What/will you give up for lent?

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  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
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    Working on giving up certain negative words I use. I have a dozen or so that I will consciously try to sift out.
  • The_Angry_Fish_Guy
    The_Angry_Fish_Guy Posts: 40 Member
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    Not one single MF thing. BOOM! whaaaa?
  • denitahawkins
    denitahawkins Posts: 36 Member
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    I'm giving up weighing myself. I actually started last Wednesday. The progress on the scale is temporary, so why not focus on the long-term, lifelong measurements of fitness we'll need to rely on for the rest of our lives. Needless to say, I'm still trying to find where my husband hid the scale lol. The 17th of April seems so far!
  • fitfan11
    fitfan11 Posts: 544 Member
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    I'm not Catholic so I don't practice Lent. I guess I could give up 'givin up'
  • ItsMeGee3
    ItsMeGee3 Posts: 13,255 Member
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    Nothing!
  • fallingtrees
    fallingtrees Posts: 220 Member
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    Since in my philosophy, Lent is not so much about self-deprivation or discipline as it is about focusing inward and outward about my relationship with God, I'm not into the giving-up so much as the focusing-on.

    So perhaps an appropriate healthy-diet approach would be to practice more intentional eating--am I really hungry, is this the best choice, can I wait another hour and not eat impulsively, etc. And perhaps dedicate myself to getting up a half-hour earlier to enjoy some exercise that I've been neglecting.

    Or I could give up beer. Hmmm...I have, oh, about 9 hours to decide.

    BTW, we had traditional Shrove Tuesday English pancakes with fresh fruit for breakfast this morning. Fat Tuesday Lite. :wink:
  • RoseGoldDinosaur
    RoseGoldDinosaur Posts: 133 Member
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    I am not catholic, but I grew up in Louisiana where almost everyone I knew was catholic so I have always given up something for lent. I think of it as kind of a philosophical thing- there's almost always something to be learned from giving up a luxury. Usually it turns out to be a practice in gratitude or minimalism. Giving up some things, like TV for example, can be a gift. Turns out life is better with no TV and your family will actually interact with each other if there's no TV to sit in front of. I'm considering giving up Facebook this year or Starbucks. Haven't decided just yet. I am genuinely scared of how no Facebook would make me feel. Seems like a good reason to do it.

    P.S. Last year I gave up alcohol. Turns out you can lose weight really quickly by going on a sober diet if you're usually a drinker.

    P.P.S. Love the idea of adding for lent instead of subtracting. Maybe something like meditation which you always think about doing but never actually steadily do? I bet there's something to be learned from regular meditation or journaling or something like that...
  • ser67
    ser67 Posts: 28 Member
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    Watching tv.

    I will miss watching the soaps, but I am planning to use the time to develope healthier habbits.
  • fallingtrees
    fallingtrees Posts: 220 Member
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    I am not catholic, but I grew up in Louisiana where almost everyone I knew was catholic so I have always given up something for lent. I think of it as kind of a philosophical thing- there's almost always something to be learned from giving up a luxury. Usually it turns out to be a practice in gratitude or minimalism. Giving up some things, like TV for example, can be a gift. Turns out life is better with no TV and your family will actually interact with each other if there's no TV to sit in front of. I'm considering giving up Facebook this year or Starbucks. Haven't decided just yet. I am genuinely scared of how no Facebook would make me feel. Seems like a good reason to do it.

    P.S. Last year I gave up alcohol. Turns out you can lose weight really quickly by going on a sober diet if you're usually a drinker.

    P.P.S. Love the idea of adding for lent instead of subtracting. Maybe something like meditation which you always think about doing but never actually steadily do? I bet there's something to be learned from regular meditation or journaling or something like that...

    Now suppose you gave your usual Starbucks money to a cause you believe in...how cool would that be?
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    you don't always have to give up something, you can do something extra instead like saying morning/evening prayers, or volunteering places you ususally wouldn't. also, it doesn't count on sundays for what you do give up, and you can subsitute sunday for another day as well, for whoever said their birthday falls during lent (my mom works for the catholic church in the parish office. loopholes many people don't know about lol)
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    and you don't have to wait until to easter to have what you gave up, it technically ends on holy thursday :drinker:
    i was thinking going raw vegan for lent as i am vegetarian already and have been wanting to transition. i just went food shopping last week though so i don't want that stuff to go to waste. herm decisions
  • fallingtrees
    fallingtrees Posts: 220 Member
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    you don't always have to give up something, you can do something extra instead like saying morning/evening prayers, or volunteering places you ususally wouldn't. also, it doesn't count on sundays for what you do give up, and you can subsitute sunday for another day as well, for whoever said their birthday falls during lent (my mom works for the catholic church in the parish office. loopholes many people don't know about lol)

    Yes! If you count it up, the 40 days of Lent don't include Sundays. Each Sunday is a "Mini Easter." So even if you're fasting for Lent, Sunday is a feast day.

    Birthday Sunday is back on! Bring on the chocolate cake.
  • quicklabs
    quicklabs Posts: 254 Member
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    Give up impatience with my husband.
  • morehealthymatt
    morehealthymatt Posts: 208 Member
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    Bad jokes.

    A recently married blonde (yeah, yeah, yeah....blondes aren't unintelligent - give me a break, it's just a joke) is getting a little "anxious" for her hubby. They just laid down in bed and the blonde turns to her husband and starts to give him some sexy kisses, but her hubby doesn't respond. So, she's steps it up and starts giving even more sexy kisses to him...and he still doesn't respond. Frustrated the blonde asks her husbad, "What's a matter babe, don't you want me?". the husband responds, "Honey bun, of course I do, but...you know." "What's the problem?" she asks. He turns to her and says, "It's Lent." Hearing this the blonde turns over in a huff and turns out the light.

    After about 30 minutes she asks her husband, "To who and for how long?"
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
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    Their is a website 40 Acts for lent (google it) that challenges you to DO something everyday. To be generous, to unplug electronics for a day, to call an olf friend etc. I'm trying it this year.
  • udinth
    udinth Posts: 92
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    Nothing: I'm Jewish. But I do admire many of these answers.

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