Did you give something up for lent?

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lindsayh87
lindsayh87 Posts: 167 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I was raised Catholic so every year we gave up a food/habit or promised to do something for the 40 days before Easter. Though I no longer attend a Catholic Church (non denominational Christian now) I do still like the Lenten tradition. This year I gave up candy and pop. The pop thing has been a breeze. I don't miss it at all - I didn't drink it that often anyway. But the candy, ugh. Since I'm dieting I shouldn't be eating it anyway. I hear so many people say that allowing yourself a small amount of cheat is the key to succeeding in your diet. I am finding that now that I can't have even a small amount of candy I'm binging elsewhere. Well, I did really good until this last week. Now my diet is a wreck with no end in site. Anyone else struggling? I'm thinking of scrapping this lent thing all together. I don't think Jesus wants me to be fat. He will forgive me, right?!

Replies

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited March 2015
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    I gave up Lent for Lent a long time ago. :smiley: I was also raised Catholic. My mom traditionally gives up alcohol for Lent, however, some years Lent apparently lasts until October. She told me the other day that she'll probably give it up for longer this year, too, because she's already lost 5 pounds. LOL

    And, honestly, if it's causing problems with your diet, I think you'd be better off giving up something else or nothing at all. You only really need to give up one thing, right? And you'd still be giving up soda.
  • ccam99
    ccam99 Posts: 119 Member
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    Don't scrap the Lenten tradition, it's a nice thing to hold on to. I am also Catholic but have not been as active lately. I always give up chocolate which I love. It's hard every year but like you, I find ways around that sweet tooth. This year it seems i'm going after anything that will curb the chocolate, like eating caramel. It's almost Easter so I look forward to the reward of eating chocolate on Easter morning (when I make the kids baskets). Until then I am going to try and be aware of when I need that sugar and just eat a small portion. You only have to hold out under 2 more weeks, you can do it!
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    I gave up a couple pounds using MFP. :D
  • ali3boys
    ali3boys Posts: 84 Member
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    I gave up laziness ... I told myself I needed to workout 5 days a week, for 40 minutes. I also gave up on adding butter to foods and coffee creamer.
    I'm hoping by the time lent it is done, I'll be in somewhat of a routine in exercise. Creamer doesn't seem to be so much of a problem .... But I never knew that I love butter so much. "Not good" I seem to crave dairy ... I need to really look into that. :#
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I thought we weren't supposed to talk about Lent.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    That aside (because I don't see why we shouldn't be able to), I normally give up meat, but didn't do any food stuff last year (I started losing weight in February and was too new to it and also didn't want to confuse what was for weight loss with what was a religious discipline (I am Catholic, for what that's worth). This year I kind of wanted to go back to my old practice, but it would just be too hard to go vegetarian without really shaking up a way of eating that's been working for me, so I decided I'd give up all meat but seafood (basically the required Catholic Friday practice, but for every day). That part has been easy, although I am definitely going to enjoy my lamb on Easter. In addition, because I figured that would be too easy, I decided to cut out coffee, which has been embarrassingly hard although I'm finally adjusting.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    You probably will not go to hell for having a piece of candy. I try not to give things up but add things that would be good for me. One year I did a 15 minute meditation before bed, another I made sure I flossed every night and another time I put money in a jar every time I missed a workout and gave it to charity at the end.
  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 272 Member
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    Gave up religion.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    Nope. Never been Catholic.

    Somewhat off topic, I forgot Lent was going on once and went to red lobster on a Friday...that was a mistake.
  • kimberlydgarcia
    kimberlydgarcia Posts: 78 Member
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    Alcohol. I do miss a glass of wine.... I think it was a good thing to give up because maybe I was over indulging.
  • AngryViking1970
    AngryViking1970 Posts: 2,847 Member
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    I gave up beer. Since doing that I've discovered that Pinnacle Tropical Punch vodka and Sprite -0- is delicious.
  • landfish
    landfish Posts: 255 Member
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    Catholicism.
  • trainorw
    trainorw Posts: 1 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Been deployed since Thanksgiving and won't return until after Easter. So I gave up just about everything! Have also been making an effort since Ash Wednesday to attend Mass regularly.
  • KingofWisdom
    KingofWisdom Posts: 229 Member
    edited March 2015
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    I was raised in a non-religious household. I guess my mom and dad would consider themselves Christians, but we never really talked about that kinda stuff. I, however, am an atheist and see little value in holding up tradition for tradition's sake. B)
    No disrespect meant.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    landfish wrote: »
    Catholicism.
    As someone raised catholic, I fully support this. I raise my kids plain old secular.
  • flissy5
    flissy5 Posts: 62 Member
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    I gave up excuses! B)
  • landfish
    landfish Posts: 255 Member
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    melimomTARDIS wrote: »
    landfish wrote: »
    Catholicism.
    As someone raised catholic, I fully support this. I raise my kids plain old secular.

    Both my wife and I were raised Catholic. I haven't been inside of a Church for religious reasons (excluding funerals and weddings) since the late 80's. Our kids are free to chose whatever religious beliefs they want.

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