It's been quite some time since I gave something up for lent.
I grew up Catholic and used to do this all the time, even starting out as a kid. Some years I would give up candy or certain toys. One year, I gave up playing the Nintendo because I LOVED Mario. I remember that one being the hardest because when my sibling would play, I would want to so bad.
We always abstained from eating meat on Fridays and we had fish fries in our little town.
What is the reason we give up something for Lent?
Well, Lent is the 40 days that precedes Easter. It commemorates the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the desert. It is a time where we can focus turning our minds and hearts more toward God.
We give up things that we love or things that may have some control over us because when you fast from those things - you can develop a better spiritual connection with Jesus by focusing more on him than this "thing" you're giving up.
That's how I view it anyway. Many people fast for spiritual reasons all the time.
So this Lent I decided I would give up all foods with added sugar and meat. Over the next 40 days I'll share more on why I decided on these two things, but I'm looking forward to this journey.
First I'll say that you'd be insanely surprised at just how many of our food items have sugar in the ingredients without you even thinking it would be there. Just take a look at any food in your pantry. I would talk for hours about sugar and the horrible things it does. But I'll share more of my research and reasons soon. I don't want to spill everything right now :)
I gave up meat because honestly I am grossed out by the meat practices in our country and over the last few years I did a cleanse a few times that was completely plant based and I've never felt healthier. I would like to ultimately move to a more plant based diet with some meat thrown in occasionally...not something that I eat every day.
I think this will teach me to be much more intentional about my food. I want to take this time to learn a lot more about meat sourcing and what I want my nutrition to consist of and WHY. I'm going to try new recipe and actually spend more time cooking and preparing beautiful dishes to enjoy.
I want to take this 40 days and pray more. Much more. When I'm craving a piece of chocolate (which lets face it - is bound to happen) - I'm going to turn to prayer instead of candy.
Couple things on my lent journey:
* I will still be drinking shakeology every single day. It is a very important part of my health regimine and I will never stop drinking it. I believe it in whole heartedly and it keeps me healthy!
* I will occasionally eat seafood.
* I will have alcohol on special occasions because we have stuff planned. I understand sugar is in most alcohol - so this is a caveat to my plan and its why I said no FOOD with added sugar.
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So how did day 1 go? Day 1 of 40 was a success. There are still some chocolate muffins on the counter and they look mighty tasty but they will be eaten by the family soon enough :) Or I'll make Chad take them to work to get them out of here.
We went out for dinner tonight and I chose a salmon salad with tons of spinach and garbonzo beans. I gave Chad my breadstick :) I killed my workout today and burned so many calories and never felt any lack of energy today from not eating meat!
I'm going to try to log my food in MyFitnessPal most days so I can keep track of my macros and make sure I'm getting enough protein. If you have never used that before - you should, it's so easy and a great way to keep track of your nutrition. And it's free - and we all like free!
Tomorrow I want to try a new recipe for dinner. I'll share it on here. I can't promise beautiful pictures because I'm no chef - but I'll certainly give it a whirl and share!
I'd love to hear any of your vegetarian / vegan recipes that you love too!!
Thanks for being on this journey with me! <3
