If you use Facebook (and maybe even if you don’t), you have probably seen this picture floating on your news feed:

I have very strong opinions on Daylight Nuisance Savings Time. And I thought I’d share them.

First of all, it doesn’t save time at all. There are still 24 hours in a day. And on days like today, it actually steals an hour! Granted, it gives it back in the fall, but by that time, I’ve forgotten how annoying it was to have it taken in the first place. It’s like someone stealing the $20 bucks I planned to buy lunch with, only to bring it back a month later. By that time, I have long gotten over the loss, you know!

Where did DST originate? Well, since I don’t have time to research that (and since I’m sure you’ve already read something on that topic within the last few years), let’s just say that what I remember being told is that farmers needed more daylight at the end of the day to get their work done. But that makes no sense. I mean, farm equipment has lights, just like cars do. Why not just start an hour earlier in the morning? Or are those poor farmers supposed to skip an hour of sleep every night in the summer?

Not all states and countries have DST. Arizona doesn’t. I have a friend who dreams of moving there. Her health is very unstable and requires adherence to a very strict schedule. The time change messes with that. Although she changes the times on her schedule to adjust as though there were no DST, it makes activities like going to church difficult. Mexico has DST, but it starts later and ends earlier–as we discovered once when trying to attend a function at a church across the border. It seems that it used to start later and end earlier in the US, too, but someone keeps pushing the dates back to make it longer.

Growing up, we called DST “Man’s time” and the regular time “God’s time.” I still think of it that way.

I figure, what’s the point of changing it at all? Just pick a time and stick to it. The changing back and forth every year is annoying.

Thankfully for me, we worship on Saturday, so we don’t have to be anywhere Sunday morning. That makes it easier to adjust–we don’t need to lose the hour of sleep. Unless, of course, we stay up an hour later the night before!

So those are my thoughts. What do you think about Daylight Savings Time? Do you like it? Dislike it? Why? Please share!

Here’s how these are going to work. I’m going to report tell how the previous week went and how I met that week’s goals. Then I’ll share my latest weigh-in and post the next week’s goals.

So here’s how my week went:

Sunday: I think I kind of got off to a bad start. I went out to eat at a Thai buffet and ate too much. Got my first dessert in, also, a delicious coconut milk creation with bits of something yummy in it. Didn’t really exercise either.

Monday: I must have really eaten too much yesterday! I wasn’t hungry until almost 9:00 this morning. Usually breakfast is at 8:00. So I didn’t eat until I was hungry. For lunch I hauled out some pizza crust that I had frozen like over half a year ago… it was whole wheat, but made like pie crust, so probably had too much fat in it. I think I ate too much, but I was trying to use it up. It sure was good, though! I got my exercises in late in the day, but I got them in!

Tuesday: Something I have learned is that I must have at least one meal that has a good strong protein source. For me, this could be a soy souffle with a whole grain (quinoa, millet, buckwheat, for example) for breakfast, or split pea & barley soup for lunch. At least, I need to do that if I am going to only eat two meals a day. Otherwise by suppertime, I’ve got this craving for something, and then I end up eating too much.

That’s what happened today. Breakfast was sweet potatoes and tofu, which on the surface sounds filling, and it was, but the sweet potatoes digest too quickly, and the tofu isn’t as great a protein source as, say, eggs would be. It’s very simple and digests quickly. Fine. But not when lunch is pasta. I ate a handful of walnuts with lunch to try to add in some extra protein, since, thanks to not-buying-so-we-don’t-have-to-take-it-with-us, we have no veggie meats or TVP or anything like that to add to a pasta meal–and beans don’t generally go so well with spaghetti!

So by supper time, I was starving. And ate. Too much. Nuff said. Oh, and it rained so I couldn’t get out for a walk. Bummer.

Wednesday: I got up late this morning (because hubby slept at the new house and the kids slept in too!), so I had a bit of a later-than-normal breakfast. Since it was so late, and since the soymilk in the fridge was 6 days old, I had cold cereal (mostly home-made granola) with juice on it. I haven’t done that in years. I added some nuts to increase the protein and fat content, but it wasn’t that filling of a breakfast! So learning my lesson from the day before, I made a pot of lentils, curry flavored, and served them over steamed brown rice. And I ate heartily. No need for supper today!

Oh, and I did get my exercises in today. Sure, only one set, not two, but it was late, so at least I did it.

Thursday: I definitely got my exercises yesterday! Cleaning the house and hauling heavy appliances made me sore by the next morning, so yes I made it. Read more about that day here. I got my second dessert in today, some coconut custard concoction the lady who made lunch for us cooked up. It was good, but I already have an idea of how to make a vegan version that will taste even better (and actually be healthy enough to eat for breakfast), so watch for that in the near future.

Friday: I’m just too tired and sore today to do anything! At least I only got two meals today.

Saturday: Today I had a teeny bit for supper (what my daughter didn’t eat of her supper), but I’m glad I did, because I stayed up late packing, and would have probably eaten more later if I hadn’t had a bit for supper. Didn’t get any real exercise in, per se, but I did pack a bunch.

Sunday morning weigh-in: Well, no matter how I figured it, I couldn’t get the scales to say less than 141. Which means I lost nothing this week. But actually I think I went up because of Sunday, so I did lose, just you can’t tell. I’m going to have to do better than that if I’m going to make my goals!

I probably won’t be able to post anything next Sunday, because I’m going to be at camp meeting. So I’m doing a 2-week goal. I want to lose 3 pounds in the next two weeks. We’re going to be at the new house, and I’m going to be walking up and down the hill or up and down the stairs for 20-30 minutes every day (depending on whether it’s raining or not), so that ought to do something! Plus I don’t have a car anymore, so I won’t be able to go eat out, which will keep me from overeating.

Please let me know if you’re joining in the challenge, share your plans and goals, and we’ll encourage each other! See you back in two weeks or less!