As y’all know, I don’t have the greatest track record for sticking with those ubiquitous 30-day blog challenges — I tend to get distracted and fall off the wagon or just start making up my own rules. This might be connected to why I am such a believer in the whole Never Say Diet ethos. Basically, any time you deny me anything, I get cranky and want it more, more, more because you are not the boss of me! Even when “you” is really “me,” because I’m the one who decided to follow some abstract set of rules in the first place.

Which is why I have been so full of admiration for Autumn and Kjerstin, embarking on their no-mirror experiments and sticking them out like champs. But when my iVillage editor asked if I wanted to try it for say, a week, I broke into a cold sweat. We compromised on a weekend. And I’ve got to say, 72 hours was just enough time for me.

Check out how it all went down over here, though really, I encourage you to explore the archives of The Beheld and Mirror Mirror OFF The Wall, because those ladies have devoted thousands of words to analyzing our relationship with mirrors from every (no matter how unflattering!) angle, whereas I’m giving you a pithy 500-is-the-max-word-count.

Still, for what it’s worth: I learned that giving up mirrors can be rather awesome and freeing, so long as you can still safely navigate traffic. And yet getting mirrors back can make you like your body even more. Go figure.