TV, sugar and relationships!

[lucas]

Hello there my simplicity-loving friends!

I haven't posted for a while but it's high time I got back into the swing of forum life. I've got three areas that I want to work on for the rest of this month (and the rest of my life!):



No TV: I got rid of my cable nearly a year ago, but I still get sucked in by the DVD box sets and the like from time to time, so I want to cut that out and concentrate on reading more.
No sugary food: Ah yes, my sweet brown friend Madmoiselle Chocolate manages to seduce this little piggy far too often. Fruit and nuts for this chap instead!
Relationships: This is a more proactive challenge, in that it means doing something instead of refraining from a bad habit. One of the main reasons I'm attracted to simplicity is that it gives me more 'space' to focus on what matters. But there's no point giving things up if I just work all the time, so I want to make more effort to 'reach out', call old friends and arrange to meet up with current ones. So I'm setting myself the target of one 'social action' per day - this could be calling someone, going out for coffee or sending an email to catch up with a distant family member - or indeed anything else that involves stepping out of the 'comfort zone' habit of neglecting the most important things in my life - the people I care about!


Thanks everyone/anyone who's reading this. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Hugs,
Lucas

[redfox]

My DH & I have a small dessert treat in the evenings while we watch Bones together, streaming via Netflix. This week it's been an incredible apple/cranberry/walnut crisp I made... so when I saw your three categories, this is what I thought of!

[awakenedsoul]

Hi lucas,
I gave up television several months ago. I find I am reading a lot more library books again. It also saves me quite a bit of money. I've been getting more knitting, meding, and darning done, as well. As far as sugar, that's something that I enjoy in moderation. I take cream and sugar in my coffee, and I enjoy a few cookies for dessert after lunch. My orchard is starting to produce really well. I find now that I'm eating more fresh fruit these days than sweet desserts.
As far as making time for relationships, I think that's a great idea. I stop and chat with a few of my neighbors in the morning while I'm out out walking my dogs. I've upped my minutes on my Jitterbug phone so that I have time to chat with people again. One thing I miss about working is that I always had great friends to meet for coffee before we went in to do the show. I've joined a knitting group, and that's helped.

[lucas]

Hi there folks!

Thanks so much for your responses... putting more effort into my relationships is an important one for me... I've come to realise how easy it is to always 'leave it to tomorrow' to make that call or whatever, and suddenly a year has passed since I last spoke to someone... I'm glad to back here in the forum too - the SLF is like a warm and friendly oasis in cyberspace!

Hugs,
Lucas

[lucas]

apple and cranberry and walnut crisp... mmmmmmmmm... :~) stop!!

[Florence]

Glad you are back! About #2 on your list, I have found that eating sweets simply made me want more sugar. But when I cut sugar out, I really didn't miss it and substituting fresh fruit was just fine.

[Dhiana]

Welcome back lucas,

Dark chocolate is considered a superfood! The good dark chocolate has a lot less sugar, is a lot more expensive than regular Hershey's type chocolate and just a small piece with your evening snacks of other fruits and nuts will still give you the yummy chocolate crave without the bad sugar :)

[lucas]

hello there friends,

thanks guys for your messages and welcomes>8)... yup, suger is definitely more of a vice than the other two things I'm working on... I've done jsut fine on day one of this new challenge in the TV and relationships department, but it looks like I'll be postponing quitting sugary food til tomorrow (oops!)... Maybe I'll try a bit of super-dark chocolate to wean myself off... I've gone off sugar before and found, just like you Florence, that once it's out of my system I don't even want it anymore... then someone puts a cake in front of me and I'm off to the races! Bad sugar!
Hugs,
Lucas

[Rosemary]

I have the same problem with sugar... I can be off it for months, but then one cookie can set off overindulgence and cravings for a week again. Ugh.