not gonna drop it. a.k.a. -- lent will make you vegan

I'm not done obsessing over lent. Sorry.

I lifted this quote from Wikipedia: "Fasting during Lent was more severe in ancient times than it is today. Meat, fish, eggs and milk products were strictly forbidden, and only one meal was taken each day."

Interesting.

So, having pondered all this research and considered my options, I've devised a plan for my own, first, secular observation of lent. Here it goes (**watch for the major caveat at the end**):

1.) I'm going vegan. I did it for a year and I liked it. Forty days should be a snap.

2.) No sex. (Seriously, watch for the caveat...)

3.) No alcohol. Yep, that's right. No alcohol.

4.) Less caffeine (weaning towards none -- but quitting cold turkey would kill me. KILL ME.)

5.) Less abusive, overuse of resources, specifically, less driving my car. More bicycle, more walking, more bus.

6.) Daily meditation. (The prayer part of the 40 days of "fasting and praying"...)

Ok, are you ready for the caveat? Number one and two don't go full-swing until SK leaves for Australia mid-March. Sorry, but she's just an innocent bystander. I can't let her be harmed by my weird little experiment. And, once she's in Australia, number 2 will suddenly be much, much easier to observe. Practically a given.

So, is this a diet? Is it an over-all health plan? Is that what lent is all about? One Christian website I visited said, in big letters, "LENT IS NOT A DIET PLAN." Funny. Ok, sure, not a diet plan. But I bet I'll lose some weight. What do you think...?