Combining Lenten Fast with Weight Loss

[SouthCatholic]

The people trashing Catya about her suggestion, because they feel it is centered on self and not God, should remember that the body is a temple built by God. We are called to treat that temple with respect. So her focus on eating better, losing weight, and becoming more in-tuned to what God wants for the creatures he placed on this planet is perfectly in line with serving Him!

 

[IrishAm]

Hi Everyone, Lent is starting early this year, so wanted to get a head start.

I need to lose weight for health reasons, so why not combine my weight loss efforts with my Lenten sacrifice? Is anyone else doing this or have you done so successfully in the past? Any thoughts/ideas/advice?

It has been my experience (and only mine) that it was very difficult to take a “kill two birds with one stone” approach without falling into the “serving God and mammon” trap. I know there are diets out there that are God-centered, and perhaps following one of them with reflections and readings would have been helpful (I know nothing about their orthodoxy), or adding something else to my Lenten sacrifice during the time would have helped, but, as it was, I ended up far more focused on the diet than on the cross. * Mea culpa *(not necessarily youra culpa )

So, yes, I diet during Lent, but keep it apart from my Lenten sacrifices.

 

[petitfleur]

I am probably going to give up snacking for Lent, to simplify three plates of food a day and dessert on the weekend. Things get complicated when I give up all sugar or flour ect. My sacrifice should not affect others. Believe me when I say this is harder than you would think it is. I can’t believe of often I sneak an extra bite of something. It also saves me a lot of time thinking about what I can and cannot eat. For instance if I give up all sugar I start having to figure out what to have instead of ketchup…or BBQ sauce, or wondering if a salad dressing has sugar, or what brand of bread I can buy. To much focus on food. This way I have my plate and move on.

 

[Reverie]

I don’t make my fast as complicated as a diet. I simply keep the Ash Wednesday fast, 2 small meals and one normal size meal, no snacks. Though I will probably eat meat with my one regular meal on non-penitential days.

 

[VivienneJ]

Hi Everyone, Lent is starting early this year, so wanted to get a head start.

I need to lose weight for health reasons, so why not combine my weight loss efforts with my Lenten sacrifice? Is anyone else doing this or have you done so successfully in the past? Any thoughts/ideas/advice?

I’ve always tried to have two Lenten disciplines, one physical (as in ‘giving up’ something) and one spiritual (as in ‘taking up’ something). So I see no reason why your weight loss efforts could not be your physical Lenten sacrifice. I have used Lent as a time to try to adopt better eating habits many a time.

 

[GangGreen]

Fasting isn’t even that good of a thing to do for weight loss. They actually say the best way for losing weight is eating lots of small meals with smaller portions. This gets your metabolism going faster because your body is constantly having to work to digest the food and such.

Also when you fast your energy levels are much lower due to lack of food intake. This makes exercising much more difficult and less safe.

If you’re going to fast, do it for the right reasons, not to lose weight.

 

[Litcrit]

…Jesus wants and takes whatever we give him, he cannot wait for our perfect gift of prayer because all of our gifts to him are imperfect! The Lenten diet, giving up smoking, giving a small amount of money to church when you could really give more, the half-hearted prayer, only saying a decade of the rosary when you meant to say an entire one, the fasting we meant to do but gave in because we were weak, the sacrifice we are making for him but are also making because it benefits us in a superficial way too…all of these I like to beleive that Jesus accepts in love because he loves our imperfect gifts! He knows and sees our imperfections but as long as at least in some imperfect way we are trying to grow closer to him I beleive he is happy! Again I’m not an apologist by any means just my thoughts, God bless.

Beautiful post, thank you.