Today, I’ll share a tale of temptation, betrayal, and ultimate bravery. (Cue exciting music!) And our tale, dear reader, begins with a meeting of friends.
About two weeks ago, I attended a diaper drop off (abbreviated baby shower) for a sweet friend and her soon-to-be-born baby boy (Hi, Sarah!). After sinking my fork into an incredible piece of luscious red-velvet cake, I glanced around at the other attendees, mostly church-mom friends. No one else was eating cake. They were eating fruit…only fruit. I felt my eyebrow rise.
As it turns out, they’d all joined baby-mama Sarah in a 30-day, cleaning-eating challenge. Sarah sells Arbonne, which offers very clean, healthy products in skin care, make up, and, you guessed it, nutrition. The challenge included giving up all dairy, pork, excess sugars, and fruits (other than berries), and replacing them with protein shakes and “clean” meals.
Once I heard my friends were losing weight in the double digits, I signed right up! OK, I also learned that I could break my sugar addiction and generally feel better. I’d never done anything like this, so I figured I could do anything for a month.
Goodbye, cheese! Bring on cage-free eggs, raw almonds, and weird powders!
Whelp. I’m on day 10 and going strong! I can’t honestly say I feel that much better, but I don’t think I was eating that poorly beforehand. I didn’t have a caffeine addiction to break (due to my hatred of coffee…which my husband drinks dark-roasted and black. bleh.), and I’d been going to the gym fairly regularly for the first time in my life (‘Ello, childcare!). I do like not having to think about what to eat for breakfast or lunch, and I was given recipes for dinner, which my family likes too. Mostly, I like that it takes my focus off food.
Anywho, enough infomercial. Back to my harrowing tale.
Yesterday, George’s school hosted a pie-supper fundraiser. Basically, the classes contribute themed baskets for a silent auction (I room-mommed together a Lego basket, of which I’m quite proud! It made about $150 for our little school). We also had the option to bake desserts for a live auction.
Y’all, I made box brownies and frosted them and decorated them with M&Ms (to look like Legos) without licking my fingers, the spoon, or the bowl. I also resisted ALL brownie crumbs and excess M&Ms. My willpower was off the chain (even when my husband cut himself a warm slice after I pulled them out of the oven). Thank you, Jesus. For. Real.
When we went to the fundraiser last night, I wanted to stay long enough to see how much people would bid for my homemade, ahem, home-decorated Lego brownies. First, this meant we stayed waaaay longer than our kids preferred. And, second, I was surrounded by sugary treats for hours.
I loved the concept, though. School families and community folks attended, so as people bought the auctioned desserts (at sometimes more than $100!), they started cutting into them right away. Soon, pies and cakes were floating by in regular intervals.
Then, when my brownies finally made it to the auctioneer, it happened.
The sweet family at our table purchased them. For $40 (whoo!). But then they offered us brownies. I had resisted those freakin’ brownies for SO LONG, so I thought…
And so, we headed home, where I snacked on pomegranate, raw cashews, and a Granny Smith apple with almond butter—all challenge-approved snacks.
Thanks, Leo. Though, I didn’t celebrate with alcohol, because that’s on the “avoid list”. We can just pretend that’s detox tea in your glass.
And so, I’m here to tell you that if I can avoid cheese (ahem, and ice cream) for 10 straight days, then you truly can do anything for 30 days. Also, telling yourself over and over that brownie batter probably has salmonella can help as well.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
Like what you see?
For more Mama, subscribe and follow me!
As I’m reading this, I am literally eating leftover Valentine’s cookie icing. With a spoon. I am clearly preparing for your challenge by getting all this out of the house now.
On the other hand, I gave up dairy for 8 months while nursing my daughter. So that’s something, right?
Oh, girl, I have a friend who had to give up dairy while breastfeeding. I couldn’t understand how she did it! I’m doing it for this challenge, but it was painful to ask for “no feta” at Taziki’s the other day!