Seven: The April Edition

I'm not even going to talk about how late this blog post is. Nope. We're just moving on.

April was "Food Month" for Seven, which was ridiculously hard and consisted mostly of me complaining to my roommate before justifying a cheating episode.

[[Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it was close.]]

My roommate, Deborah, deserves an actual Nobel Prize for dealing with me and doing this crazy challenge with me. Only eating seven different foods meant we had to carefully plan our grocery list and pray for the best. It also meant that Deborah had to do a lot of cooking because (1) I couldn't eat freezer meals anymore and (2) I am irreparably hopeless in the kitchen. So. Bless her sweet soul. Here is a photo of us together on the last day of March, celebrating ice cream and sweets since we were about to give them up. 

I love her

Now, the moment of truth. Because of health things and nutrition concerns, Deborah and I made a few exceptions/allowances with Seven: Food Month. Our diet consisted of the following:

• Whole Grain items [[granola, bread, pasta, anything whole grain]]
• Chicken
• 2 Fruits: Bananas & Strawberries
• 3 Vegetables: Green Beans, Peppers, & Spinach
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Yogurt [[I should add - shamefully - that mid-way through the month I became inconsolable without ice cream and started allowing sugar-free vanilla frozen yogurt as part of the yogurt category. I'm not proud, but it happened.]]

**Butter and spices [[but not typically sauces]] were generally acceptable in any and all meals.

**This is a personal thing, but for my Seven practices, I allowed cheating in circumstances under which I (a) would be a nuisance if I tried to ask for dietary accommodations or (b) was asked by someone else to do something that involved furthering/building a relationship. Because I don't believe isolation is the point of Seven. So when people asked me to go out for coffee, I wholeheartedly said yes with exactly 0 guilt.

Deborah and I became masters at making eggs on whole-grain english muffins for breakfast every morning. Other drugs of choice included yogurt with bananas and strawberries and these divine whole-grain pretzel bites my mom found for me at Trader Joe's.

Also I am not such a heathen that I let Easter go by without celebrating with delicious food. Jesus is alive. I am under a new covenant that does not restrict my diet.

Speaking of Easter, I celebrated with these folks. They're my favorites.

That about sums up Food Month. It wasn't my best month. But I have to admit, I felt healthier. So I guess that's something. It's kind of mind-blowing, honestly, how much food we have access to. I have this tendency to snack without thinking about it, but this month pretty much curbed that.

April. It's been real. But I am so happy to have peanut butter back. <3

Also, to celebrate the end of Food Month/approaching end of the school year, I adventured in The Fort with a few of my friends. [[Isn't it strange how such a small, familiar place can still be so fun?]]

Deborah & Jess have been on the Seven Journey with me, and Jenna has just begun to read it and get involved in it. These college friends of mine. I am so, so honored that they've chosen me.

Confession: When Jess turned onto Pontiac Street to get to the restaurant, I was a little bit unnerved - but I'm learning that humans have a tendency to create more fear than is actually necessary. So this was good for me.

Thai Tea. I had never heard of this before, but it was basically tea with a lot of sugar and sweetened condensed milk. Naturally I loved it. Anything with sugar. Sign me right up.

Chicken Pad Siew. And it came with a side of chicken broth. Seriously, folks, if you're ever on the corner of Calhoun and Pontiac, it's Divine Intervention, and you need this food.

We also made a small pit stop at Fortezza, which is my current favorite coffee shop. Those vanilla lattes tho.

And finally, Yummi Bunni. We all shared one bun, though, because we're not complete gluttons, thanks.

AND NOW IT IS MAY. Clothes Month. Come back tomorrow [[I promise]] to hear a little bit about this month's challenge.

As always, I have zero words to express how thankful I am for you if you've read all the way through this and continue to walk this journey with me. If you want to hear more, ask! I'd love to chat with you. [[Words are my very favorite.]]