2 days ago I wrote about 30 Day Challenges and why I do them. So now it's time to share my February’s Edition which was to give up chocolate and meat for 30 days, starting on the 1st of February.
Why?
January’s been kind of a naughty month. I’ve been away travelling for half of it and the other half... let’s just say, I didn’t exercise as much and in general was feeling kind of lazy, still finishing up my Christmas treats from last year...
So I thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of detox from:
a) chocolate (even though I don’t like chocolate that much, I’m more of a savoury person), and
b) meat (which I try and eat less of but certainly haven’t done so when I was in Bahamas).
Exceptions
Liam, on the other hand, decided to cut out alcohol and fizzy drinks as part of his February's challenge. However, we both agreed that on two occasions we will allow ourselves to eat and drink anything we want.
Those two exception days were:
- Valentines Day (because Liam planned to cook an entire 3-course gourmet meal at home), and
- Alla’s 30th Birthday (because my dad was in town and I booked a bunch of amazing restaurants...) 😳
Let’s see how I did. I kept a diary so all of my notes and thoughts were captured real time.
Day 1. Thursday
I decided on my challenge. A few mins later I remembered that I had chocolate mini eggs in my bag. I really want some mini eggs. F*ck
Day 2. Friday
Think this is the first time I cooked my own white fish. Thanks @allasyummyfood for the recipe!
Day 3. Saturday
Liam and I went to the Natural History Museum and I was desperate for some water. Little did I know there were plenty of insane looking chocolate desserts too. Damn it.
Plus later that evening he made us gnocchi with mushroom sauce and I had to miss out on pancetta. Whatever. 😒
Day 4. Sunday
Deciding on a take away wasn’t too hard - we got some ramen and other bits and bobs. We did have to miss out on our favourite dish though: spicy chicken katsu buns...
It’s almost been a week and I feel fine. I don’t have any cravings and my resistance towards sweet things is holding up pretty well too. So far so good.
Day 8. Thursday
I saw Alla bought some roasted chicken. I really would have liked to have a piece of that chicken... All good though, she made me and @ivergereiko some delicious dinner instead, as shown below.
Day 9. Friday
I was super excited about mine and Alla’s night in - catching up and watching rubbish TV series. I was good and had a fish pie for dinner.
And then…, then Alla asked me to get them eclairs out of the fridge. So I have one. And then a second one. And then about an hour later I sort of realised that I ate a chocolate eclair. Two in fact.
I meaaaan... here goes half my challenge out of the window. FFS. At least I haven’t had any meat yet and eating those chocolate eclair(z) was an utter accident! I honestly don't even know how it didn't hit me! Ask @allasyummyfood - she will tell you how shocked and surprised I was.
I had to call Liam up and confess about this. He claimed that this was it and that I failed but I would like to think that it’s half a fail and I’m allowed to continue a meat free month.
Day 11. Sunday
I took Liam out for lunch to my favourite dim sum place in China Town. It was relatively easy to not order any meat. I did want some pork buns though...
Day 12. Monday
Alla made me a banging dinner. Protein glass noodles with stir fried veg and honey glazed white fish. Come on!
Day 13. Tuesday
Liam and I went to see Kendrick Lamar and had MAD munchies once we got back home. He warmed up his pork slices and then ate them in front of me as I was waiting for my cheesy toast in the oven. Dick.
Just look at that face! 😠 😠 😠
Day 14. Wednesday - Valentine’s Day
Yes, I made it half way through the month and tonight is the night! It’s my night off as Liam prepped a three course gourmet meal at mine.
For starters he served seared duck foie gras and for the main course we had beef wellington with some bacon cabbage and hasselbeck potatoes. It blew my mind! If you missed my post about this dinner, check it out here.
Oh, and I also had some chocolate. Lol
Day 15. Thursday
It’s funny because you wouldn’t think that 2 weeks is a long time for your body to feel any different but I swear, after eating a good chunk of red meat last night - I immediately felt all clogged up in the morning. I didn’t have the same light feeling in my stomach like I did for the last 2 weeks. Or gas. It just makes you realise that meat doesn’t digest as quickly and it just sits there in your stomach, rotting…
Day 18. Sunday - Alla’s Birthday
Yay, my second exception day. It didn’t feel long enough since the Valentine’s but I ended up booking Duck & Waffle for Alla’ birthday brunch where I obviously had some duck. And foie gras creme brûlée... which was beyond this world (sorry guys, I couldn't help myself)!
Our dinner was at Dinings SW3 (a fine dining Japanese restaurant) and though we mainly ate raw fish, I also tried wagyu beef tartar chip (which was the best thing on that menu). And then Liam and I also shared wagyu beef slices for the main... 😳
I mean the portions were so tiny that you couldn’t really consider it as an actual dinner.
Day 20, Tuesday
I organised a catch up dinner with a few of my friends from Uni at this Italian restaurant called Pulia. I went for home-made 'pasta with fresh prawns, courgettes cream, cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and parsley' which sounded way better than it looked or tasted. Nothing special and doesn’t even compare to Padella (which is an absolute must try Italian restaurant in London Bridge).
Day 21, Wednesday
I was working from home this morning and Alla was in so she made us lunch. She baked haddock with some boiled veg and couscous which sounded delicious.
As I was a third into my meal I realised that I have already bitten into bacon that was wrapped around the fish. I mean, this is it, isn’t it? I failed. I didn’t even realise I couldn’t eat that! Can I blame @allasyummyfood for this? Again? And isn’t it funny how both of my fails were triggered by my sister? Haha
Maybe it’s because I trust her and wouldn’t even think twice about challenging her food choices? Lol
Anyway...I can’t return from this now. I survived 3 weeks (minus the two exception days). The important thing is that I genuinely want to try and consume less meat. Or let’s just say when I do decide to eat it - I want it to be the highest quality. In other words I will only eat steak at a top notch steak restaurant (which I have done for a while now), but I want to apply the same principle to other red and white meat too.
Major Learnings?
- Don’t trust professional chefs with food when you’ve taken something out of your diet, haha
- Being pescatarian was harder than being vegan (or let’s just say, eating fish every other day was a bit too much for me and I got fed up with it a lot quicker than when I was a vegan for a month).
I haven't decided on my challenge for April yet so maybe you guys can help me? The following ones are still on my to-do list:
- Cook a new dish every day (in collab with Liam)
- Listen to an audiobook or a podcast every day
- Reconnect with an old friend every day
- Compliment someone every day
- Listen to a new song every day
But feel free to also suggest a completely new idea in the comments below! The challenge with the most upvotes wins (and I will do it as long as it's reasonable) 😳
Thanks and love,
Inga x
My heart goes out to you for missing out on pancetta. :D My current favorit food is bacon with maple syrup so...
If you decide to start with podcasts I recommend this one and others by @ameliabartlett
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdsound.audio%2F%23!%2F%40ameliabartlett%2F20180301t205214913z-women-taking-leaps-interview-podcast-with-dominique-davis-chief-creative-behind-all-that-is-she&h=ATMPfqeFfUkN2J7bpxrml5Wu-LT4-5x46nImdkb1nq4t0bdQbNnJwhYrMvTq7X3bG1stdHvCMFh5KMoFm-L2soOBy8a3vf1EL_SWl84amMw4rIpXunpU
Amazing, thank you for the recommendation! I will check it out over the weekend :-)
hahah this cracked me up!! and made me realise how many amazing meals I cook for you, hahah here you are cant complain I don't cook for you anymore :P you did well! out of 30 days you barely messed up I would say! And yes we are more on a pescatarian diet now! :) but you dont really like my vegan stuff :) hahah ! next challenge, dont know maybe a podcast every day - sounds pretty useful! xx
True, true. You definitely stepped up your game at cooking more dinners at home but then I wonder whether it's only because you want to keep me in for the fishbox subscription... lol Thank you either way! Podcasts would be useful for sure :-)
Hahha. No I don’t really care if you get the fish or not :) trying to be a good sister here jeeeeee
Hahaha alright alright 😏
Haha nice try! I could NEVER EVER do the giving up chocolate thing. I even pour shitloads of cocoa powder into my porridge in the morning because I'm so addicted to that gorgeous stuff. However, I do believe that chocolate itself isn't bad, it's all the sugar that's included in chocolate flavour goodies. I've mostly switched to the really dark kind of chocolate now - like 85% and above - and I think it's less bad for me.
Totally know what you mean about feeling lighter after not eating meat. I'm not that bothered about meat anyway and I've been eating mostly vegan for the past few months (thanks to my vegan boyfriend) and it's amazing how much lighter and un-clogged I feel. Would you ever do the not eating meat thing again?
I really like how you kept a diary. It was fun to read. For your next challenge, I'd go for the compliment one. It'd be cool to hear how many creative compliments you came up with. But maybe you should also set a rule that you have to compliment a different person every day so it's not just the people you're close to?
Yeah, I like that. A lot actually. Do they all have to be in person or can I compliment someone online?
And yes, I did a vegan month last year which was a great challenge. I might try meat free month again or in general cut it out of my home-cooking diet and only eat it once I'm out in a nice restaurant...
I know what you mean about chocolate, dark chocolate is the best so you're on the right track! :-)
Yeah most times when I eat meat and fish these days it's when I'm in a nice restaurant. I think that's the real reason why I don't want to declare myself a vegan. Haha! Keeping the flexibility.
Hmm I'm not sure. Maybe it would be more of a challenge to do it in person because I guess you'd have to occasionally interact with strangers. It's easy to compliment strangers online, especially when you're on Steemit as there's the whole positive commenting culture here. Maybe online compliments would be ok if you make the rule that it has to be outside of Steemit. But it's your challenge, so ultimately you have to decide the rules!
Whatever you decide, I think that'd be a cool diary to read. I'd love to hear how acquaintances and random people reacted and whether you got compliments in return or made any new friends as a result.
Yeah, you're right about Steemit culture and giving compliments online - think that would be too easy. Maybe I could allow 1 a week or something? :-)
Thanks for the encouragement, I'm curious to see what else people come up with but so far my favourite ones are compliments and reconnecting with an old friend!
Hahaha yes Inga, chocolate eclairs aren't chocolate :P Sounds like you did well though, considering everything ;)
A few ideas for you:
What do you say? :P
Oooooh I love the no eating out for a month one! That's a big challenge.
I like that one too, but then again, would eating food that Alla cooked for you count as "eating out"? ;)
Haha, don’t think so @victoria-kelly :-) As long as I eat at home I’m good. I’m gonna have to have a pretty good hustle game for that month! 🤔
Haha, well... I would have liked to think so too but they were covered in chocolate so it counts. Lol
Oooo, no eating out for a month would be VERY hard (I’m going home for a week and saying No to my dad...would be very though indeed). Maybe no paying for eating out? Haha
No make up, on the other hand, I reckon would be too easy for me. I barely wear any now :-)
Haha cool! we'll see what you pick as your next 30 day challenge then ;)
It's a sufficient amount that you exceedingly feel like to look after that 'reconnect with an deep-rooted friend' as not in addition extended in the past we useless a WhatsApp memo to erstwhile associates in London stating that we had been damaging at staying in move over the onwards year. We poverty to substitute that as you canister undoubtedly be bereaved touch, steady in the nearly all together earth to date! Looking send to ensure could you repeat that? you want to do.
Hi @zampa - thank you for your comment but to be completely honest with you - I couldn't really follow it through and I'm not 100% sure what was the question. Sorry!
thanks ingaaa please vote my posting cheak my profile please
Props to both of y'all! All of those things are super yummy (the items y'all both gave up)! But I'm sure taking a break from those y'all actually feel better as well.. The real question, for both of you... How hard was it to stay strong for the 30-days?
Well, as you can tell - I only lasted 21 days without any meat and @liambagnall lasted 24 days without alcohol and fizzy drinks (we went to Dublin for the weekend so there was NO WAY he wasn't going to drink fresh Guinness)! I feel partly responsible for that... lol
Have you ever tried giving something up for 30 days?
Nice and ya def your fault lol. I've done the no sodas and no fast food for 30-days. Small challenges like that.
Hahah this cracked me up. So basically you're not a chocolate person because you it's actually because you don't realise when you're eating a shit load of chocolate!? hahah. But you did do like 22 days of no meat? That's not bad actually. I eat fish around once per week but find it much easier being veggie or even vegan actually. People always presume if you eat fish you must eat meat too.. Especially in restaurants. It's a bit of an odd one.
I like the format of this btw Ings. Get Liam to start posting!!
Hahaha no but really, I don’t actually like chocolate that much. I’m all about pastries like eclairs, cinnamon buns and cheese twists. Lol
Yeah, I think eating fish once or twice a week is sufficient - otherwise it gets fairly repetitive. Although I think I could eat fresh salmon and tuna every other day but that’s not healthy either!
Glad you liked this! And I will, I will 😝
Very nice@ingaaa ! I suggest complement someone or visit my last post, I posted a challenge that you might like to do it as well.
Done! :-)
You are great @ingaaa! And if anyone will say no, got to deal with me!
It's a tough challenge and things can slip out of your mind easily or you can just get tricked by @allasyummyfood. Time for revenge? hahaha :p
Not a bad try and for April either cooking a new dish every day with Liam, reconnect with an old friend every day or to keep it relate-able to crypto invest in a new crypto every day (it could be something as small as £5, so £150 for the month...that's if you have some spare money).
That's a cool idea though that £150 will most likely go on flights to Ukraine or somewhere else! Lol
I also really like the 'reconnect with an old friend' - as I feel like there are so many people I haven't spoken to in a very long time and it could be cool to discover something new about them :-)
Yea true that £150 can be spent on something else. Another challenge in regards to money is living on a budget of 'x' amount for 30 days. Just reverse it. Instead of spending £150, how much can you save?!
It's enough that you really want to do that 'reconnect with an old friend' as not too long ago we spent a WhatsApp message to old friends in London stating that we had been bad at staying in touch over the past year. We want to change that as you can easily lose touch, even in the most connected world to date! Looking forward to see what you choose to do.
Good idea, and definitely will be harder to save than to spend ;-) And so true, I used to send a very long email once every couple of years to my maths teacher (random, I know) so it's more about reconnections like these :-)
Giving up chocolate is such a hard thing!! I always fail, oh well.
I love the idea of doing monthly challenges! I might start doing this myself. The 'Cook a new dish every day' sounds interesting!
Definitely give it a go and let me know how it goes for you! :-)
It is but I can imagine it will require a lot of prep and hard work hence why if I do it, I will collaborate with my boyfriend or maybe my sister @allasyummyfood (with her it would be easier for sure!)
@ingaaa thanks for your hospitality.
Pahahaha - that's a terrible capture of my face! And no problem at all - always welcome! :-)
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My god those pictures of food got my stomach rumbling ahah :) luckly I gona cook me something right now xD the fish looks great :)
Haha, all the fish recipes are from @allasyummyfood hence why! :-)
aaaah that's the secret xD
Does upvoting count as complimenting someone? ;)
Making challenges that have restrictions is always difficult. I think any challenge that has the basis of improvement is the best course of action, so more like setting goals.
By the end of 30 days have stronger connections with old friends
By the end of 30 days finish 3 audio books and find 3 new podcasts
By the end of 30 days be able to cook 5 new meals like a professional
That's my suggestion.
Ooo I like that, Keiran. Focusing more on the outcome rather than the action... interesting 🤔
I might try that approach too one day you know ;-) - thanks for your input!
And no, upvotes wouldn’t count, that’s way too easy haha
I'm not sure if you 30 days done by now but I posted #myexperiment which should be a vegetarian kind of meal today :-)
Ahh sick. Let me check it out!
Glad to see you there. :-)