Perpetual Fasts and Non-desserts

 
My lovely girlfriend introduced me to the idea of a “perpetual fast” whereby one fasts from something for a particular prayer intention.
 
So for example, I am hoping and praying our Lord will start perpetual adoration at St. Louis parish in Austin when our new chapel is completed (currently about 7 months away), so I decided to fast from desserts on all days but Sundays (which, as my girlfriend reminded me, is our Lord’s resurrection celebration and therefore not appropriate for fasting).
 
Thus, I am fasting from desserts until God brings perpetual adoration to our parish in 7 months. That is really cool in and of itself, and I recommend this good practice for whatever dream or hope you have that has not yet been fulfilled, but, being someone who loves desserts in a way that borders on inordinate, it has at times been a tough fast for me.
 
I have had to decide just what foods are and are not desserts, and I have come up with several sweet things to eat which I have deemed are not desserts but which certainly are borderline.
 
Here they are in order from least to most dessert-like:
1. Prunes
2. Peanut butter and jelly
3. Almond biscotti (in dried bread form intended for consumption with coffee)
4. Gingerbread from Souper Salads (this was a Kress-dispensation as it sure looked like cake to me, but Jeff assured me that his wife Sharon had made the definitive determination (probably at some Lent in the past when she took on a similar fast) that, indeed, and contrary to popular opinion, this gingerbread cake was not a dessert.)
 
Additionally, my girlfriend and I are offering up perpetual fasts for each other, that our Lord will protect us and our courtship from Satan and his demons, and that He will graciously lead us in His perfect will. I heartily recommend you try this noble practice out with your boyfriend or girlfriend or fiancee, and ultimately this sacrifice would be realized in a glorified way in marriage by fasting for your beloved spouse.