February 18th, 2010 
Bren While I am by no means a dedicated Catholic (according to the Pope, a few of my more “liberal” beliefs prevent me from being a true Catholic), I do try and celebrate Lent every year, in terms of sacrificing something for 40 days. In high school I gave up drinking soda – I didn’t have any for 5 years after that. I even gave up bacon one year, and didn’t eat it again for damn near 10 years (some of you hardcore bacon enthusiasts are FREAKING OUT right now, I know it!). But rather than putting myself on a diet, this year I’m doing something else – I’m giving UP something and TAKING ON something else.
I’m going to give up shopping. Yep. For 40 days. Now, there’s a few rules with this – obviously I’m going to need things like groceries and toothpaste. But for the next 40 days, I will only be spending my money on NEEDS (btw does beer count as a need? I’m not sure yet. I’m sure it counts as a grocery). No shoes, no sexy lingerie, no “OMG I NEEEEEED IT” handbag, no new WII games – if I don’t need it, I’m not buying it. Thankfully, my birthday this year lands AFTER Easter, so not only will I be saving lots of cash for my 25th Birthday Extravaganza in Las Vegas, but hopefully I’ll be a bit trimmer when Lent ends so I can buy sexy, smaller new clothes. Which brings me to my second part….
For the next 40 days, I will work out EVERY SINGLE DAY (yes, including today). I don’t have a gym membership (nor am I about to buy one, because obviously, I can’t!), but I do have a running trail near my house and tons of fitness DVDs (Tae-Bo and Yoga for Surfers, anyone? Hopefully I can borrow P90X from someone!) I’ve been really lax about working out lately, which has caused me to gain 4 lbs. That’s not a lot, but I’ve goaled myself to be at my pre-relationship weight of 145lbs by June and let’s just say, I’m not THAT close to it. So let’s do this!
I’ve put away my Visa and Mastercard and broke out the running shoes. Let’s see how this goes. I’ll be updating periodically as the weeks go by. Wish me luck!
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Good for you!! Inspiring to hear what others are doing for Lent too!! Wonderful!!! Thanks for the inspiration!
I think those are wonderful sacrifices. Good luck, I know you can do it!
So, how is it going???
I’ve been working out with a goal of a triathlon, that’s Saturday.
Gave up the F bomb for Lent this year. Trying to cut out white flour… I gave up soda for Lent a while back, and I haven’t ever had it again. Well, kinda – in other countries, I have fresca or fanta, etc.
YOU CAN DO IT!!
It’s going okay. I accidentally bought a pair of shoes from @ShoeDazzle like, an hour after this post, (that Send Now button is a doozy!) but other than that I’ve been pretty okay. I haven’t even had money to shop cause my puppy is sooo sick.
White flour, Noelle, you are crazy
I gave up shopping last year for lent and i nearly died! what makes it worse is that my birthday falls during lent. To be exact, usually during spring break
This is quite ambitious, and let’s just say I admire your discipline! I have a half marathon in less than a month and really shouuuuuuld be working out every day…
Hope you’re coming along well so far!
I totally lucked out: wanted to buy a pair of shoes, had a hard time justifying them, and then when I went to actually purchase them… they didn’t have my size any longer. YAY and boo. Anyway, I have added white flour back in, but I long to take it out. I think I’ll do that. Been trying to still eat well, even without hardcore training, so that’s good. And I haven’t used the F word very much at all! In fact, my whole potty mouth has been cleaned up! WOO!!
Audrey, My birthday is usually during lent too, but this year I missed it by days! Thank goodness.
Noelle – yay for cutting back on the cussing. I need to do an update post. Ive been kinda bad. Hahaha.