Lent

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  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    edited February 2019
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    gogetemrogue wrote: »
    SisterSueGetsFit wrote: »
    Alcohol?

    You are supposed to already give up alcohol, except for communion wine. Sex too. But one's level of orthodoxy may vary.

    Orthodox may be, that's not a Catholic practice. (Looks like the sex thing is debated within Orthodoxy!)

    A good friend of mine is Greek Orthodox so I knew about the food/drink rules, which are much stricter than anything Catholics currently do by requirement, but didn't know the sex bit.

    though i've heard many roman catholics say that lenten fridays are for fasting of all sorts (i'm rc in philosophy, lazy on sundays in practice)
  • DanielleFayeS
    DanielleFayeS Posts: 1,968 Member
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    I often do a caffeine detox for Lent.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,898 Member
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    smolmaus wrote: »
    I was raised Catholic, now atheist (and quite anti-Catholic-Church tbh) but I am considering doing something for Lent this year when I don't usually. I don't like the idea of Lent as penance or as some test of willpower but I do like the idea of using it for some conscious self improvement.

    Practicing gratitude? Donating £10-15 to a chosen charity each week? I'm already trying to limit my drinking for other reasons so the long-established Wine Fund could go to better use that way.

    I was also raised Catholic, am now Unitarian, and also like the idea of Lent for conscious self improvement.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,898 Member
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    I'm going to apply the following to my yoga practice:
    http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
    http://www.wisdomination.com/practical-discipline/

    Note: language is a little salty.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 980 Member
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    I've often given up meat and always give up chocolate and crisps. I rarely drink alcohol anyway. This year it's going to be chocolate, crisps, cakes and any other sweet 'treats' that are regularly on offer at work, which is going to be really tough. I may also cut out the "sausage and bacon in a soft white roll" from the deli, as that has become my standard breakfast when I'm on an early shift; every other day I have home-made muesli and blueberries. I like some of the suggestions here about (also) adding something to benefit either myself or others.
  • vanityy99
    vanityy99 Posts: 2,583 Member
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    Lazy_Bones_1985 wrote: »
    Thanks for the ideas. I’m not a religious or spiritual person but enjoy the challenge, if you will, of giving something up during Lent. But I really like the ideas of adding something to my routine that will be a challenge. I also like the idea of limiting my time on Facebook (I trade and swap my workshifts in a work group on Facebook so giving it up entirely wouldn’t be possible) but I could limit my time on it. I’ll think about it some more; please keep the ideas coming.
    smolmaus wrote: »
    I was raised Catholic, now atheist (and quite anti-Catholic-Church tbh) but I am considering doing something for Lent this year when I don't usually. I don't like the idea of Lent as penance or as some test of willpower but I do like the idea of using it for some conscious self improvement.

    Practicing gratitude? Donating £10-15 to a chosen charity each week? I'm already trying to limit my drinking for other reasons so the long-established Wine Fund could go to better use that way.

    Curious as to why you choose Lent season to do this challenge rather than any other day? Is it more motivating when other people are doing it?
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    vanityy99 wrote: »
    Lazy_Bones_1985 wrote: »
    Thanks for the ideas. I’m not a religious or spiritual person but enjoy the challenge, if you will, of giving something up during Lent. But I really like the ideas of adding something to my routine that will be a challenge. I also like the idea of limiting my time on Facebook (I trade and swap my workshifts in a work group on Facebook so giving it up entirely wouldn’t be possible) but I could limit my time on it. I’ll think about it some more; please keep the ideas coming.
    smolmaus wrote: »
    I was raised Catholic, now atheist (and quite anti-Catholic-Church tbh) but I am considering doing something for Lent this year when I don't usually. I don't like the idea of Lent as penance or as some test of willpower but I do like the idea of using it for some conscious self improvement.

    Practicing gratitude? Donating £10-15 to a chosen charity each week? I'm already trying to limit my drinking for other reasons so the long-established Wine Fund could go to better use that way.

    Curious as to why you choose Lent season to do this challenge rather than any other day? Is it more motivating when other people are doing it?

    There's the tradition behind Lent that appeals to people. Also, it's always at the end of winter, which is a strategic time to start anew. I usually give up deserts except on Sundays, and no meat on Ash Wednesday, or fridays during Lent. I may also try to do at least one nice thing everyday, such as letting someone go ahead of me in line at the supermarket, or complimenting someone, a kind word to a person that looks like they could use a boost,.... There are lots of creative ideas.
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,900 Member
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    vanityy99 wrote: »
    Lazy_Bones_1985 wrote: »
    Thanks for the ideas. I’m not a religious or spiritual person but enjoy the challenge, if you will, of giving something up during Lent. But I really like the ideas of adding something to my routine that will be a challenge. I also like the idea of limiting my time on Facebook (I trade and swap my workshifts in a work group on Facebook so giving it up entirely wouldn’t be possible) but I could limit my time on it. I’ll think about it some more; please keep the ideas coming.
    smolmaus wrote: »
    I was raised Catholic, now atheist (and quite anti-Catholic-Church tbh) but I am considering doing something for Lent this year when I don't usually. I don't like the idea of Lent as penance or as some test of willpower but I do like the idea of using it for some conscious self improvement.

    Practicing gratitude? Donating £10-15 to a chosen charity each week? I'm already trying to limit my drinking for other reasons so the long-established Wine Fund could go to better use that way.

    Curious as to why you choose Lent season to do this challenge rather than any other day? Is it more motivating when other people are doing it?

    I was raised catholic...grew into anti catholicism...then now find comfort in the catholic traditions. I will give up alcohol for lent.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    A woman in my spiritual study group gave up credit cards for lent one year. She said it was an eye opener. Some transactions were hassle enough that she decided to do without. In the end she became much more mindful about purchasing overall.

    I like the practice of preparing for reconciliation/confession. It’s a sacrament in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition, too. The basic idea is to dedicate time to introspection to identify the thoughts/behaviors/patterns that hold you back from being a better version of yourself. In the rite, you lay those out and ask God’s help to change. There’s a beautiful Yom Kippur prayer that gets to the same essence. It’s not unlike a 12 step program “fearless and searching inventory” in steps 4-7. Point being, many spiritual traditions embrace taking stock of course corrections that would be life enhancing.

    The society of Saint John the Evangelist ssje.org has fantastic free Lenten resources. Very thought provoking.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
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    Well I've decided on my Lenten 2019 choices. After listening to last Sunday's homily at Mass, I'm going to choose abstinence and fasting as practiced by the early Christians. Abstinence meaning eating no meat during Lent and fasting meaning that I'll only eat one meal a day when the sun sets. So, this means my fasting will be OMAD style. I'll give myself a 2-hour feeding window.

    Since I don't need to lose any weight, thanks to 173 days of hard work and recently meeting my weight goal, by practicing intermittent fasting, this will be a challenge. Just finished viewing a YouTube video on OMAD that talked about how to eat smart and I'm sure I'll be able to do OMAD fasting while not loosing too much additional weight.

    Thanks to the OP for this topic discussion.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4rGTQKKqLA
  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 825 Member
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    I gave up chocolate one year. Not pretty at all
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,842 Member
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    Dairy. I love cheese so much :( Last year I gave up facebook, which was difficult but has had long lasting benefits (I rarely go on it anymore). This year? Haven't totally decided yet, but probably sweets. There are always treats at work so it would be a good one to do.
  • namelesshere
    namelesshere Posts: 334 Member
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    Instead of giving up something, you can add something. Or, if you want to give up something, give up all the still good junk food to the local food shelf. Make sure the date has at least 6 months on it so you are not creating a problem for the organization that would need to throw out your outdated food. WIN WIN. Out of your house and someone gets to enjoy.
  • atgnat1
    atgnat1 Posts: 29 Member
    edited February 2019
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    pierinifitness wrote: »
    Since I don't need to lose any weight, thanks to 173 days of hard work and recently meeting my weight goal, by practicing intermittent fasting, this will be a challenge. Just finished viewing a YouTube video on OMAD that talked about how to eat smart and I'm sure I'll be able to do OMAD fasting while not loosing too much additional weight.

    Much respect for this, but OMAD and vegetarian will not be easy. Heck, I do OMAD completely unintentionally at times depending on my work schedule, and just yesterday by the time I got home I was so hungry I downed an entire rotisserie chicken and two grilled zucchini right at the kitchen counter and was shocked when, uncomfortably full, I realized later I hadn't even hit 1200 calories that day.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
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    atgnat1 wrote: »
    pierinifitness wrote: »
    Since I don't need to lose any weight, thanks to 173 days of hard work and recently meeting my weight goal, by practicing intermittent fasting, this will be a challenge. Just finished viewing a YouTube video on OMAD that talked about how to eat smart and I'm sure I'll be able to do OMAD fasting while not loosing too much additional weight.

    Much respect for this, but OMAD and vegetarian will not be easy. Heck, I do OMAD completely unintentionally at times depending on my work schedule, and just yesterday I was so hungry I downed an entire rotisserie chicken and two grilled zucchini right at the kitchen counter and was shocked when, uncomfortably full, I realized later I hadn't even hit 1200 calories that day.

    It will be a challenge but I’m currently a disciplined and seasoned IF practitioner with an average feeding window of 5 hours or less. I did something similar in 2009 but didn’t abstain from meat.

    The challenge will be to get my calories in during a 2-hour feeding window. I’m committed to the Lenten sacrifice and always up for real challenges. Again, I now don’t need to lose any significant weight so that adds to the challenge.

    Appreciate your comments, wish me well - it begins March 6th.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    If you want to do traditional/early church practices, it's more than vegetarian, more like what the Orthodox still do with no animal products at all. I might do that this year, but I can't the first week, so trying to decide.

    Interesting about eating after dark, that's like Ramadan.

    I struggle with the idea of doing anything food related, since I don't like to mix up anything that feels like weight management and spirituality. The no meat/no animal products is something I've always done off and on and not for weight management, so that's something of an exception for me, but everyone varies.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited February 2019
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    Last year I gave up social media. I think this year I am giving up reading my iPad during breakfast instead of talking to my family.

    For me personally, the goal during Lent is learning that you can do without things so you appreciate them more, and can make a meaningful choice about what to spend your limited time and resources on.

    I also may use this as an excuse to eat more fish, which I haven't been doing as much as I want to, since the market with the good fish is a long way from my house.

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