Lindsay

This challenge has changed my life.

A few nights ago Lindsay and I were discussing some of the things we've learned about ourselves since we started this. It was essentially a reflection at the half-way point. We both went into this challenge unsure of exactly what we'd get out of it. Part of me thought it might just last the hundred days and that'd be it. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Lindsay admitted to me that, at the start of the challenge, she was afraid of not being able to find the willpower to last as long as we have. She was afraid that somewhere along the line she'd cheat. Sneak something, find a loophole somewhere. Even with the natural pressure that people put on you (the same things I described in my first blog entry) to try things and the occasional "Ah, one won't hurt the challenge", she hasn't. For that I'm very proud of her. We've both discovered self-control that we didn't know we had. I'm hoping (and I do believe) that we can take this further than the hundred days.

When Linds and I started dating, she was among the pickiest eaters I'd ever met (even she will attest to this!). If it wasn't made of chicken or some form of noodle, she wasn't having it. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that intense, but you get the idea. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I'm the exact opposite. I'll eat anything at least once. I like to cook, so I do most of the cooking for us (hey don't get me wrong here, I love missing out on the whole dishes thing).

Our differences in taste were... er, stressful... to say the least, but compromises were made and we worked it out. While we were talking, Lindsay admitted to me something that she was doing, without knowing, that I think proves with impermeable certainty that something as simple as a 100-day challenge really can change you: When we started dating, we ate out A LOT. We worked and carpooled together so it was always the easiest thing to do. When I first moved into my place, she stayed with me quite a bit, so we actually ate out probably more than 80% of the time. This continued up until September first. Lindsay told me that because she was a picky eater, she'd always want to eat out because she was afraid of my cooking. Perhaps I shouldn't said "afraid" (come on now, I'm a magnificent chef), but more worried. Apprehensive. She said she was worried about not liking something that I'd cook and so eating out was her scapegoat. If we'd eat out, she wouldn't have to deal with that huge unknown of eating something she'd never tried. Because of the limitations we've placed on ourselves with this challenge, I've started cooking for her a lot more, which in turn has her liking my cooking. Now, we can deduce one of two possible conclusions from this: Either my cooking actually is cataclysmic and neither of us have tasted really really awesome food is so long that we've forgotten the taste, or my cooking isn't too bad and necessity really is the mother of invention. I'm leaning towards the latter of the two. Either way it takes a lot for someone to admit that theyre wrong or that they've made a mistake and I admire Lindsay for that. That's a huge win for her. Well done indeed.

Just as sort of a footnote to that: I've been trying, with zero success, for the past year to get Lindsay to try sushi for the first time. Finally, on October 14th, she said that within the next year she'd give it a try. That means that she has until October 14th, 2012 to try sushi. I think I'm going to add another count-down to the top of this blog. Yes I will.

In an attempt to tackle some of the side-stipulations of the challenge, we've tried to add in the "no food after 8 o'clock" rule to help stave off some of the loop-holes we've run into. By loop-holes I mean stuff like eating things that we probably should have included in the contract, but simply overlooked. Things like Munchies Coated Peanuts (these). Perhaps it's more of a portion control stipulation in these case but I just cannot keep my hands off of them. It's like they're laced with friggin' crack. Or other various, highly-addictive, illicit substances. We've had zero success with this one. It sort of sucks, but I think it's something we'll hopefully still work at. Our portion control is also getting out of hand. Could use a bit of a revamp there too but it's nothing we can't handle.

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I'd started a picture a day of myself and that I was going to post them at the end. Well, I've changed my mind and I think I'll have my web-developer friend give me a hand with some sort of dynamic picture setup somewhere on the blog. Maybe that'll give me some incentive to actually take them off the camera. We'll see though.

I'm 62 days smoke-free.



Oh, if anyone's interested, I took off the member requirement to post comments. Now anyone can post comments on any blog entry if they want to.