What are you giving up?

aerotigergirl · 02-16-2010, 10:48 AM

I'm not Catholic (or religious in any manner), but I am tangentially familiar with Lent. I've decided that this year, I'd like to try to give something up for Lent. But I'm having trouble deciding what I should give up...

Is the idea that you give up something for Lent that you can have again after?

I love pasta (I use the whole wheat kind when I make it at home). Seriously, I could eat it every day for the rest of my life and I don't think I'd ever get sick of it. But the idea of giving it up altogether forever makes me have the shakes.

If the idea is that I'd give this up for Lent, then get to have it again (in moderation) after Lent, maybe this is a good idea. It might help me decrease my need for it and make me appreciate it more, and it would certainly be good for my body to not have it (at least for a little while).

What, if anything, are you considering giving up for Lent?

utgirl09 · 02-16-2010, 12:12 PM

Sugar! No soda, no desserts, no candy, etc. I am actually using Lent as a jumping off point to nix the soda habit for good.

marigrace · 02-16-2010, 01:14 PM

I forgot, How many days is Lent...40 ? 40 days without homemade whole grain bread ? Now that's a concept....sure I could do that !

aerotigergirl · 02-16-2010, 01:27 PM

I understand that it runs from February 17 (Ash Wednesday) until easter (April 4th this year). So, that's 6 and 1/2 weeks.

I'm not sure I can give up pasta for that long. But it's supposed to be hard, right?

marigrace · 02-16-2010, 01:37 PM

Spoken like a true lapsed person !

Michelle98272 · 02-16-2010, 01:39 PM

aerotigergirl~ I am curious to know what it is that you are holding in your hand in your avatar pic? It looks like an ostrich egg sized deviled egg.

In response to your original question...I'll give up alcohol. I obviously don't need it on a plan for healthy eating. I do like it though...especially after an especially hard day at work. I'll try some healthier coping strategies. I don't need the empty calories anyway!

aerotigergirl · 02-16-2010, 01:41 PM

Michelle -- It's a blowfish, actually. My husband and I did a snorkeling trip on our honeymoon in Costa Rica. The dive guide could catch the fish with his hands underwater and he would bring them to us to see. He caught this one just as we were getting back on the boat, so we snapped a picture of me holding it.

Ann21 · 02-16-2010, 01:43 PM

I feel so bad about giving up something for my own benefit for lent, but I always seem to. This year I'm giving up pizza, all kinds. Frozen, dominos, the awesome pizza place downtown on the square, etc. Pizza is my binge food, really it's the ONLY high calorie takeout food that I ever eat. I don't eat fast food, chinese, or anything else. So I'm hoping that giving it up for 40 days will make me not miss it.

Michelle98272 · 02-16-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerotigergirl

Michelle -- It's a blowfish, actually. My husband and I did a snorkeling trip on our honeymoon in Costa Rica. The dive guide could catch the fish with his hands underwater and he would bring them to us to see. He caught this one just as we were getting back on the boat, so we snapped a picture of me holding it.

Oh, now I see it's little face in the front! Cute. What an exciting trip!

SnowboundChick · 02-16-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by utgirl09

Sugar! No soda, no desserts, no candy, etc. I am actually using Lent as a jumping off point to nix the soda habit for good.

This is me too! I started yesterday. I'm in a 6 week challenge on another non-weight loss board I belong to to give up something. So I'm on Day 2 of no Pepsi!

Trazey34 · 02-16-2010, 02:39 PM

I'm not religious, so I wouldn't want to offend anyone by participating in what i think is a big deal to them -- what i don't understand is why Fat Tuesday is BEFORE lent...I'd much rather have the huge party and blow out after the deprivation is over LOL I guess the easter feast will have to do

it's shrove tuesday....so shrive carefully!

Sandi · 02-16-2010, 02:45 PM

I am giving up pop. I know I should drink more water, but usually end up getting a diet pop. So I thought I would give it up for lent to get me on the straight and narrow!

cathydoe · 02-16-2010, 02:56 PM

Actually this year I thought I would "do something" instead of giving up. My dh and mil go to church every Sunday...so I decided I will go to church with them during lent. Hopefully it will become a habit. I really do want to go to church... but I don't. Maybe I will figure out the reason. This is what I am doing for Lent.

aerotigergirl · 02-16-2010, 03:02 PM

You know, I didn't consider that. I apologize if I've offended anyone by bringing this up, as a non-religious person. I meant to show no disrespect to your religious beliefs and/or practices. I realize that I do not understand the true meaning behind Lent, I simply knew enough about it (ie I've had friends who practiced giving something up for Lent) to know that often-times people give something up for Lent. I'm sorry if it seems like I belittled or made minimal anyone's beliefs.

Trudiha · 02-16-2010, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trazey34

I'm not religious, so I wouldn't want to offend anyone by participating in what i think is a big deal to them -- what i don't understand is why Fat Tuesday is BEFORE lent...I'd much rather have the huge party and blow out after the deprivation is over LOL I guess the easter feast will have to do

it's shrove tuesday....so shrive carefully!

The idea of having it before the Lenten fast is to use up all of the 'tempting' things that you might have in your store cupboard. For some Easter is a pretty big blow-out, for most of Lent, instead of having my mind on higher things, I'm thinking about the kind of Easter egg I'm going to have.