Our Amish January: no TV, booze, sweets, cake or chocolate. Wow.

For the month of January we didn't eat cake, chocolate sweets or biscuits, nor did we drink booze, or watch TV (briefly mentioned in this post). Suckers for punishments? Us? It sounds a little odd, I realise, especially if you know me in 'real' life.

"The History of Fleetwood Mac- Vintage Years", from 1975. Such a good album.

But by jove, we did it!

I broke my addiction to cake and chocolate. I'm not exaggerating; some mornings, I'd wake up thinking about the taste of chocolate in my mouth. It was an addiction begun in the third trimester of pregnancy and lovingly nurtured over the last year in the coffee shops and baby groups of London. It was pretty tough at first but contrary to my initial disbelief, I have managed to change the tiredness=chocolate association, to tiredness= toast, a banana or a cup of redbush.

I didn't drink through pregnancy and don't drink much now due to breastfeeding, so the no booze thing was tougher for my mister but we both proved that we didn't need it to relax in the evening, and that whole weeks could pass without us missing it too much. Our tummies felt surprisingly healthier too.

Our evenings began to pass to the murmur of the record player, rather than the drone of the telly. We'd never just switch it on and channel surf, but we did used to get sucked into watching series after series, which we wanted to wean ourselves from. We rediscovered our records. My mister and I actually talked to each other, instead of slobbing in front of the TV in a sleepy heap.

The telly is going to stay unplugged, tucked behind the sofa too, until we want to watch something, after which we'll return it behind the sofa. The record player enjoyes pride of place instead. I hated the big black plastic box sucking all the light in the corner of the room anyway. We dont want Frankie-Rose to grow up with the TV so if its not plugged in, ceebeebies isn't so easy to give in too. If she or I know no different, then it should be fairly easy to keep it off too.

We plan to drink at the weekends now (very special occasions aside) and I am also going to try to keep cake and chocolate for the weekend too. I've proved to myself that I am actually capable of refusing a biscuit, or stopping after one, something I honestly didn't think was in my make up! (sweet tooth? Moi?)

So, all in all, it's been pretty positive. Way more positive than I thought it would be, in fact. And worth the few "I'm so desperate for chocolate I might scream" moments.

So, in case you are curious about how we did it, or fancy doing something similar...
1) On going cold turkey with the telly: We planned other fun stuff in the evenings, so that we did't miss the TV too much. We played each other our All Time Favourite Songs and made a 'desert island disks' for Frankie Rose. We also used the time to talk about our hopes and plans for the year ahead, read lots, and just talked shit too. We love talking shit. It's often when we learn something new about each other (a novelty after being together for almost 12 years) or end up laughing the most.
2) On not eating all of the cake: We had healthy alternatives in the house. I stocked up on banana chips, almonds, golden sultana's and hazlenut butter for when I was desperate for something sweet, and I made sure I had a banana with me if I was going somewhere where there was likely to be cake.
3) On not drinking all of the booze: My mister drank tonic with lime when he particularly fancied a beer, which he said sufficiently satiated him. We have also treated ourselves a box of particularly nice wine from our Virgin wine bank so that when we do drink, its a bit more special. We now do tasting notes and everything! (Nothing fancy, just "ooh this one was GREAT" or "waaay to rich for me. I feel like I just swallowed a migraine")

So yes. Tough, but worth it. The big question is can we keep it up! I hope so, fingers crossed.

What do you think? Have you done something similar? Are you a no tv household? A weekend treats sort of person? LOr do you baulk at the suggestion?

P.S We've been pissing ourselves this morning watching the Harlem Shake video's, have you seen them?! Theres always a guy in pants! and someone humping the wall! Wednesday morning silliness.