Is any body else thinking of giving something up for lent that will also help with their weight loss efforts?
I'm thinking for me it has to be several things!
1) takeaways: I can be VERY lazy after I've finished work and almost always end up getting a pizza, burger, kebab, fish and chips etc! If I can go 40 days without one I'm sure I could carry on after lent!
2) sweets: I have a massive sweet tooth! I always have! And it got much worse when I started earning my own money! Again if I can manage without for 40 days, I'm sure I could reintroduce and moderate my intake after lent!
3) chocolate: this runs along side of sweets, but knowing how I think I would substitute sweets with chocolate. So if one goes the other goes!
4) crisps: I'm not talking about 1 or 2 bags a day, I'm talking family sized share bags that I scoff while at work! I'm sure we can all agree that the calories aren't worth it and my body will thank me for the absence of the oil!
It seems like a heck of a lot but there are much healthier alternatives out there! So why not tackle more?!
I was thinking about this the other night. Chocolate and diet irn bru are my downfalls so I thinking chocolate. It will be so difficult but good for me in the long run!!
I like them in Cullen Skunk!☺ I can relate to the crisps. One bag then another etc. Family size as well with dip. I'm not doing this now. Happy week ahead. I'm thinking stop the spread is flora etc. Butter instead in moderation of course. Please advise. 🤗G
So so so true. If I was at Grand it was mince & tatties. I went for my tea one day & I got 1 bacon & 1 egg 1 bread & butter! I t was always yummy. I would go home and say to Mum. I'm still hungry! A different generations. ☺G
Hi Moreless it's not my spelling it's this mobile. Corrective spelling & predictive text! Well that is my excuse. I will be getting a ticking off for my grammar next week. Lol😗 G
Not sure what I shall be giving up for lent yet.... in previous years I've done the chocolate, booze, meat, biscuits, cheese etc. thing. One year I decided to make a positive change instead of giving something up and I vowed to have my 5 a day, every day for 40 days. I remember standing in the kitchen at 11 o'clock one night forcing myself to eat a plum so that I'd achieved my 5 for that day !
I know what I should give up, coffee. Now that would be a big sacrifice..... but not one I think I could stick to for 40 days though. Mind you having given up a 30-a-day habit since last May, maybe I could do it ?
I'm all for the positive lent too! I think that's a fab idea! I think it's all about what suits you!
For me it's definitely about controlling those foods I know can trigger a binge, so if i can give them up for 40 days I should be able to moderate them afterwards!
Instead of giving up coffee why not go decaff? That would be just as much a challenge for me!
You're right you know - I had to go onto decaf a few years ago now as I'd become addicted to caffeine and was having headaches if I didn't have it enough, so giving up decaf coffee should be a doddle. It's all in my head....Good luck with your list - although it does look a bit ambitious to me - maybe just pick a couple of things rather than all 4 ?
It may look a lot, but if I don't tackle it all at once I'll substitute one for the other! I will make sure I do think feel like I'm missing out with better options like fruit and the oatcakes Moreless has talked about! 😄
Good luck with your lent too! I'm positive you'll be able to do it! 🖒
For me, lent doesn't necessarily lead to abstinence; it's quite the opposite.
Since daylight is enjoyed for longer in the evenings, further assisted by the return of BST (yes, it's coming), lent heralds an increase in my road running (winter months are devoted to strength work in the gym).
Granted, an increase in running means that less time is spent in the gym, but it's not something that I abstain from - I simply visit it less frequently between March and October.
Last year I cut out between meal snacks. No specific items cut from my diet but I only ate at mealtimes. It wasn't easy but I managed it so will try the same again this year.
Bread, bread, bread, the ringleader that demands butter, sometimes jam, ham and cheese,...awfully tough, it's so convenient, slap stuff on and gobble. Just writing this is so painful, as though I have already been deprived, such a wrench but I better just do it, give it up for 40 days.
I gave up bread last lent hardest and best thing I’ve done where food is concerned. It’s changed my relationship with bread so it’s now if there’s nothing else rather than oh yes bread. Hope that makes sense!
You can also take things up for Lent-more exercise, cooking healthier meals, always including vegetables, always cooking from ingredients rather than your takeaway routine.
I feel blessed that my sweet tooth seems to have grown legs and walked. I can now have a piece of chocolate and stick to the one! Only had three chocolates since beginning of December.
Yes I'm going to have a jolly good think tomorrow of what I could add as a positive lent (that's what I'm calling it)! I do struggle to hit my 5 a day so that's looking to be the front runner so far!
I'm going to try my hardest to give up crisps and chocolate these two are my down fall... I'm hoping it'll kick start me into my diet mode as I need to lose 3 stone before Feb 18 as I'm going Mexico to a friends wedding.
I am going to intermittent fast for 40 days. I will eat 2 meals a day between the hours of noon and 8pm and rest my digestive system to detox and heal. I will also meditate 10 minutes.
It is traditional to fast and be penetrant during Lent. It will be a challenge, but I have thought about this and attached meaning to it to help me. Millions of people throughout the world wake up hungry and don't know if they will get food that day. I only have to show patience and wait till lunch. I will contemplate the hungry and be grateful for my food and circumstances. I'm trying to take less things for granted, food is readily available and I'm guilty of gluttony on occasion, this will be a test for me, but I'm ok with that. Not everyone's cuppa I know 🙂
I think its very commendable and wish you good luck not sure i could stick to such a rigid routine so i will endeavour to do without my biscuits and contemplate the points you have raised
I'm thinking of taking something up for Lent rather than giving something up. I am going to aim for 10,000 steps a day in March to make the most of the lighter evenings and the hint of spring in the air.
Good luck everyone who is giving something up for Lent though 👍
I've tried giving things up, and I immediately crave the forbidden thing more!! This reverse psychology of 'taking something up' works for me, and then I can still have things in moderation if I want, which I tend not to as I know I CAN have them if I choose to - which I don't!!
I'm giving up chocolate, a group of ladies from work were talking about it but they have decided to do 10,000 steps a day instead so I'm going to try and substitute chocolate for steps and gym. I generally find that after exercise I get less cravings so fingers crossed - good luck everyone
I find work is the place that I struggle being healthy the most because I'm stuck at a desk all day and I'm in an office where there are always biscuits/chocolate/cake on the communal fridge - so I'm thinking of giving up taking the lift and eating off the fridge...
I feel you there! I sit behind a counter all day! And the temptation with a shop across the road has always been too much!
Good luck 😄
Your list is pretty impressive. For the last few years, I have been giving up something for lent, every year. For me, Lent is not just another diet. I am a Catholic, so I take Lent fairly seriously (I am not saying you do not), but I always say: for Lent give up something that has a 'meaning' to you. I started with meat because it was a huge challenge to start with and because I was a typical carnivore, with intolerance against vegetarians (I have changed since). After a few years that became too easy (if you can cook, it is actually easy to go around meat). I have tried alcohol once, (just done Sober October in 2016). I gave up swearing once - which was harder than anything else, believe me, or not! I wish you lots of strength, best of luck and let us know how it is going.
in reply to
I am also Catholic and have gone back to the no meat on friday sometimes fish and sometimes a veggie option.
I have given up alcohol a muslim colleague was impressed with that ! and the obvious that goes with it - I always tend to eat naughty snacks when I drink alcohol like crisps and cheese especially cheese with a glass of red wine so its going good good for me
Chocolate has often been my downfall. My then 7 year old granddaughter gave up chocolate for Lent and shamed my poor efforts up to then. The very next year I managed it, too, and now I do find it easier to give chocolate up for Lent than at any other time.
One thing to be ready for is difficult situation ..... like someone close offering you an unexpected slice of chocolate cake, with a ' Won't you have a slice of my home made cake , I made it for you.' This was a favourite aunt and I caved in, and added one day to Lent at the end .... the Easter eggs survived an extra day that year.
I think I will do chocolate again this year.
Here to the determination to last the course, whatever you decide to give up.
I decided a couple of years ago to diet for lent so I gave up crisps, fizzy drinks and chocolate and I lost 11lbs in weight and for each pound I lost I gave a pound to charity I think doing it for a charity made me more determined. Good luck
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