First Day of Lent

I am quite selective on my catholic traditions these days, but I just remembered that Lent starts the day after Pancake Tuesday.

Back when I was an alter server (!), I used to love Lent. We did an evening mass every night and myself and the priest had a bet on the amount of mistakes we’d make, with an Easter Egg for the winner.

“Lent is a period of 40 days during which Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity.”

Well, first of all, we know not everything in the bible is factually correct but I realised after a couple of years, that Lent is never actually 40 days. I just counted and it is 47 days until Easter Sunday?!

Why am I talking to you about this?

Traditionally, this is when people sacrifice something they enjoy until Easter.

And this is usually chocolate.

(or alcohol, but that’s for another day)

Unless you are doing this as a devout Christian, please don’t.

If you are doing it as a way to get healthier or lose weight, you might be causing yourself more trouble in the long run.

When you restrict something from yourself, you will just think about it and crave it more.

If you want an Easter Egg before Easter Sunday, have one. I can’t find any here… and guess what I’m craving?!

I feel like this is pretty well known at this stage. But still, I have clients who thought it would be a good idea to eat all the chocolate yesterday with the aim of “getting it out of the house for Lent”.

I told them to go buy some more.

You see, when you allow yourself something that you traditionally think that you crave or are addicted to, you soon realise that you don’t actually want it all the time.

When you give yourself unconditional permission to eat, you become more in tune with your hunger levels and actual desires.

I used to be obsessed with Nutella. But that’s because I restricted it or only allowed myself very small quantities. When I eventually cracked and ate huge quantities, I realised I didn’t actually want it that bad.

If you remember my email about alcohol last week - this is why I allow myself a margarita or glass of wine if I fancy it. If I tell myself I’m not drinking for a month, when I do eventually let myself drink… well, you can imagine how that goes!

So if you were considering giving up something you love for Lent today, hopefully you might reconsider, or even notice your thoughts as Lent progresses.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhan “Craving decent Cadbury’s chocolate” O’Hagan