February’s over. Thank God. It tied for the coldest February ever in Chicago. We should get a prize or something for that, shouldn’t we?Since the month is over, it’s time for a recap of my progress for the month in my Year of Doing Without. I went vegan for January, and that went just swimmingly. For February I decided to do without sweets. And that went…well, did I mention that I succeeded in going vegan in January?When I announced my no sweets goal for February, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I’m a sweets guy. I like sugary cereal, jelly, ice cream, cookies, pastries, candy and most anything else that contains sugar. However, since I conquered vegan January, I figured I had a reasonable chance to do sugar free February.And things started out so well.By “started out” I guess that I mean the first day went okay. The first day as in daytime. As in before dinner. As in prior to me driving myself to McDonald’s to buy an ice cream cone.Yes boys and girls, sugar free February lasted fewer than fifteen waking hours. February’s short, but it ain’t that short!I’d like to blame my wife for my failure, since she’s the one who mentioned the ice cream cone. But it’s not her fault. After we put the kids to bed she mentioned that she was going to get an ice cream cone. (Yes, we’re the sort of parents who go for ice cream after the kids go to bed!)But I’d resisted plenty of foods in January. I was committed to going vegan for a month, and nothing anyone said was going to change my mind. I passed on some good animal-based food because I didn’t want to “ruin” my month. Temptation had no effect on me.So I can’t very well say that her mere mention of ice cream shattered my will. I just wimped out.
Now, at this point, let me remind you that I was vegan for January. You know, just in case you forgot from two paragraphs ago. And vegan means no ice cream. So I’d already gone an entire month without eating ice cream. Was I supposed to go a second month without it?Come on, let’s not be barbaric about this! The dude needed some ice cream, so the dude bought some ice cream. And ate it. And it was good.It’d be nice if I could say that after that ice cream cone I went back on the straight and narrow and avoided sweets for the rest of the month.But what about Valentine’s Day? And Fat Tuesday? And Washington’s Birthday? And Lincoln’s Birthday! Don’t forget about Harry Potter Book Night (February 5). So many opportunities to eat sweets. How can I say no? I was committed to sugar free February, but I’m only human. It wasn’t my fault.Actually, maybe it really wasn’t my fault. There’s growing information that sugar is actually addictive. And as someone who once ate an entire sleeve of Samoa Girl Scout cookies while sitting at his desk one afternoon, I believe that. So maybe I shouldn’t feel bad about not having the self-discipline to cut out sweets for a month.Still, I’m sorry that I didn’t do it. Success is cooler than failure. And sweeter, too. No one ever mentions the sweet smell or taste of failure. Unfortunately, success is just about the only sweet thing I avoided in February.The calendar on the wall tells me that’s it a new month though. So let’s try again. March will be the month of no sweets. I mean it this time!I’ve already declined ice cream. Last night I went to Baskin-Robbins and bought some ice cream for my kids. (See, I’m not always ice cream selfish.) None for me though. No, siree.I mean business this month. Saying no to Baskin-Robbins helps lay the groundwork for the rest of the month. Besides, I stretched sweet February just about as far as it would go when my wife and I went through the McDonald’s drive-thru on Saturday, the last day of the month, and I ordered an ice cream cone at 11:59 PM.It’s March now. No sweets for me until April 1. That just happens to be April Fool’s Day, but I’m serious about this.Conveniently, it also just so happens to be the day that our local ice cream shop opens for the season. I’ll end no sweets March with a large twist cone dipped in butterscotch. I can’t wait.Only 30 days to go!PREVIOUS POST: The Dress Made Me Wonder These ThingsIF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU'LL ALSO LIKE: When to Eat Food That Fell on the Floor+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Hey, did you like reading this? If so, you should Share it on Facebook so you can bring joy to others. You can also find tons of other posts by me here. And you can like my Facebook page, Brett Baker Writes. Please.
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