Lenten planning

[selenay]

I usually do the 'fasting' part of Lent by giving up food things I think of as bad habits. Most people who follow a Lent fast do, I suspect. In the past I've given up pizza, chocolate, cakes/cookies, after supper snacking...all things that I feel like I "should" give up to improve my health.

And it's worked on one level. It's felt like a sacrifice and even though I don't give up those things forever, the reset button of Lent has brought me back to a moderate level with all of them that kept going.

The down side is that I always end up losing weight.

(Maybe the pizza year didn't involve weight loss. Maybe.)

That's despite the other part of the sacrifice being to replace what I'm giving up with something healthier. I lose weight. It's mostly because as soon as I'm faced with the idea that I should give up something, I go overboard, get overly rigid, and end up eating way fewer calories than I should. Carrot sticks and rice crackers will never really replace a bit of chocolate.

Most of my friends would agree that right now, I can't afford to do that. My weight is the lowest it's ever been and there's no weight I can safely lose. So this year I'm going to try doing something different for Lent. I'm going to try adding something to my life.

I'm currently having a bit of Being Sad time. It's happened before (most of 2014 was a Being Sad time) and I know I'll break out of it eventually. Maybe it's depression, maybe it's just me getting overwhelmed, but whatever it is, my mood is low and everything feels like too much right now. Small set-backs are magnified and I feel like the lowest worm that crawled the earth.

Clearly, giving up any food for Lent is only going to make me spiral further into that, because when I feel like this, the first thing I try to do is control and restrict what I eat, skip meals, you get the picture.

So this year's Lenten activity is focused around making better choices for my mental health, which I'm pretty sure God will be okay with:

1) During Lent, I will eat three meals every day and one small evening snack, minimum. No skipping meals because I'm "too busy" or "can't think what to make" or "it's too late" or whatever other excuse I give myself, there will be three meals + snack at a minimum. I'm breaking this particular spiral.

2) I'm going to put a box on the sofa table and every day through Lent I will write down a happy thing on a piece of paper and put it inside. It can be a thing that happened, a reminder of how cute my cats are, a fun plan I'm making...I have to find one positive good thing every day, write it down, and put it in my box.

I'm hoping the second one will have two outcomes: a reset helping me to focus on the good rather than the bad, and a box of happy things I can go back to if/when I feel overwhelmed later in the year. The first one is probably the healthiest thing I can do for myself right now, much healthier than giving up foods. Let's not discuss how often I've skipped meals over the last few weeks!

So there's my Lent thing. If you're also doing Lent this year, what are your plans?

Comments

[emmzzi]

candy and cake :/ I'm not religious but I need a break from it.

self care lent sounds awesome!

[selenay]

I don't think you need to be religious to use Lent as a communal supportive “giving up a habit to take a break" thing. Well done!

Self care is something I'm awful at, so it'll be interesting to see how I do with this.

[thisbluespirit]

I'm sorry you're having a Sad Time, but that does sound like a very sensible and positive approach - I hope it works out for you!

[selenay]

Thank you! I'm hopeful this will be a good experience.

[executrix]

I am not a Christian so definitely not doing Lent personally, but would it be possible to donate the cost of the food you are NOT giving up because you need it for your health to a hunger charity? Then you will be making a sacrifice, and helping people, but not endangering yourself.

[selenay]

I always feel weird about discussing my donations in public (fear of coming across as a self congratulatory wanker), but making extra donations to causes I care about (including the local food bank) is the otherr important part of Lent for me, so I'll still be doing that even though I'm trying a different kind of practical Lent practice this year :-)

[muccamukk]

I'm considering giving up some kind of negativity. I'm just feeling like I hate everything right now, and I'm not sure how to fix that. Give up complaining? I don't know.

[selenay]

On the soap I listen to, the vicar is getting people to give up moaning for Lent. They have to put money in a charity box each time they catch themselves complaining! I like that idea - it was actually what started me thinking about what I could do to improve my mood and outlook instread of the usual food sacrifice. Maybe you could try something like that? A dime (or whatever is reasonable) in a box whenever you catch yourself complaining, which could be a good motivation for not doing it. Plus some money to charity at the end, because kicking the habit totally is probably not reasonable!

[nic]

I think that's a great approach for Lent!

I try to give up a "bad habit" for Lent. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes not, but as long as it's a negative habit, I think it's a good approach.

[flamingsword]

I am not religious but give up bad habits whenever I notice them, which is why I have alarms in my phone to remind me to eat. V. helpful.

I have a journal that contains lists of things, and one of those is the Good Things List, which I stole shamelessly from Owlet's fic Infinite Coffee And Protection Detail. It's a list of things which are always good even on the worst days. Kitten videos. Watching slinkies. The smell of coffee. Feeling wind on my skin. Everyone's are going to be different, but it is a reminder to collect good thoughts and to write them down when you find them so that your faulty memory is not the only thing keeping you from straying too far into the grayness. It sounds pretty similar to what you are doing.