TGIF(ebruary)

Tomorrow begins February's challenge: No alcohol, no dairy, no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial flavors. I'm pretty pumped about it.

Last year for Lent I went vegan and it turned out to be an awesome experience. The first week was a little difficult; just getting used to how my body felt and suddenly having to plan all my meals, but after the initial learning curve I felt awesome. I didn't feel weighed down after I ate, I was eating quality food, my grocery bill was less expensive, I was barely eating out, I couldn't impulse eat from the office candy bowl, really...it was great.

There was definitely a down side too though. Going out to dinner was a bit more difficult (and everyone got sick of Grasshopper and TJ Scallywaggles pretty quickly), eating took a lot more planning, and there were some foods that I definitely missed. This year will be even tougher though because I'm also nixing high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, and alcohol.

I've also previously gone sans-alcohol for Lent. I never thought that I drank that much until I consciously made the effort not to. Maybe it's just because I'm in my mid-20's, but when was the last time a friend asked you to do something that didn't involve alcohol? "Let's meet up for a drink after work", "Dinner and wine at my place". It just becomes standard for people. I mean, I love wine, but I found myself drinking it out of habit half the time and not because I really wanted to.

What I liked most about it was the things that I did instead of drinking. I felt like I was coming up with more fun and creative ideas. Like, I don't know, the time that I colored velvet art and drank tea until 2 in the morning with my friends? I started having insane amounts of fun doing the dumbest stuff imaginable and it was awesome! Not only that, I saved so much money. I kind of wanted to hurl when I tallied up how much I spent on booze in a month. Not drinking was a huge money saver and definitely a creativity and productivity booster.

So, I'm psyched. I'm getting shit done, saving money, and probably dropping 10 lbs.

Happy February everyone.