Day-17: The Straw Test

When going to the bar, a common joke towards the waitress is; "Just a beer, I'm on a liquid diet." Waitresses kindly smile, your group laughs and nobody expects you to be serious. Even for those whom start only with beer will snag a french fry, a potato chip, a bite of a slider, or some other random nugget of goodness when available.  If sitting at a table with friends and not butterflying around the bar, I'd wager that the "just a beer" guy ends up with his own order of deep fried pickles, jalapeno poppers, nachos, etc, bye the end of the night.  

Last night I was that "just a beer" guy and while my evening didn't involve deep fried, heavenly, goodness I did come up with The Straw Test.

The Straw Test is simple; if a soup is a thin enough to be sucked through a straw, I'll drink what I can (with the straw) and leave the rest in the bowl. The bar was featuring cream a broccoli soup and despite some massive leftover chunks, I enjoyed about 2/3 of the bowl, through the straw... it was amazing. 

In my own little world of Lenten sacrifice, I comprise the Executive, Legislative and Judaical Branches of what is and is not allowed. Sometimes, like last night, I'm forced to ask myself "is this acceptable for what I'm looking to accomplish?", "will I be mad at myself later?"  Obviously, I found it to be acceptable and thankfully I did not regret it later.

When deciding to allow The Straw Test for soups, I made a mental list of things not allowed:
 - Gravy
- Apple Sauce
- Pudding / Custard
- Mashed Potatoes
- Hummus
- Cottage Cheese
- Liquid Cheese
- Hot Fudge
- Ice Cream (Though fair game melted or in a milkshake form)
In all likely hood the list will be added to, in days to come.

For me the overall results of the diet carry the least amount of magnitude in my Lenten experience, nonetheless it is an absolutely necessary component that ties everything together and is the foundation of  that which is making me strive to be better. Having rules that I stick by, following through with, and talk about, are critical for my success. If I started eating solids, my spiritual journey would follow the same path as other broken diets or missed work outs. I eat solids on Day-18, then not again till Day-26, then Day-32, then Day-34, Day-35, Day-36- "darn, I almost did it" and at the same time my self reflection gets becomes less important and less devote.  Workouts have the same fate, miss a day here, a day there and pretty soon working out is something that one used to do when they had time.

I need to be strict with myself. In the scheme of things 40-Days isn't much and is something that I can handle. I can't comprise my own standards on this, which is why The Straw Test scared me and why I'm silly about things like ice cream. Chunks of ham are off limits, but if a friend takes the time to puree them, with the split peas, the ham is now allowed. Ice cream, fresh from the freezer, is a no-no, but when left to sit in room temperature for 20 minutes, I gladly slurp that stuff up.

For now, the diet is the instrument that makes me ask more of myself. The diet is glue that is holding together my little journey of self-improvement, self-betterment, self-worth, self-guidance, self-direction, self-something. I have 23-Days left to not only master the "why?", the "how?" and the "what now?" but also to set up  accountability without the diet (and blog), so that it doesn't all fall apart, without the glue, without the diet, without the season of Lent.  

Random Notes: Started the day at 197 lbs, will finish around 1900 calories. And mom, thanks for the soup broth.