Lent

I'm very pleased to hear it.

I’m beginning to feel much better as of this morning. 
a few more days and I’m sure I will be good  to go. 
thank you for asking #. 

I had posted a response to you here last week, but the phantom bots seem to have cleared it away.

How are you doing now Bod Neil?

It has been said to me that I drink too much coffee and I sometimes have coke (despite hating the fizz) - I’m not a big drinker, usually only Budweiser or similar as I can’t really drink wine or Prosecco (hate the taste) - I had my first drink in a gay venue when I first came out over 30 years ago, but after I stopped going to gay bars over 15 years ago, I really cut back on the drink (drunken Irishman I know lol) - thing is, I was a Pioneer before I had my first drink so broke my Plege from Confirmation and lost my Pioneer Pin - Irish people in my experience drink far less than English people here in the U.K. from what I’ve seen in my 20 years in Manchester, but the students drinking habits never change - once, I was on the 08.05 sailing (Irish Ferries Ulysses) out of Dublin with a group of English students and by the time the ferry arrived in Holyhead at Noon they were “tanked up” 

Prayer is so, so important for those of us with our condition, even if we are not religious to start with - as St Mary Euphrasia, foundress of the Good Shepherd Sisters once said in 1868 “bend down deeply into the priceless waters of (unceasing and fervent) prayer” - an excellent spiritual practice is to pray a Decade of the Rosary every day, as Our Lady of Fatima had requested in 1917 - as I’ve got older, I’ve found more ways to deepen my interior and spiritual life, having returned to my faith over 15 years ago and especially during Covid, I’ve taught myself to pray the Rosary in Latin  - the Rosary is a very flexible and adaptable form of prayer, with or without being part of a Novena 

I recall hearing stories from my grandparents before they passed in the 1980’s about the pre-Vatican II period (before 1962) when they had very strict Lenten practices as laid down by the Irish Catholic Bishops at the time, including a “hard fast” on Fridays during Lent and also, there was a huge list of foods that Catholics were not allowed at all to eat during Lent - I briefly went to a Convent school in my Primary years and we saw how the Nuns still carried this out in our school 

Not really, to be honest.  The last few days I rather flopped off the anti-sugar riff.  I think demolishing three quarters of a big trifle probably counts as a lapse !

Sorry it didn't work out for you this time.  Get some fizzy zinc and vit C and multi-vits down yourself mate.  Build yourself up a little - flush with good stuff as much as possible.  Hope you don't feel too pants and recover from the pneumonia soon.

~Thanks for the update - I'll be tuning out for a bit~ Will be back.

I have an update, I said I would let you all know what was happening? 
I fell ill over the weekend, I’m not sure if the illness was aided by the dietary changes I had made for lent. 
anyway I have contracted pneumonia, the doctor said it has s community contracted, I don’t really know what that means. I’m assume that means  caught it from somebody? I did got to a gig last Thursday, it was sold out so extremely busy. 

I have given up eating just rice on their advice, I’m also taking prescription steroids and heavy duty antibiotics. 
I hope you are having better success with your lent give ups. 

No, but then I'm not religious so I guess I wouldn't anyway. God luck with yours tho if you are.

Get some wild rice and brown rice perhaps....and one orange per day for the fibre and vitamin c.  One orange delivers you the same dietary fibre as 600 grams of rice.

Glad you are OK and being adaptive.  Keep in touch.

Yes thank you, #. 
the rice is okay, although I may have to take some fibre into my diet. You were correct, 40 days is going to be a long time.

Hi Bodhisattva, how are you doing?  I have found myself thinking of your quest today.  Everything hunky dory?

Groovy.  Hardcore.  Will be interested to know how you feel after 3 weeks.  Good luck - I'm rooting for you.

Im thinking just boiled rice, 

surely 40 days should be okay,  I will be drinking earl grey tea. 

Are you intending to have supplements for your vitamins and minerals.....or are you literally only going to be eating boiled rice?

Unknown said:

I'll be interested to know how it works out for you so please keep us updated.

Will do, it’s going okay so far, early days though. Good luck with the sugar reduction.

Hello Number, so nice to meet you. 

Thank you for the well wishes. I'm hoping I'll be successful but if not, I'm not going to be too upset, like you said it could be a lot worse than it is. I don't feel any truly bad health effects other than causing gas and sore stomach. 

See you around!

I’m going to commit myself to pray a decade of the Rosary daily to Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid to help save my native Ireland 

I knew someone who was hospitalised for drinking too much coffee and she nearly died, I think she said it made her heart go too fast or something. I think she had more coffee than you, or stronger than instant, but be careful. I say this as I am sure you understand from a position of caring not of trying to tell you what to do with your own body.

If that's brown rice you might be OK, but if it is white rice you will need supplements at least. I think giving up veg is a very bad idea, a balanced nutritious diet is an important part of maintaining physical and mental health.