Lent Archives : Tranquil Trekker

My Lenten Fast

In this post, I review my Lenten Fast that I endeavor to complete each year.

The Halloween candy, the Thanksgiving turkey, the Christmas cookies, and the Valentine’s chocolate have all been eaten and enjoyed. Now it is time to move away from the “eating” portion of the year and move on to the “fasting” portion! 😂 Today is Ash Wednesday, the Easter Season is upon us again! To commemorate this time of year I embark on my annual, Lenten Fast.

What is Lent?

Lent is the 40-day period in the Christian religion that leads up to Easter, starting on Ash Wednesday. The whole point of it is to symbolically recognize the sacrifice Jesus made when He wandered the desert for 40 days and was tempted by the Devil, before His crucifixion.

The date that Ash Wednesday occurs changes every year based on the date of Easter (which also changes every year). My understanding is, Easter always falls the first Sunday…after the first full moon…after the Spring Equinox…and is also related to when Passover occurs. Passover is a holiday from the Jewish faith that isn’t usually celebrated by Christians, but the Christian religion has its roots in Judaism so some of the traditions still share similarities. (Does this make anyone else’s brain hurt? This is why I’m a nature girl and not a religious scholar. 😉)

Why do people fast for Lent?

During Lent, many Christians choose to “fast” from something. I grew up Lutheran, which, for those who may not know, is kind of like Catholic, we just don’t have quite the same dedication. 😉😉

Many people who follow my religious tradition choose to give up something for Lent. Usually, this is some type of favorite food, but it could also be a toy, a game, or an activity you enjoy, such as social media or video games. It really doesn’t matter what you give up, the point is that you sacrifice something.

The Catholic faith outlines more of a regimented Fast, whereas Christians of other denominations tend to just give up something they are sure to miss as a personal sacrifice. I am not aware that any of the denominations in the Protestant faith require a Lenten Fast, it is solely based on personal choice.

Previous Lenten Fasts

I didn’t start participating in a Lenten Fast until I was in high school and I’ll admit it, I failed miserably at my first few attempts. Six weeks is a long time to give up things you really enjoy! But in the last several years I’ve been able to stick with my Fast fairly well.

In the past, I’ve given up sweets (i.e. donuts, cookies, candy, ice cream, basically anything that could be construed as a dessert). The caveat to this is my birthday which “almost” always falls during Lent. So, God and I have an ongoing agreement that birthday treats are exempted from consideration. 😁 (It’s not my fault that this is when I was born! 😉)–Some years my birthday doesn’t fall during Lent…it falls on Fat Tuesday** instead. 😝

**Because Lent always begins on Ash Wednesday, the Tuesday directly preceding it is known as “Fat Tuesday” as you “get fat” gorging on the foods you won’t be enjoying for the next six weeks. 😁 (Fat Tuesday factors into Mardi Gras celebrations, as well.)

What am I giving up for Lent this year?

A few years ago I outlined my long journey of trying out a low-carb lifestyle over Lent. As we learned then, I am apparently the only person in all of humanity who doesn’t benefit from this diet. 😝 Spoiler Alert! It actually made me utterly MISERABLE and literally left me depressed (and I do NOT use that term lightly).

This year I will be following a similar Fast as I have the last several years, which basically consists of refraining from “junk food”. What will that look like? For many years I gave up sweets-only for Lent (cookies, candy, etc.). In past years, I have also given up cheese, gum, and soda. With this newer Fast, I give up anything I consider to be junk food. That includes everything listed above as well as fast food, chips, really greasy pizza, fried foods, etc.

A couple of years ago Mr. Trekker’s doctor put him on a low-salt diet called the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). Since I do most of the cooking and I figure it’s good for me too, we’ve implemented these low-salt changes permanently. If you’re interested in this diet and are looking for recipe ideas, check out this cookbook. I’ve found many useful recipes in it!

Related posts: Easter Ends the Lenten Fast!; More Yummy Low-Carb Foods; Yummy Low Carb Foods; Yummy Keto-friendly recipes!; Final Thoughts on Low-Carb Lent; A Sustainable Low-carb Lifestyle; Wired to Eat (A Book Review)

Water Challenge to Lose Weight?

This year I’m also going to try to implement a “water challenge” into my Lenten fast. The basic idea is that you should drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day. (So if you weigh 180 pounds, you drink 90 oz of water each day.)

I’m very curious to see how this works. In college, I participated in this study where we drank a lot of water for a week or so and I remember being hungry ALL THE TIME! (Drinking a lot of water is supposed to “jump start” your metabolism.). They claim it helps you lose weight too so…we’ll see!

What I hope to get out of my Lenten Fast

As always, I am hoping to lose a little weight from the Fast (that is always a welcome–if not somewhat selfish–side effect of the Lenten Fast for me 😇). Also, I’m still trying to beat that soda addiction by giving it up for 6 weeks. I LOVE soda, I could drink it all day, EVERY day (and we’re talking the full-sugar stuff here. I’ve never liked the taste of diet soda and my IBS doesn’t tolerate it anyway). I don’t allow myself to drink a lot of it, but it’s always been a guilty pleasure of mine (and yes, I know it isn’t good for me, clearly that isn’t enough motivation to get me to stop drinking it 😝).

I have been doing better with my soda addiction in recent years, now that I’ve discovered sparkling water. Side note: I am SO glad this type of stuff is easily available again! Do ya’ll remember “Clearly Canadian”? I used to LOVE that stuff when I was a kid! Am I dating myself? 😳😝

I find I usually need SOMETHING fun to drink during the day to look forward to. I drink a lot of water, as well, but I need something else. Fortunately, a few years ago, I discovered fruity, green tea. I’m not a big fan of it hot, but I LOVE it ice cold. I can even take it sans sweetener (though I’ve got a soft spot for the green tea frappuccinos at Starbucks, and there is NOTHING “low-sugar” about those! I don’t know what it is, there’s no love lost between my palate and “green”-tasting veggies, but a drink that tastes like sweet, grass? I LOVE it! 😜 Go figure.)

Other than slightly stained teeth and a few stained dishes, I’m not aware of ANY negative consequences for drinking green tea (especially assuming you take it without a sweetener). That’s one of those few items that you really can’t drink too much of.

A Lenten Fast should be an adventure!

I’m always excited about the challenge a Lenten Fast brings. It is a struggle, as it is supposed to be. They don’t call it a “Fast” for nothing! 😉 But it should also be an adventure, a time to try out something new during a time frame that isn’t that long anyway. 😁

Do you participate in a Lenten Fast? If so, tell me about it in the comments!

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Final Thoughts on Low-Carb Lent

In this post, I outline what I learned when trying a low-carb diet.

Several years ago I tried going low-carb for my Lenten Fast. Honestly, it didn’t go very well…

I did a pretty good job of staying away from grains (my primary goal) but I ate potatoes…and fruit…and drank soda. I ate a hard-core, hearty, wild rice medley on a few occasions, as well as bread ONE TIME (that was more out of necessity and it had actual seeds in it!) 😉😝

It still floors me that foods of this heartiness can somehow be “bad” for you (assuming you don’t have outstanding medical conditions). These types of seemingly counterintuitive ideas still make me a little dubious that this low-carb craze is really best for every body type. 🤔

Going Low Carb is Hard!

I think I mentioned it before, but in case I didn’t make my feelings perfectly clear then…this diet is a PAIN IN THE A**! I wasn’t expecting it to be as hard as it was, and I wasn’t expecting to come to LOATHE it as much as I did.

Cravings weren’t the problem, those actually weren’t too bad and I have experience dealing with those. What I wasn’t expecting is how INCREDIBLY inconvenient this diet is. That is what I found to be the most difficult part. People never talk about that factor.

As an example, you may have to go to multiple stores to find what you need as it’s not easy to make substitutions. I can’t imagine trying to work the diet around the palate of a picky child (this picky adult struggled 😝).

Perhaps for people in more metropolitan areas, this isn’t as much of a problem. But for those of us where the nearest Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods is 400 miles away, it can be a bit of a hindrance. 😝

The main takeaways from my low-carb experiment:

- - This diet is EXPENSIVE (compare a bag of almond flour to a bag of regular flour sometime)! 😝
  - This diet is difficult if the entire household doesn’t commit to it. You either have to end up making multiple dishes to keep everyone happy, or the special food ends up posing a HUGE inconvenience to anyone not committed to it. (This seems unfair to them, in my mind, if you’re pursuing the diet for non-health-related reasons.)
  - Unless you live in a warm climate where you have regular, easy access to fresh fruit and veggies all year round–or you have your own large orchard/garden to get these goodies from and can easily preserve them for later–you can end up needing to go to the store multiple times per week to keep getting fresh foods. The stuff that’s good for you spoils quickly, especially during the warmer months. (Oh, and have I mentioned that fruit has carbs in it). 🙄
  - I was hungry quite a bit. That probably means I wasn’t eating enough protein, but dear God, how much meat can one person stuff their face with? 😝
    I probably should have chowed down more on the vegetables too, but as I’ve said before, I have a sensitive gag reflex regarding veggies, I can’t explain why. Ever since I was a child, a certain texture or “green” flavor hits the back of my tongue and it’s like my stomach lurches and my throat closes up. At that moment, any appetite is instantly gone (of course it comes back later, with a VENGENCE).
  - I found that I thought about food ALL THE TIME. I was CONSTANTLY thinking about what I was going to make for the next meal (or the next several meals)…and whether or not I needed to stop at the store while I was out running errands (or make a special trip out just to go to the grocery store)…and if I DID need to go out which store, specifically, did I need to go too? It was EXHAUSTING! 😝
  - I also noted more instances of heartburn when I went low-carb. This seems odd, as most of the research I’ve done makes it seem that low-carb diets should help with heartburn occurrences. Maybe this is further evidence that my body doesn’t really need a low-carb diet? Or, maybe I’m just suffering the effects of getting old. 😝
  - In a previous post, I talked about feeling like carb-heavy meals made me feel full of air, whereas protein-heavy meals left a more substantial, full feeling. I will say, when I eat mostly protein and vegetables, I feel like there are still a few holes missing. Like a piece of bread or some crackers could just perfectly cap off the satisfying meal.
    I found it interesting that this desire did not slacken AT ALL across the six-week fast. (I’m also taking it to mean it’s ok if I eat some carbs since it seems like that’s what my body wants. 😁)

The most surprising thing of all, I found this diet to be depressing, and I mean that in the most literal way. For me, it kind of sucked the joy out of eating. It required so much thought and planning and was so limiting of foods I truly enjoy, that it made me not even want to bother. I couldn’t help feeling like, “what’s the point”?

Going low carb made me miss out on some of my favorite foods

I’ve said this before but I’m sorry, I can’t give up things like pizza, or noodles, or brownies. Not entirely at least. I may be able to reduce my consumption of them, but as long as these things aren’t making people in our household sick (and at this point in our lives they aren’t), I can’t give them up entirely.

At some point, giving up these things starts to make life less fulfilling. I’m not sure if that’s emotionally unhealthy, to put that much emphasis on food, but I think it’s how a lot of us are. Food reflects our cultures, in both a macro and micro sense, so I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way. It brings us comfort and happiness, it’s called “comfort food” for a reason for heaven’s sake! 😉

I’ve said it plenty of times before, but I’ll say it again, I’m a Midwest girl at heart. We show love through food (this includes some of the most fattening, most DELICIOUS meals you can think of). 😝 I enjoy eating, plus, I was fortunate to grow up in a family of good cooks who passed their recipes on to me (Mr. Trekker doesn’t complain). 😉

Related posts: Yummy Keto-friendly recipes!; Yummy Low-Carb Foods; A Sustainable Low-carb Lifestyle

I enjoy foods that bring back memories of family dinners and happy times. This diet takes A LOT of those emotions away. If I don’t require it for health reasons, why would I want to limit myself like that? So, lessening, yes, substitutions, sure, but complete exclusion of certain foods, I don’t think so. 😝

There were a few good takeaways from my low-carb experience:

- - I found it interesting how much I became aware of my eating practices (such as how many “white” carbs I generally consume that aren’t good for you. Also, how frequently I eat them). I do hope to continue better practices in the future regarding snacks (trail mix and peanuts rather than chips, for example).
  - Another thing I found is you can usually “eat-paleo” at just about any location, you just may need to get creative. (I say “usually” because I actually found that I could not find ONE low-carb dish at one of my favorite restaurants. Hey “Pizza Joint”, they have invented this stuff called “salad”.) 😝As an example, take McDonald’s. You can eat a burger (or two) and salad, just hold the bun. Technically, you should also hold the cheese and ketchup, but I wouldn’t. 😝 (This hearkens back to my point about, “why bother eating, at some point?”) Obviously, McD’s isn’t the healthiest choice, but in a pinch, you can make places like this work.

Going low carb is a complete lifestyle change

I LOVE to eat, so it has to be exciting, it has to be a treat. If it isn’t, I’ll never be able to maintain a lifestyle change such as this. As long as my household remains healthy, where the foods we eat aren’t making us sick (such as with Type 2 Diabetes, Gluten Intolerance, etc.) I’m going to stick with what enhances my life. After all, if we aren’t enjoying it, what’s the point?

If Mr. Trekker or I needed a diet like this for health-related reasons, that would be one thing. I can commit to a lifestyle change with that kind of motivation. But that’s really what this diet is, it’s a full-scale, lifestyle change. If you aren’t willing to commit to it fully, I would dissuade you from it.

In the end, I’m glad I tried the experiment. I learned that my body does seem to respond better to a higher protein and fat diet (with whole-grain carbs included). As an example, if I have a sandwich for lunch, white pasta for dinner, or cereal for breakfast, my stomach is growling LOUDLY (and I am STARVING) just a few hours later.

In contrast, if I eat something higher in protein (a thick piece of steak, pork, or chicken) mixed with veggies, or breakfast with bacon, eggs, and potatoes, I can usually make it 3 – 4 hours without feeling hungry. This makes sense, as basically, fats and proteins burn more slowly than carbs (though I do notice that “non-white” carbs, such as brown rice, millet, and items with whole grains, stick with me better).

So, based on this, in the future, I’m going to pursue more of a “slow-carb” diet rather than a “low-carb” diet. This allows for whole-grain carbs and, I think, will fit far better with the Trekkers’ current lifestyle (and my patience level).

So my take-away after six weeks of going low-carb…I won’t be “going Keto” (or Paleo) anytime soon!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with some soft, Easter Dinner rolls!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

Have you tried a low-carb diet? Tell me about your experiences in the comments!

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Low-carb Lent

In this post, I detail my experience trying out a low-carb diet that was part of my Lenten Fast in 2019!

In 2019, the Trekkers attempted to go low-carb. That culminated in a full-scale, low-carb, Lenten Fast for me. I didn’t get the result I had expected but it was an interesting experience…

I used to just give up sweets for Lent. However, as the Trekkers have been slowly working to decrease our sugar intake over the last several years**, giving up sweets hasn’t been as difficult in recent years as it was in the past. Going low-carb made this more challenging as I not only gave up sweets, but I also gave up things like blueberry muffins and cereal. These types of foods had been my go-to “treats” in past Fasts when I couldn’t have the cookies, candy, or ice cream that I was really craving.

**Going Low-carb

Mr. Trekker and I had been slowly edging towards a low-carb life the last several years, so I didn’t exactly go “cold-turkey” in my quest to lessen my carb intake. As an example, we traded out our usual Cheerios for fruit smoothies in the morning. (On REALLY cold mornings, I’ll still sometimes make oatmeal, but the stuff you actually have to cook, not the instant kind.)

For lunch, we also traded out lunchmeat sandwiches or leftovers from the crockpot for salads with a meat-based protein or chicken/veggies/whole-grain rice and quinoa dishes. Several years ago we started switching out ground beef for ground turkey and I began buying nothing in the oil department other than olive oil (and using that for almost ALL recipes, even if they call for butter or another fat). I only really use butter for baking purposes. (And yes, ALWAYS real butter. I never touch the margarine/hardly-any-different-than-plastic stuff. 😝)

Mr. Trekker also traded cookies and crackers/chips, in his lunch, for nuts and granola bars. We also tried to eat fewer desserts overall–though that one is still a struggle (especially now that Momma Trekker lives close by and provides us with frequent, delectable desserts! 😳😉) Just by doing these things, however, Mr. Trekker lost more than 20 pounds! 😳 I haven’t seen quite as good of results, but I think I had slightly better practices to begin with (I eat fewer cookies 😉). I also haven’t been as dedicated to giving up the “naughty” foods.

Related posts: Easter Ends the Lenten Fast!; My Lenten Fast; More Yummy Low-Carb Foods; Yummy Low Carb Foods; Yummy Keto-friendly recipes!; Final Thoughts on Low-Carb Lent; A Sustainable Low-carb Lifestyle; Wired to Eat (A Book Review)

Low-carb Lent 2019

In past years, I have craved carb-heavy snacks when I gave up sweets. This makes sense as my body was seeking alternative sources to acquire the “sugar fix”. Going low-carb required me to adjust my notions of “snacking”. There was no more grabbing a bag of Doritos or pretzels at the gas station. During “Low-Carb Lent” it was all carrot sticks, other raw veggies, granola bars, and trail mix for me! (I did allow myself a bit of dip to go along with the veggies, and yes, I realize granola bars have carbs in them. *sigh* I had to allow myself SOME enjoyment, right? 😝)

The one exception to the “no sweets” rule that I allowed myself was dark chocolate. This was because dark chocolate is the one, true “dessert” that is allowed by the Paleo diet. You are supposed to eat the darkest type you can stand, preferably 90% cacao or higher. However, neither my IBS, nor my palate, allows me to go that high, so I stuck with around 70%. Fortunately, my IBS doesn’t allow me to eat much of this food at any given time either, so those “treats” were minimal.

Another exception I allowed myself was soda. I love soda, L-O-V-E, LOVE it! I could drink it all day, EVERY day (and we’re talking full-sugar here, that diet stuff tastes like crap and the fake sugar is bad for you, it also triggers my IBS.) 😝 Obviously, this is not the healthiest of choices. Fortunately, my stomach doesn’t tolerate high amounts of soda intake, so I try to show a little restraint. I usually allow the occasional soda as a “cheat” during Lent, and I did so during my low-carb Fast, as well. (Yes, I am aware there are carbs in soda. Actually, it’s chock full of sugar, let’s just be honest.) But it isn’t made from grains, and it isn’t a sweet dessert, and those are the main things I was focusing on that year. (As I said before, a girl’s got to have a little fun SOMEWHERE. 😉)

I suck at dieting 😝

As you may be able to tell, I’m pretty bad at this. I HATE counting calories, carbs, whatever, so I pretty much refuse to do it. I’ll read the occasional label, but, basically, with this Fast, I was just trying to live a reasonably, low-carb lifestyle. I couldn’t bring myself to count how many carbs were in the raspberry vinegarette dressing I put on the spinach-and-kale salad I ate for lunch, or how many were in the fruit smoothie I made every morning. I can’t contemplate how it can be bad to eat things like this, even if there is a bit of natural sugar in them (assuming you aren’t diabetic). Especially if I’m using these recipes to replace more carb-heavy meals.

Neither of the Trekkers is gluten intolerant, has been diagnosed as diabetic, or as having an autoimmune disease at this point in life (for which we are very thankful). If that were to occur though, that would alter the zealousness with which I pursued this type of diet. The author of the book Wired to Eat, which I discussed in a previous post, is gluten intolerant. He literally gets sick if he eats too much gluten. So he has far more invested in this type of alternative lifestyle choice.

Basically, I SUCK at dieting, and I’m too lazy and unmotivated to reasonably see this changing much in the future. Even with the Paleo diet, you are allowed a modicum of carb intake, so I allowed some exceptions (such as low-carb noodles or whole-grain pancakes, also whole-grain oatmeal on really cold, snowy days). I also didn’t seem to have the dedication required to give up potatoes. 😝

I allowed these exceptions partially because I could have SOME carbs and because it gets REALLY inconvenient not to eat any. My hope was that if this diet really did work, I would still see some positive results. They may not have been as good as if I was actually following the plan perfectly, but they should’ve still been present. (And if I saw results without following the diet perfectly, this would prove that it works, at least somewhat.)

Fasting:

I also implemented fasting–on a VERY minor basis. Basically, during the week, I would fast around 12 hours per day. My understanding is that this is the absolute bare minimum that you can fast and still call it Fasting. 😝 But, it still counts in my book. 😉 We usually eat breakfast around 7:30 – 8:00 in the morning. It’s rare that we aren’t done with dinner by 7 at night, so the goal was that by 7:30 each night, I wouldn’t be eating anything else until the following morning.**

**Fasting at night is easy, I’m asleep! 😉 I find, sometimes, I’ll start feeling hungry about the time I go to bed. That’s easy enough to ignore, though. Even on those occasions, I rarely wake up with my stomach growling, seven or so hours later. I also usually find I can wait an hour or two from wake-up before actually ingesting breakfast.

Realistically, I should be fasting for at least 13 – 15 hours per day, but with our daily schedule that starts to get into the wholly inconvenient arena. That would be the point where I make smoothies for breakfast for us…and then mine sits in the fridge for several hours before I actually drink it? Or I end up needing to eat dinner before Mr. Trekker usually even gets home from work at night? I just…can’t.

Perhaps I’m lazy, or just lack discipline, but I’m seeking out real solutions and lifestyle changes that I can maintain long-term. Anything extreme just isn’t practical for me and I know it won’t last. I am aware this may mean I don’t see the full extent of the results possible on these types of diets, but I’m ok with that.

To Conclude

So, this was my adventure into the low-carb realm. Check out the articles linked above for new recipes I tried out. You can also read the final conclusions I came to regarding how my body performed on a low-carb diet here. (Another Spoiler Alert: I HATED it! I was hungry ALL THE TIME, it made me irritable, and I did NOT feel “great” on it! 😝)

Have you tried going low-carb? Tell me about it in the comments!

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