of eating junk food is about us self-medicating some need within ourselves. We temporarily alleviate our anxieties or stress with these foods but we aren’t really addressing the core problem that troubles us. When you go on a healthy diet like I am pursuing, you are going to be spending a lot of time inside your own head. For some, I am sure that is overwhelming and for others insightful.

Hope you are having a wonderful Monday and that we will all soon adjust to the time change!