#MicroblogMondays 87: Give Up or Take On
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We are in the middle of Pesach. This is my hardest holiday. I am really bad at giving things up. I can’t stop thinking about the bread and pasta that I’m not allowed to eat for 8 days.
It’s just 8 days. There are plenty of things that I don’t eat 8 days in a row, and it never feels like a hardship. An artichoke, for instance. I haven’t had an artichoke in the last 8 days, and you don’t see me wringing my hands over it. But tell me that I’m not allowed to have an artichoke for 8 days and all I will think about are artichokes 24/7.
Would you rather give up a food item for 8 days or have to eat an undesirable food item 8 days in a row?
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29 comments
I’d rather give something up for eight days – I think my diet is varied enough to fill in any gaps. Besides, there’s something about deprivation that makes you appreciate something all the more when you get it again. Due to my current immobility, yesterday I had my first coffee in 2 1/2 weeks! I had coped. But wow, did I enjoy that coffee, and the kick it gave me!
I would rather give up a food item for 8 days over having an undesirable item for 8 days. My recent decision to give up coffee–a beverage I drank daily for years–relegating it to a weekend excursion or special treat tells me I can. Putting something undesirable in my mouth for even 1, let alone 8, days sounds a bit like torture. 😉
I recently did the whole30 – gave up dairy, bread, peanut butter, chocolate AND alcohol for 30 days. It was the hardest thing EVER, because I’m the same way as you – consumed with “I can’t have that and it’s ALLLLLLLL I want.” But having done it was eye opening for me – awesome to exercise my willpower for sure. And now, being able to have a glass of wine and chocolate has made me much more appreciative of it when I do have it. I’m less mindless about eating – more likely to enjoy the food I gave up.
Plus, it’s rare I dislike something, and eating something I don’t like for 8 days really does sound like torture, as Middle Girl said. So I’d rather give something up than the opposite.
Give up, for sure! As long as there is an end to the deprivation, I can endure. It’s when I have to give something up forever that it all falls apart.
Isn’t it funny how our minds work? Those darn artichokes! I am like you – tell me I can’t have something and it’s all I think about. I am getting ready for a big diet overhaul and coffee and alcohol will be off limits for a good chunk of time. So do I go cold turkey or wean myself off of them slowly? Your post is giving me food (no pun intended) for thought and Pesach is your cold turkey. I guess I had better wean myself off to try to avoid obsessive thoughts of artichokes and the like 🙂 Have a great day!
Pesach reminds me of Lent, when we use to give up a pleasure for 4 weeks before Easter. As kids this meant sweets or TV. Both were insanely hard. So I’m use to depriving myself (fasting is easy too). Forcing myself to consume something? That would be harder.
Hang in there. You’re almost over the hill with this.
I’d rather force-subtract a good thing than be force-add a bad thing.
I’ll be thinking of artichokes all day now.
I’m going along with the crowd here. Pesach (Passover) is always hard because I have to stop & think before I eat anything for 8 days but over the years, I’ve learned what my go-to things during the holiday are. But about once a year, I try a few foods again because I know they’re healthy to see if I find them any less detestable: Oatmeal (I know, I know), grapefruit, Brussels sprouts… No luck so far. So the thought of having one of the three every day for eight days is traumatizing.
So true! Human nature. We always want what we cant have. I remember when I was a kid and my mom would forbid me from doing something…that would make it all the more likely that I would find a way to do it behind her back.
Yep, I’m having Lent flashbacks too. I would definitely rather give something up, instead of eating something undesirable. Even if it meant going without coffee… well, maybe… *grin*
Agree with everyone. Eating something you detest every day for over a week is mild torture. Self-denial, on the other hand, can make you feel all smug and self-righteous, which is good for the soul…or something.
Oh yeah I’d rather give something up for 8 days. Really hate putting something that I hate in my mouth.
Much better (though still difficult) to give up a preferred food for 8 days than to force myself to eat something I dislike (that list is short, but still).
I would like to say that I would easily give something up for 8 days but I am actually concerned that I don’t have the willpower. So I imagine I could force myself to eat something nasty for 8 days if I was still eating what I wanted…
Give it up, for sure. I imagine eating egg salad sandwiches for 8 days, and it’s a no-brainer. But I feel you. Hang in there, Mel.
Oh give up for sure. By the way, I’ve never had artichoke either. Just doesn’t look desirable at all. 🙂
Actually I LOVE matzo so I’m kind of a freak. The crappy coffee and no soy creamer are my problems. And the house cleaning. So I guess for me the CO-mission is much harder than the O-mission!
Give up because I am a picky eater and if you make me eat something I don’t like I have a gag reflex and it generally goes downhill from there.
Stacy, artichokes are just butter and bread crumb delivery systems, if made a certain way, and they’re delicious. 😉
I tried giving up gluten. I think it might have lasted 8 days but probably not…haha!
I am good at giving up. Taking on eating something undesirable, not so much.
Day 23 of Whole30 here. As much as I grieve my given-up-foods – maybe “grieve” is an overstatement? I’ve lost perspective 😉 – I would much rather give up than be forced to eat something. I’ve tried many times to eat, for example, raw carrots but they are an abomination.
Im the same way about giving things up. I gave up coffee for awhile and was basically obsessed. That said, I guess I’d rather give something up than eat something gross for 8 days.
OMG, I actually wrote a post for Microblog Mondays LOL. As for your question, I would definitely rather give something up than eat something I don’t like. The fact I was giving up for a short amount of time would help me. When I was in Greece I gave up dairy for Lent to show cultural respect. Except on Sundays when I ate one ice cream during my weekly walk. Damn, that ice cream tasted good!
Give up all the way — I can have that food again and will treasure it more for the missing of it. But I stopped eating that hated food for a reason and eating it 8 days just to have the other stuff I like is no good! Ugh, the idea of going back to a gross food is just too awful…so many smells and textures and tastes not worth having again. 🙂
definitely give up -8 days is not long, but eating something that i don’t like -way too painful! this reminds me that ramadan is coming up -i look forward to the discipline and simplicity of fasting and giving up excess for a month 🙂
I find he parenting aspect the hardest about Passover. It is far easier to police what I eat than what they eat. We had a birthday party to go to on Sunday and those discussions worth my 4yr old were so hard! As were the looks from the other parents. Our friend group tilts heavily non-religious and they do not seem to get why I would do this to my child. It’s been a rough pesach here.
I’d rather eat something I didn’t want to. Crazy, but true. Of course, I was supposed to eat a teaspoon of cut fresh garlic with honey 3 x a day for a few days and I gave up after 2 teaspoons. Mmmm, I also tried chia pudding. Couldn’t do that again either. Wait, I changed my mind. I’d rather give up something for 8 days.
I could send you a picture of an artichoke from my garden that might change your mind on artichokes. They’re full of ants. And I just looked but don’t have a screaming emoji which is what I did.