So it's technically past a week... by a few hours.  But here's my response to the challenge:

  Something that made me pause. This Shabbos, there was a farbrengen (a gathering of souls).  One of the things said there struck me.  Within Judaism, there does exist the concept of asceticism, of self-abnegation.  There is that which is inherently holy (required), that which is inherently unholy (prohibited), and then there is that which is inherently neither.  These last are things like the internet, that are permitted, and one can choose to use them for either holy or unholy purposes. 

 There is a certain, optional, high level of service in Judaism in which people deny themselves (or greatly reduce the amount of use of) that which is permitted.  In some yeshivas (Jewish learning schools), it is in vogue to practice this.  For instance, to not use condiments on food, such that the sole purpose of the food is its nutrition, and not its taste.

However, one of the people at the farbrengen said in the name of one of his teachers (note that I'm paraphrasing) , that while not putting condiments on your food is fine and all, the real self-abnegation is going to bed on time so you can be well-rested for classes.