Giving up chocolate for Lent
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Thanks everyone for replies it's great to hear from so many people who have tried it.
@Leeg5656 where I'm from you fast without any food for first 3 days and then only eat food you can prepare with water (no oil) for 40 days.
You are allowed fish on certain days but mostly it's plain veg and bread.
There is absolutely no chance I could do that while working 50h a week ,studying and being a Mum. I don't even want to attempt it.
Giving up something I love and have everyday seems more manageable then doing a fast like that. Everyone have their own reasons and it's nice seeing so many people have been successful with it.5 -
Some practice fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday's only here. I simply cannot do that. I usually go without meat on those days and all the Fridays in between. When I was young the Knights of Columbus would always do Friday Night Fish-fries Friday during Lent. I've not heard of the no-oil, but it's neat to hear what others across the world do. I wish you much success in your Lenten Journey.2
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passenger79 wrote: »I am just wondering has anyone done this before and was it manageable.
It was what almost all kids did when I was a kid, so I know for a fact that people have done it before. (In fact, I think it's extremely common still, which is why we tend to have lots of chocolate at our Easter party.)
Yes, it's manageable if you want to do it. For me a Lent sacrifice is a religious thing, so I would not personally give up chocolate if my reason was weight loss. If I thought I tended to use it as a crutch or just that the discipline would be spiritually helpful in some way, maybe I would (and use when I thought of chocolate or missed it as a sign I should remember the reason for the sacrifice -- the religious one -- or God or pray or something like that).
Obviously if Lent has no religious meaning to you do what you want, but for me Lent is inherently about preparation for Easter, and I kind of wish it didn't get co-opted as a diet aid (not saying you are doing this, just a pet peeve, don't mind me!).7 -
Some practice fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday's only here. I simply cannot do that. I usually go without meat on those days and all the Fridays in between. When I was young the Knights of Columbus would always do Friday Night Fish-fries Friday during Lent. I've not heard of the no-oil, but it's neat to hear what others across the world do. I wish you much success in your Lenten Journey.
Catholic fasts are super wimpy these days -- Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (although the requirements for those are lenient), and no meat (but fish is fine) on Fridays (and it's not supposed to be fancy fish, the idea is to eat in a less expensive, simpler way, which is not really consistent with the fact that fish in the US is often more expensive than other meat). And then the encouragement to give up something (or give up/and add, which I like).
Beyond that, it's of course not mostly about food, but the three pillars: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
And of course the idea is not to make a big thing out of the sacrifice, although I always am interested in talking to others about what they are doing and so on, if they want to talk about it.
No oil is an Orthodox thing, I think -- my good friend is Greek and her family does (mostly, there are exception days) no oil, no animal products. She only does it during Holy Week and Fridays (it was her personal compromise, as she finds it very difficult), but still likes to point out how easy Catholics have it.3 -
Some practice fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday's only here. I simply cannot do that. I usually go without meat on those days and all the Fridays in between. When I was young the Knights of Columbus would always do Friday Night Fish-fries Friday during Lent. I've not heard of the no-oil, but it's neat to hear what others across the world do. I wish you much success in your Lenten Journey.
Thank you!0 -
No oil is an Orthodox thing, I think -- my good friend is Greek and her family does (mostly, there are exception days) no oil, no animal products. She only does it during Holy Week and Fridays (it was her personal compromise, as she finds it very difficult), but still likes to point out how easy Catholics have it.[/quote]
Yes you are right there , I am ortodox Christian from Serbia originally ☺ As kids we would fast on Fridays,my Mum would always fast for a week but she has done the whole 40 days one time and it did not look easy. There's only so much you can eat that's water based0 -
I have a hard time understanding how giving up chocolate will bring someone closer to God, but whatever!16
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I've given up chocolate before. Then when I re-introduced chocolate, I found I didn't crave it as often so that was a nice little bonus! Have you discovered Ritter brand mini chocolates? They're a nice little serving, come in lots of varieties, and come in at just under 60 calories. I no longer need large servings to satisfy my sweet tooth. I like the discipline I developed when I eliminated chocolate and candy for awhile.
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I have a hard time understanding how giving up chocolate will bring someone closer to God, but whatever!
And I have hard time understanding why people have a need to argue it if they have nothing to contribute.
I have asked for others experiences as I haven't done 40 days before .
I have fasted and gone to church since I was little so I do know the reasons behind it.I haven't been able to carry that on once I moved away and haven't been maintaining same traditions as when I was living in my home country .
I also know that people often use Lent to challenge themselves and give up something they struggle with. It would never cross my mind to judge someone based on what they are giving up as basis of it all is to improve themselves.
So why are you judging?
If this is going to turn into" I'm closer to God than you are " religious argument lol I'm not taking part in it.10 -
DebLaBounty wrote: »I've given up chocolate before. Then when I re-introduced chocolate, I found I didn't crave it as often so that was a nice little bonus! Have you discovered Ritter brand mini chocolates? They're a nice little serving, come in lots of varieties, and come in at just under 60 calories. I no longer need large servings to satisfy my sweet tooth. I like the discipline I developed when I eliminated chocolate and candy for awhile.
Thank you ! No I haven't tried them before,I'm in UK so will see if available here.
That's what I hope to do,develop more discipline and look after myself a bit better .
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passenger79 wrote: »I have a hard time understanding how giving up chocolate will bring someone closer to God, but whatever!
And I have hard time understanding why people have a need to argue it if they have nothing to contribute.
I have asked for others experiences as I haven't done 40 days before .
I have fasted and gone to church since I was little so I do know the reasons behind it.I haven't been able to carry that on once I moved away and haven't been maintaining same traditions as when I was living in my home country .
I also know that people often use Lent to challenge themselves and give up something they struggle with. It would never cross my mind to judge someone based on what they are giving up as basis of it all is to improve themselves.
So why are you judging?
If this is going to turn into" I'm closer to God than you are " religious argument lol I'm not taking part in it.
Here's the thing, Lent is a spiritual discipline, and your question as written is about weight loss and calorie reduction.
Crossing the streams takes it from an externally focused activity and makes it inward focused. So the real question is why are you actually giving up chocolate?10 -
Chocolate has never been a big thing for me. I decided 3 20 oz Diet Pepsis at work was too much, gave it up for Lent. Now only occasionally drink it with a meal out
Best of luck.3 -
stanmann571 wrote: »passenger79 wrote: »I have a hard time understanding how giving up chocolate will bring someone closer to God, but whatever!
And I have hard time understanding why people have a need to argue it if they have nothing to contribute.
I have asked for others experiences as I haven't done 40 days before .
I have fasted and gone to church since I was little so I do know the reasons behind it.I haven't been able to carry that on once I moved away and haven't been maintaining same traditions as when I was living in my home country .
I also know that people often use Lent to challenge themselves and give up something they struggle with. It would never cross my mind to judge someone based on what they are giving up as basis of it all is to improve themselves.
So why are you judging?
If this is going to turn into" I'm closer to God than you are " religious argument lol I'm not taking part in it.
Here's the thing, Lent is a spiritual discipline, and your question as written is about weight loss and calorie reduction.
Crossing the streams takes it from an externally focused activity and makes it inward focused. So the real question is why are you actually giving up chocolate?
I am already maintaining deficit and I 've lost 5.5lbs since I 've restarted which I'm happy with .
I want to learn how to discipline myself better and control my urges and ultimately look after myself better as I don't think I am doing it right if I waste 500 cal a day on chocolate and then feel hungry when I could be eating more nutritious food and looking after myself better.
What I didn't realize it will start an argument and that I'll have to justify myself, I was asking for experiences. Hundreds and thousands of people give up things for Lent and I wanted to learn more about it but boy do some people like to woo and judge.
If anyone can see my posts or comments on the forum they can see I don't follow any fad diets or plan to replace chocolate with a spoonful of coconut oil chased by ACV shot lol I was asking for experiences .
I'm no stranger to fasts either and probably have more experience in it then some(and a lot more stricter!) but I was asking for advice on fighting physical urges not having to prove my religious beliefs.
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Anyways thanks to everyone who took time to share their experiences I appreciate it.
I have no intention to take part in any arguments so I won't comment on those posts as I don't see the point.
Thanks again
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I think the additional religious commitment could be helpful in giving you even more reason to stick with it. I don't see any particular downside.1
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We always give something up for lent in our household. This year I'm going for "Treats" Going to miss those things. Good luck.3
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Personally, I think if you want to do it for religious reasons go for it, but if it's more about health/calorie reasons I wouldn't do it. Being in a deficit is hard enough (also depends on how long you've been at it), willpower is a finite resource so why stress yourself out more. If you simply feel that you have too much chocolate, I'd work on a plan to reduce it. Maybe have it every other day or something like that and don't add any more stress onto your life. YMMV1
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I have not given up chocolate, but I did give up my beloved Pepsi (all soda actually) last fall. I still miss it, but it's a trigger food for me. When I have one, I want one more . . . and then I want chips, sweets, etc. to go with it. You can definitely give up chocolate if you want to badly enough, but it will be a challenge. My suggestion is to find other snacks you enjoy to take it's place - maybe fruit, a handful of almonds, or sugar free pudding? That way you don't feel super deprived! Good luck to you!3
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passenger79 wrote: »MelanieCN77 wrote: »Not sure what it has to do with Lent, but if you feel like experimenting I guess go for it?
Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday people give up something like alcohol,sweets or whatever they want to cut down really as a challenge for 40 days .
I 've never done it before but yes thinking about giving it a go.
Lent is meant to be a spiritual exercise, not a self-improvement course or a diet aid.7 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Lent is meant to be a spiritual exercise, not a self-improvement course or a diet aid.
Easter is meant to be spiritual .. but a magical bunny hides chocolate for children in the garden
Christmas is meant to be spiritual .. but magical reindeer fly a man, that, lets face it, isnt logging his calories ! to give children presents whilst the rest of the world celebrate mass consumerism
shrove tuesday .... spiritual or pancake day ??
It would seem that for the majority of people, spiritual/religious events have become more of a social occasion than a religious one and taking lent for example, people use the motivation and dedication of others to better themselves by trying to cut out a vice that they feel is holding them back
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