What I'm Giving Up For Lent

Shrove Tuesday: Tuesday 4th March.

Lent: Wednesday 5th March - Thursday April 17th.

Easter: Sunday 20th April.

I have mixed feelings about Lent. I don’t believe in a Christian God, so the premise of giving something up for 40 days and 40 nights to understand Christ’s sacrifice is a bit pointless. However, I do live a comfortable life with food, shelter, family, money and safety, so I do think that giving something up – even something trivial – is a good thing.

My mum has decided to give up lattes. I can’t tell you:

a) how much my mum loves a latte (one shot skinny) and

b) how many she drinks (less than she used to but at least 5 a week).

To support her through this testing time, and to see if I can actually do it (I like a challenge), I’m going to give up cheese and chocolate. I’ve chosen these because I will genuinely miss eating them, and it’s always easier to do something like this if you’re doing it with someone.

When I say chocolate, I mean processed bars/desserts etc. I've recently discovered Deliciously Ella - as well as healthy savoury meals, she also concocts wonderful desserts, many using raw cacao powder and nibs. As these are natural, non-processed products, I think they are acceptable to eat during Lent. So goodbye B & J's ice cream, mini eggs, chocolate puddings, Nutella, Cadbury's, etc, hello raw cacao.

I’ll be interested to see if my body fat lowers during Lent… I might finally get to that long-awaited 18%! Yes I know, Boring Barry talking about body fat again.

I tried giving up homework when I was at (Catholic) school (worst experience of my life), but it didn’t last long. They should have given up pestering me about trivial things – “Don’t dye your hair purple for the school photograph”, “No piercings” (left with 9), “Don’t lock your teacher in the photography room”. I could go on.

So, are you giving something up for Lent? Have you heard of Deliciously Ella?

xxx