Lent

I commit to eating at fish fries every Friday. It's the reason I love lent. I give up nothing and eat fried fish sandwiches and fries every Friday for several weeks lol

In my first year at uni I gave up alcohol for lent. I'm thinking I might do the same this year, that said I don't drink that munch anyway, so maybe I'll do something more challenging

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.

This. Except I don't drink.

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)

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.