Breadless for Lent
Lent is just around the corner, (next wednesday to be exact), so I'm giving something yummy up. I am not a particularly religious person, but I use Lent as a sort of challenge to myself. Yes I could probably do it anytime of the year, but Lent is a good excuse to give something up for 40 days.
Last year I gave up meat. At first I thought it would be impossible. Not that I am a carnivore and only eat meat all day long, but because you don't realise how meat is everywhere! And it's so easy to just pick up a ham sandwhich, or fry some bacon for breakfast, and eat a roasted chicken for dinner, without having to think, oh can I eat this? or can I eat that? I guess as a vegetarian, and that's what I discovered after a few weeks into it, that not eating meat is a habit, you just don't have to think about it anymore, that's what you do. You just eat veggies, and you're a happy person. But I grew up eating meat (and everything else of course) so giving it up for 40 days was a real challenge. I had to change my shopping habits, I had to substitute meat with other things (although I still continued to eat fish. I was a pescatarian for 40 days), and I really had to think before putting any food in my mouth. I didn't want to make any mistakes, and in the first few days I nearly did, several times. Who thought quiche Lorraine had bacon in it? Or that spaguetti Bolognese had mince in it. Duh. Well it's that kind of thing you don't really think about when it's natural for you to eat meat. I'm starting to ramble.
Anyway the point is this year, me and my housemates have decided to give up BREAD. Yep, my one and only love. Bread. Thinking about it, I do eat way too much bread, because it's just easy to have toast in the morning, make a sandwhich for lunch and snack on bread and butter when I'm starving before dinner. And I mean I'm FRENCH at the end of the day (well half but my love for bread is totally french). Bread has such an important place in my kitchen, and in my heart. The smell of bread cooking in the oven is one of my favourite and could make me do anything.
So as you probably guessed this is not gonna be an easy one. 40 days. I'm freaking out already, and from now until tuesday night I'm only eating bread. (I'm actually going to M&S in a minute to buy myself a really nice loaf before I'm going on bread rehab).
But I know it'll be good for me, eating too much bread is bad for your health, and it makes you bloated and tired. If you want me to get a bit more scientific on the subject, well eating too much bread (white bread in particular or anything made out of refined white flour) causes "sugars to be released quickly into the bloodstream. This causes a rapid rise in blood sugar levels which triggers a similarly rapid release of the body’s own sugar regulating hormone, insulin." If you want to learn more about it go there.
To help me found ideas for lunches, especially, because that's when bread comes in handy, I made a Pinterest board called Breadless for Lent. Wish me luck!
Are you giving anything up for Lent?
