Challenge updates

I'm currently doing two Challenges - A Year on Tap Water, and a Month on Fair Trade Chocolate.

Here are my updates.

The Water Challenge

My first month of a Year On Tap Water is done, and yes, I've weakened. I haven't drunk anything but tap water, but I have been adding freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice to it, to make it more palateable.

I thought I could do this, but two weeks in, and I was going crazy! So I weakened the Challenge. I guess I figured that as long as I am hand-squeezing the lemon or orange to go in the water, there's no problem. It's much the same as eating a piece of fruit, so that's what I'm doing. Most of the time, though, I am drinking straight tap water still.

The amount of juice I've added has never worked out to more than about a tablespoonful per glass. So it's very weak, but it has been enough to keep me sane!

At the pub, I ask the staff to add a slice of lemon or lime for the same reason.

Also, during my illness, my husband made me two cupfuls of honey and lemon drink, made with fresh lemon juice and a teaspoon of honey, to sooth my throat. This was for medicinal reasons, and I think it is probably okay on the Challenge. It certainly wasn't for the taste of it, as I couldn't taste anything at that stage anyway!

Apart from the added occasional hand-squeezed juice, I haven't weakened, or drunk anything other than tap water. Still no teas, soft drinks, alcohol, or bottled anything, and I haven't had any juices.

Yes, I'm finding this Challenge very, very hard. You can all judge whether I'm passing this Challenge or not, with my weakness of adding a squeeze of citrus, but that's what I'm doing. I'd rather be honest with you and tell the truth, than lie and pretend that I'm cruising along on this Challenge.

One thing I will be honest about - going a Year Without Chocolate (which I did from August 2008 to August 2009) was an absolute doddle compared to this!

I'm going to keep on this Challenge, but I think I'll have to keep doing the whole adding-a-bit-of-citrus thing, or I won't make it. Wish me luck.

So - how is everyone else on this Challenge going? Should I feel ashamed? Or am I doing okay?

A Month On Fair Trade Chocolate



I went a Year Without Chocolate last year, so by comparison, to be able to eat chocolate at all is pretty great!

However, it's the potential slip-ups you have to watch. For example, I can't eat chocolate cake, because I don't know where the chocolate is coming from. I can't have chocolate flavoured stuff, for the same reason.

Then there's my Very Mean husband, who saw fit to buy a big box of chocolate liqueur cherries, and plonk them down on the kitchen counter in full view of me. No, they're not Fair Trade, and no, I can't eat them. So of course I weakened last night and scoffed four of them. Darn!

It's probably all made harder by the fact that I'm now on a ridiculously healthy diet, probably for the rest of my life. If you want to read and follow what I'm doing to overhaul my eating habits, I'm blogging about it here at Daharja Eats To Live.

So I'm not doing as well on this Challenge as I would have liked. Maybe I'm learning that it is easier to go without completely than to have a little.

In the meanwhile, in my spare time I am writing letters to major chocolate manufacturers to request that they go 100% Fair Trade. The pressure is on, and I see a day in the not-too-distant future when all chocolate of any sort of quality is Fair Trade. It can't be soon enough for ethical consumers around the world.

Thanks again to Dixiebelle for creating this Challenge. It's a great one, and not as easy as I thought it would be.


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