3 month update

Wow! has it only been three months? doesn't feel like it.

Well I thought I would let anyone who finds this know how I have been getting on post lent. One thing I have been doing since Easter Sunday 2009 is eating! I went through a phase of almost being scared to eat anything that wasn't on the lent list.

The first 4 times I ate chocolate I threw it up a few moments later! seriously. However, that passed but I must say I do have chocolate now and again but it doesn't phase me whether I have it or not. I do eat bread a bit more but it's always brown or seeded bread and never in silly quantities like I used to.

My clothes have got a little more snug than they were on Easter Sunday and I seem to be obsessed with checking the looseness of everything I put on and make myself believe I have put on 40 stone. I do need to cut back a little an try to eat regularly and normal sized portions.

So, what have I kept on that I gave up for lent, and more importantly for some of you, how much weight have I gained?

Well, I have not touched one drop of Diet Coke since I stopped lent. I tell a little lie there, I have had a bit of other brand diet cokes, and I mean like a glass here and there, but I haven't had one sip of the ultra lethal Coka Cola Diet coke as that was the 'brand' I was hooked on. If I am out and about and I do have a fizzy drink, it is lemonade.

I also don't binge eat, and have found tahini on Ryvita with Jam is a great way to squash cravings for nasty food.

So, since finishing lent, to date, I have put on ... 5.5 pounds! Which isn't too bad considering that I generally would have put on most of the weight I lost by now. I think this year it has affected me a lot more subconciously in that I can free wheel along without 'trying' to stay away from nasty foods.

I'm averaging around 15 stone and 9 pounds now on a weekly basis so I'm relatively stable at that. I guess to go down more I would need to do another three or four weeks of being strict with myself.

My BMI has gone up A LOT from 27 to 32 which is not good, so I do need to do something. But as I said previously in my blog, the diet side of things is a bi product of doing lent so I guess I will wait till next year to boost myself on another bit.

Final Official Post

I say final official post because I hope I will post on here now and again.  Simply because Lent is over doesn't mean it's effects are, so I will periodically post about how I am finding adjusting to eating now it is finished.

Anyway, here is what I hope some of you have been waiting for!...

Weight Lost...

Start weight = 109.5 Kg - 17 stone & 3.4 pounds

Week 1 = 106.5 Kg - 16 stone & 10.8 pounds

Week 2 = 105.5 Kg - 16 stone & 8.6 pounds

Week 3 = 103 Kg - 16 stone & 3 pounds

Week 4 = 102 Kg - 16 stone & 0.9 pounds

Week 5 = 98.5 Kg - 15 stone & 7.2 pounds

Week 6 = 98 Kg - 15 stone & 6.1 pounds

Week 6.5 = 97 Kg - 15 stone & 3.8 pounds

Total lost = 12.5 Kg - 1 stone & 13.6 pounds

Which is as close to 2 stone as makes a difference!  hee hee.

And here is a before and after pictures...

Before - Taken on the 25th February 2009

After - Taken on the 11th April 2009

Yes I'm grumpy in the first one and yes I am smiling in the second one and i know I have had my hair cut in between the two photos which will contribute greatly to the over all picture difference but it's just a reference to the visual difference, not a scientific facial research photograph.  There is a reason I'm grumpy in one and smiling in the other you know! :-)

To show you a greater difference, here is a photograph taken on the 21st February 2009, just 5 days before Lent started...

Hmm, don't particularly want to be that fella again (nor does Aimee)

Anyway, there you have it, 46 days of Lent, will power and a little bit of faith.  It has been worth it, I have yet again had my eyes opened to how special food is and how we take it for granted.  I've met a challenge and over come it.  I hope I have inspired others to try it, if not this year, then maybe next.  It's worth it for whatever reason you do it.

Mel

HAPPY EASTER!

Yay!  It's Easter and the 46 days of lent are over!

Crikey it's been a bit mental.  Bit long, bit hard, but ultimately worth it.

Well, Aimee is making me a cup of coffee as we speak, and two boiled eggs!  no toast as I don't really want to depend on the white fluff right away.

Last night was a bit bad.  I was out with my girlfriend and others and had a good night, but come midnight I was tempted to have something.

So at one minute past midnight I had a bottle of Corona beer.

I can't say I enjoyed it completely, it was more odd than nice to be honest.  Then when we got back I wanted some food and thought, well, I'll have some chips.  Bad decision.

I had some chips from the take away under my girlfriends flat and it had some "Red/pink" chicken on it.  The chicken was cooked, but it just had this weird dye on it and it tasted like the entire thing was made from Salt.

Then I started to feel sick and very very wrong.

I still feel a bit sick and a bit wrong.  A bit like Morgan Spurlock in Super Size me when he eats that first super size meal.  Except I didn't vomit.  I could have though, it was vile vile food.

Kind of wished I had waited till this morning to have some food, but I do that every year and thought I'd try it out this once.  The having food after Midnight that is.

So.  There you are.  Lent is done and I feel great.  I genuinely do.  I don't have an urge to go back to bread and because I have been off it so long, it will hopefully be easy to ignore it.

Anyway, the eggs and coffee are done now! so I'm off to have some proper off Lent food.

Stay tuned tonight for the weigh out and comparison pictures!

'Twas the night before Easter

And all through the flat, my tummy was rumbling because it had no fat.

Not entirely true.  I'm still pretty pudgy, but none the less feeling like my old self.  Well it's Saturday evening here in surprisingly sunny England (for a change) and I'm where I was when I started Lent, my girlfriends flat in Sheffield.

I am looking forward to tomorrow quite a lot, but I am more interested to see how I handle things after lent has ended.  I just got through watching Iron Man for the first time (not bad - sorta) and in it he wants an "American Cheeseburger" and they give him a cheap ass Burger king Cheese burger.  The kind wrapped in paper.

Now, that got me salivating right away.  I want an American Cheeseburger.  Can I haz cheezeburger? 

I hope not.

Everyone tells me "Wow, you must have great will power".  Possibly, but we'll see what tomorrow brings!.

As for tomorrow, I'll post an, erm, post in the morning as we are heading over to my girlfriends parents for Sunday dinner, so I'll get weighed there and take a few pictures to put up for my final official Lent 2009 post.  You'll get to know how much weight I have lost exactly and see a good old before and after picture.

Not Long Now!

Well, here it is, the last few days of Lent!

It's quite strange to think that it's almost over, doesn't seem like almost 6 and half weeks ago since I started.

I got my hair chopped today which was something I promised myself I would get done for Easter.  It was almost a year since I last had a hair cut so it is quite odd to have short short hair again.  I hope having it cut hasn't lost me my strength!

My housemate, Vicki, and I were having a chat about the end of lent as she has been doing it too, even though she isn't religious she wanted to see what it was like to do it.  She mentioned she was worried about Lent being over soon.  I know what she means.  It's odd to think what it will be like eating the foods you have given up for what seems like a long time.  I told her it is a little odd at first.  Eating something you haven't been eating through choice feels 'wrong' as your brain puts up a sort of mental block when you get offered / go to eat something on the no no list.

The first few times are almost a novelty, take for instance eating toast (as we have both given up bread as part of Lent).  The first time is almost a novelty because you don't actually want / need it but you have some anyway.  The next time is kind of a continuation of that.  And the third time usually goes like this...

You want some toast.  Then you realise you can have some.  So you get all giddy that you can actually have it so you do!  This might sound odd but it's true.  Lent usually lingers on a good while after it has ended but it really makes wanting something and then having it seem so much more outstanding.

Well, there are just 3 more sleeps to go until my first cup of coffee in 6.5 weeks and also a Sunday dinner with meat and gravy.  The Sunday dinner will be nice, but I'm not craving it at all.  Just the Coffee.

MMM!

I got 13 days to go!

Sorry for not posting as regularly as usual, Been fasting well and working hard.

Still on the go.  Clothes that haven't fitted me before are now doing so and that means I have a bit of a new wardrobe as a result!  Well, a new wardrobe as in I can wear things I already own but haven't been seen in for quite a while.

Last night was hard.  In fact, all weekend I wanted things I couldn't have.  I really craved some beer on Saturday and then Sunday all I wanted was a cheeky Burger from somewhere.  So I ended up watching Fast Food Nation on DVD and then Super size Me on Google Video just to appease myself that Fast food is not a good idea.

But as is usually noted when watching Super Size Me, it just made me want bad food even more! especially a Big Mac.

It's crazy really when you think about it all for a minute.  Most of us (not all) enjoy junk food to some extent.  You pass any McDonalds and you you will see people inside eating and chatting and if like me, you enjoy the odd one now and again, you know that those people are feeling happy, relaxed and good about everything.  Well, until the sugar low hits them an hour later and they just want more.

It's like we have been enslaved to like this crap en masse and have to try ultra hard to resist it.  I was thinking there now how hard it would be to give up something other than food for lent.  I mean let's say I decided to give up driving.  There goes the ability to do a lot of work as I generally travel with equipment to jobs.  If I wanted to give up talking, well, you can imagine how hard that would be!.

But in the society we have today, you either have a car, use public transport or don't go anywhere unless you can walk it.  We almost have to communicate verbally all the time or be limited to what we can achieve.

What I'm trying to say is that we rarely have a chance to do what we want in life.  And I mean 'Truly' do what we want without being limited in some way.

I always remember my History teacher in Secondary school teaching us about the history of Medicine.  He told us that at certain points along the timeline, Humans took a path at a junction and continued along it, came to another junction and continued along that one until we are where we are today.  Today we have hospitals, certain methods of making people well, surgery, Kaemotherapy, brain scans and so on.

Who is to say that is the right way?  why shouldn't spiritual healing or some other form of healing be in place of what we do today?.  He said just because this is where were at with medical skill doesn't necessarily mean it's the right place to be.  We could have taken the wrong path somewhere back in time.

And it's true for todays status on pretty much everything.  Who is to say a money based society is correct? who is to say Internal Combustion Engines are correct? why should we still depend so much on animal instinct? Why do we all wear clothes?

I know this might sound funny or even pointless, but it is just something I have been thinking about a lot recently and how Lent is a good chance to shed all the things we have been 'given' by society and think for ourselves.  Just because it's there doesn't mean we have to take it.

Just like I am on lent and have given up eating a lot of different types of food.  Just because the general populous stuffs their face 2 times a week in McDonalds doesn't mean I have to.  Yet, showing one of those families that I prepare fresh food and eat little each day might be as bizarre to them as it is to me going to McDonalds for my Food twice a week.

Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights (for arguments sake, lets say that is how it was) and he ate Locusts and Wild Honey.  No clothes (spare what he had on him) stones for a pillow at night and his faith.  Nothing else.  I always imagine how focused and unattached from society he must have felt.  But better still, how 'free' he must have felt also.

We are never truly 'free' from our society, and I doubt we ever will be.  Don't get me wrong, clothes, cars, computers, the internet are all great, but is that just my thoughts because I have never given anything else a chance?

Hmmmmm.

Oh well, back to work I go.

Food! Glorious Food!

Ah,

Shopping day!  MMmmmm.....

Big shop this week, lots of everything

Well, still going on.  Put a shirt on I hadn't worn for a while and it was baggy on me!.  Good grief.  I must say, I am kind of shocked at how I have become accustomed to good food and actually look forward to eating now.

I mean, I have always looked forward to eating, but never to this sort of food.  And nary an additive in Sight!

3 Weeks down, 3.5 to go!

Wow,  here I am in the third week of lent!

Well, I haven't had too many lent dreams since starting and in the past week I have lost some more weight, quite a bit considering how much food I have been eating.

This year I have been super strict on what I can and can't eat.  So many canned and even dried soups include some kind of milk or egg white, it's insane!

feeling good all the same mind you.  I do miss coffee.  At the mere smell of it I go all doe eyed!  I caught a whiff of my housemates one morning as she made some before work and I think I looked like the big shark in Finding Nemo when he smells blood after trying to give it up.  Ha ha.

I was chatting to my house mate Vicki today about what I miss most and she says she doesn't miss much at all.  Especially cheese! which is insane for her as she would just about eat anything cheese-esque.  She likes cheese.

I like coffee.

Oh well, only 3 and a half weeks to go!

I really don't want to gorge on all the stuff I have not been eating on Easter Sunday.  I wouldn't mind keeping it to a coffee, a sunday dinner with meat and maybe an easter egg.

I wouldn't mind keeping off bread, diet coke, fast food and milk to be honest, but we'll see.

My friend Roy told me a good idea he does.  He eats as healthily as he can when he's at home, and then when he goes out for food, he has anything he likes.  Such a good idea as it's not like everyone eats out every day (unless your Woody Allen) and I guess if temptation isn't there, it's easier to ignore the crap (food).

Well, anyway, that's too much diet talk right there, which f course isn't what lent is based on.

I watched a film called Zeitgeist the other night, which is a real hard hit if you believe in God like I do.  For those of you who haven't seen it, it's an atheist's dream of a film as it totally debunks the existence of God, Jesus and all the parables told in the bible.  And the Bible.

I won't go into too much detail about it here as you need to watch it more than read my description of it.

I mean, I love film too, so I watched it with interest, but the subject matter was against my belief.  Sort of.

By sort of I mean that, yes I went to church and know of the stories in the bible and what the Christian faith is based around, but for me (luckily in some sense) I believe in the core of any religion, faith.  Faith in humanity and some form of unknown entity which many would call God.

Whether that entity is the Sun (as described in Zeitgeist) some unknown force in the universe that put all this here or something else, I believe all the core elements that are tought to us through the bible.  I also believe the bible shouldn't be taken as a straight 1,2,3 description of what went down, rather something to take something good away from.

Sorry of any of that makes little sense, I am trying to keep short what I am getting at.

I just think if you have faith in an unknown factor, it keeps hope and dreams alive in people.  Too much of the bible is taken literally, which knocks people right off the idea from the get go.  You know those people who go "That's Rabbit food! I'm not a bloody Rabbit!" when you give them a healthy salad? well, to me, it's the same when you casually mention religion and someone goes "Oh yeah? Jesus?, explain to me how he turned water into wine? or tell me how he fed 5000 people with 5 loaves and two fish...yeah, you can't! - load of rubbish that there religion".

People love to focus on the black and white facts when religion isn't that.  I believe it's a personal thing, and you can believe without going to church, or, if you find it comforting, you can go to a church and celebrate your beliefs with like minded people.

Maybe I am all wrong, but it's what I have believed for a long time.  Just the very fact there are so many religions kind of proves that it's a personal thing and that it exists all over the world.

It's when it's used as an excuse for war, or to make money, that is just using religion as a tool, which I feel is wrong.

So yes, maybe some facts in the bible are based on a roman, greek, whatever, mythological character based on the study of the Sun, but it's hard to ignore the fact all the good things which have come from that (of course there are bad, as I have mentioned above) things which are never mentioned in the news and media.

Anyway, the movie is pretty hard hitting as I say, but it's also easy to throw facts at people and expect them to believe it, like a conspiracy theory, you need to research it yourself to know if it's true or not.  Which I would do, if I was arsed.  Which I'm not, but it did make me think.

Anyway, enough religious talk for now, I need some sleep! 

Sunday Sunday...

No signs of cracks yet. Although I have been out of my routine of eating for the past few days. Seem to be only eating one meal a day. Which is odd because I would normally be lowering my fridge and cupboard contents about now.

Don't know if this is due to my stomach shrinking or if I am just running on empty without noticing it. Well, I want to make a nut roast today if at all possible so I am going to see if I can make that and a ton of roasted vegetables.

2 Weeks down, 4.5 to go!

Ah. Two weeks into lent and not doing badly might I say. Well, to me it's either happening or not, I have either given up food or broke lent on some of them. I haven't. It's all good.

I guess I mean it's all going good by the fact I'm not even tempted by anything I have given up. I mean, I do salivate at the smell of other foods, but I don't give in, and this year it seems easier for some reason.

I think the only thing I wouldn't mind having a gulp of is Coffee. Good coffee with full fat dairy milk and a heaped spoonful of brown sugar. MMmmmm.

Anyway,

Here is this weeks shopping, again, I have no idea why i do this, but it seems to be a habit now so might as well keep it up...

(There's a dinosaur egg in there this week)

So, on Monday I had a fantastic meal. I say fantastic. It was originally going to consist of a cooked piece of mackerel but it turned into this in a few minutes!...

And I was pretty pleased with the result. Plain cous-cous with cooked mackerel and a tomato - mushroom - onion and garlic sauce! freakin' awsome and so tasty.

Oh yes, I have lost a little bit of weight in the second week also, only a little, but all the same.

Right, onto week three!

Still going...

It's the eve of 2 weeks on lent and all is going well.

Been eating really good this week and I am so feeling the difference! My body seems to be getting used to the change in diet and I am feeling mentally fresh and alert. I seem to be chewing through work a lot quicker due to this.

One thing which has come up among various people who are doing lent this year is the length of it. Everyone is expecting it to be 40 days and 40 nights as told in the bible.

And it isn't this long, it's longer.

This is primarily due to the church calendar which has to stretch and squeeze each year to make sure religious events happen at the right time during the year and for one reason and another, lent takes the bashing with Easter Sunday changing every year.

This year it's on the 12th April which is quite late, but also makes it longer than usual at 46 days long.

Those doing lent, who I have talked to, feel upset or scared that their fast has to last for 6 days extra. There are some options if you don't want to do the 'full' church calendar lent.

1) Start 6 days later than everyone else and finish on Easter Sunday

2) Take 6 days off on St. Patrick's day and end on Easter Sunday

3) Finish the Monday before Easter Sunday

4) Do the whole thing, 6 days extra and all

I am obviously opting for option 4 as I just do that. It feels more definite then as I can say 'I did Lent this year' and mean it. No excuses.

I never got the whole thing of stopping for St. Patrick's day anyway, what a load of toss. Did he show up in the desert when Jesus was there and go "Ah! 'tis Jesus himself! Here, oive been gettin' rid of the old snakes there, sure have a drink and a big old feed with me, an then get back to the starvin' the marra. So it is now so it is."

If he did, I'm missing something.

Then again, a clergy man didn't come rolling into the desert and go "Mr. Jesus, we decided lent will be a few days longer this year, so, erm, stock up on them there locusts and wild Honey...Bye!"

Ah well, lent is what you make of it, so make it a good, honest one. One you feel happy doing.

Fish Supper...

One week one day and I finally got time to go and do some food shopping.  I went a little nuts but I bought some seriously wholesome food, food I am terribly excited about eating (and that's saying something!)

(note the orange juice barely made it back unscathed)

I don't know why I display my food like that for you all, I guess it looks so good I had to take a photo of it.

Anyway, got some fish to celebrate loosing weight and popped for salmon steak, only ordered one, but when I got to the till, realised they had given me two! ah well, I'll celebrate in a few days again!

Feeling so terribly good.  I feel like someone is pumping sunshine into my body.  Not delirious, just feeling so 'awake' and 'able'  which must sound odd, but I feel champion.

Well, better go check the fish and tatties.

Headache gone

I woke up this morning sans headache!  felt groggy though, like my body had been spring cleaning itself during the night on a cellular level.

Haven't really had any cravings today, just happy I can do stuff without a pumping pain in my head.

Had some musli with cranberries and rice milk for Breakfast after my Berroca.  Then had some lemon and honey with hot water.

Just had some couscous with cooked vegetables (mushrooms, long pepper and onion) and some soy sauce.

Now on my second 'coffee substitute' of the day and it's all good.

Got a lot of work on and a very untidy room so best get back to it and get everything organised.

Going out tonight to meet a friend so just water and ice for me! still, I'll make more sense sober.

Ps Thought I would just add I did a 'life expectancy test' last night just for fun, but tried to find the most comprehensive one that was free.

I did 2 versions, one on lent and one on regular diet, here were the results...

Off Lent: 69 years

On Lent: 77 years

The biggest changes I could make to my lifestyle to give me more years was A) loose weight which would give me a massive 5-15 years more life! and B) Cut back on work by working 5 instead of 6 days a week I could give myself 2 extra years!

Try it out for yourselves, if only for a bit of fun (we could all get hit by a bus tomorrow)

And so it begins...

Day one in the big melvyn house...

Woke up with the usual headache.  I do not know why it is, but the minute I start lent I get a ferocious headache.  It has happened for the last 5 years and I'm used to it now.  I think it has something to do with coffee and the fact my body knows it ain't going to be there for some while.

Took my Berocca and went round to Lucy's and had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.  but soon started to feel a bit dizzy through lack of food (I hadn't eaten since the pancakes and that was at about 7:00pm).

So, off to Tesco's to shop.  Now, usually, at this point, I would be chucking in a cooked chicken with a loaf of bread and a bottle of diet coke and think "I'll do a proper shop soon"  So it was quite a change to walk around with a headache trying to buy the right things.

And I did...

Ah, a pure picture of health!

I was quite chuffed at what I bought.  Plus it was cheaper than a usual 'big shop'  The Nairns oat cakes didn't make it home untouched and the hummus and Ryvita got cracked open pretty soonish too.

Well, I better get back to work, but not before I cook something for myself as I'm feeling wuite low on energy.

I'll pop one more post in before the day is out with my current weight on there.  I know lent is a religious fasting but a lot of people are interested in the physical side of things too so I will weigh myself on Vicki's trusty scales to see what the starting weight is.

Pancake Day!

Apologies for lack of post yesterday. I was working at my girlfriends flat up in Sheffield, then we made pancakes, then I had to leave to drive back to Bristol. I was going to write something when I got in but was shattered after a 4 hour drive and about 6 50-mph zones on the motor way.

Well, I did promise a list of what I generally consume food wise. It is quite shocking, so I hope you have brought your blanket along to hide under...

Apart from everything on my 'no list' I also enjoy copious amounts of Diet Coke. I know it's mainly due to the Aspartame that I enjoy it so much, but I do. I would easily get through 3 500-ml bottles a week at best and a can a day at worst (maybe 2 if I am being honest).

I also devour bread like it might not be around much longer. I love the stuff, but annoyingly I also know how bad it can be for you when eaten in large quantities. I would easily get through a loaf a week on my own, sometimes more.

One thing I don't like admitting to is that I love Fast Food. I mean I LOVE fast food. But I also hate it as I know what it is made from and that it's a wonder I'm still alive. My biggest weakness is chicken burgers. Down the road from me you can buy a chicken fillet burger meal with a ginormous portion chips (they just are, it isn't an option I go for) and a can of drink for £2.99. I will admit, I probably have two of those meals a month.

I also love ice cream. Ben and Jerry's or Haagen Dazs, and flavour. I probably eat about a tub a month on average. I devour meat like it shouldn't be there and my mouth is the answer to getting rid of it. Chocolate, I probably have 3-4 bars a week.

I also have a weak spot for pre-made sandwiches, especially triple pack ones. Eggs, cheese, milk are generally limited, but when I do have them the eggs are fried.

Worst of all, for me, Coffee. Coffee with milk and sugar. Tea with Sugar (if I 'm not eating anything). I possibly drink 3 cups of coffee a day.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I can barely drink water unless it is flavoured by something. I have a terrible H2o intake.

Now, I would like to point out that I am fully aware of how bad these foods are for me. I probably have an intake of 10% of what I eat being vegetables and fresh food or 'proper food' and my exercise barely exists. I have no excuses except I am freelance and therefor sit at my computer a lot. Like I am doing now. Except I am usually working and stressed.

So pretty much everything I run my body on won't be there for it during lent which leads to all the benefits I have listed, but I find it makes me look at food more and think about it more which is odd because that is usually what you try not to do on lent.

Pancake day was rather relaxed this year. As I mentioned above I was working all day and my girlfriend was also at work so we had a few hours before I had to leave to squeeze in a few pancakes...

The paraphernalia laid out

Every year, the pancakes seem to be different, but this year they were actually quite good!

NOM NOM NOM!

I actually felt a bit ill as I had forgotten just how filling pancakes can be. Still, it's easier if I start lent feeling full rather than craving everything. I then left and spent midnight (the 'switchover') overtaking someone on the M5. The last thing I ate was a Trebor Extra Strong mint.

Two sleeps to go

Well, it's the 23rd February and tomorrow is pancake day so I'll be out getting all the paraphernalia associated with that. Well, everything apart from the lemon juice in a plastic lemon (stands to reason) as you can't beat the price and taste of a fresh squeezed lemon.

Hardly any preparation has been done this year for lent. Not that I do much any year, but it seems to be upon me like some ones belated birthday and I always feel like I am meant to have done something. I have had a few lent dreams, but nothing serious and I have found myself questioning eating something thinking "Uh Oh, is it lent yet? no, wait, not yet. Ah, I can enjoy this cadbury finger then"

It is a little weird as lent is so late this year, I kind of feel like I should already be on it on some ways, and I'm kind of bored waiting.

Aimee's just brought me something and here we have possibly one of the things I will miss the most as I always do.

Coffee.

Some mornings I can be heard in the kitchen mumbling after my first gulp of coffee "Ah coffee, my only friend". Not that it's my only friend in terms of companionship, but the endorphins released into my brain at just the very smell of freshly brewed coffee fill me with a giddiness which makes the world seem perfectly sane.

Instead I usually drink hot water with a bit of lemon or lime or orange and a spoonful of honey (one of the two main ingredients for 'THE' Lent) which is good but in a different way. I have often finished lent and actually felt sick at the smell of coffee which is saying something for me, and it usually takes a few months to get back to drinking it.

Well, thank you for your kind responses which I have received via text, email, phone call and also the comments section of my first post! they have been greatly appreciated. I must admit, I was worried about the kind of responses I would receive and almost deleted the blog last night, but it's good to know some people are interested.

I must mention my friend Lucy. She has offered to show me a few meals I can cook when I am on lent which don't consist mainly of Tuna, Ryvita, Humus and baked fish. Which I must admit is my regular diet when I am working and does get ever so boring (I do go through a soup phase and couscous phase when on lent, so it's not all bad)

This has excited me greatly as Lucy and her husband are vegetarians (no, not even fish) and she cooks some of the tastiest food I have ever experienced. This is also something which I would like to carry on after lent, I have really let myself go on cooking, as in, from scratch and I don't like being 'food lazy', so this might be a chance for me to return to my passion for cooking again.

Right, I am off to have dinner which, apart from pasta, is all lent allowed. Bah :-)

Tomorrow I will write a list of what I would typically consume (not daily or weekly, but generally) so you can stack up the change I'm about to bring upon myself. It will be frightening, so bring a blanket to hide behind for tomorrow nights post.

A few more FAQ's

To the right of here you should see the "Why's and Wherefores" explaining why I started lent. Whilst it started out of mostly anger and frustration as a teenager, it has developed to show more benefits than proving myself.


Religion

So, I guess I am religious. I grew up in Northern Ireland and attended church every Sunday (most times against my will), was christened, confirmed and then became a Sunday School teacher. One of the first male Sunday School teachers in my parish might I add. I soon discovered Saturday nights and left teaching just before heading off to do my Foundation in Art and Design.

I still go to church when I visit home and somehow I find solace and peace within myself in a place where I once counted the seconds on my sisters broach watch until I could get out of there. I once hated it, the pomposity of it all, with people making an appearance once a week but all the time hoping their pre-set VCR was recording the Holly oaks omnibus.

I didn't want to be there either, but at least I knew I didn't want to be there and given the chance I'd object as vocally as I could once the "Come on, get up for church!" knock was heard on my bedroom door at 9am on a Sunday morning. However, as I have gotten older, I appreciate church and religion more, but never in a fashion as to seem deluded or above other people just because I believe in God. I'm just happy it's part of my life and I get something positive from it. Not everyone's cup of tea and I fully respect that.


The first time

The first time I did lent, it was 1995 and I was 16 years old. I originally gave up chocolate and meat. The meat did not last for all of lent as my mother deemed that I would fall apart if I wasn't 'nourished' and obviously fried bacon had all the nourishment I would need. So after being deemed 'weird' by my family and maybe 'too religious' I had no option but to eat bacon or be cast out into the lower field to share the goats box for shelter.

However, Chocolate I did give up for the entire time (not seen as weird by my family) and it felt good to be able to say "I have given up chocolate for lent" and TRULY mean it. I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't even have anything with a hint of chocolate in it, not even a smidgen. I wouldn't shovel half a bar of Milka down my gob in the middle of the night and then pretend it hadn't happened. I did it as right as I seen was right.

Come Easter Sunday I was half a stone lighter and buzzing with excitement. Easter Sunday hadn't felt like this since, well, never! I went to church bursting with pride at what I had accomplished. Of course, no one would believe my full extent of giving up chocolate. They might think I had done it for a week or only had it on weekends, but never that I hadn't even smelled chocolate for 40 days and 40 nights let alone eat any during that time.

Coming out of church I was super excited about actually eating an easter egg. It was like someone was going to make all my dreams come true! (lent dreams are real, I'll get to that in a bit).

I waited until dinner was done and then sank into my easter egg. It tasted good, weird but good. Weird as in the sugar seemed to have multiplied ten fold since I last had chocolate but good in that I no longer had to ignore it as part of my well balanced diet of fried bacon.

One thing hit and stuck with me that day as I walked out of church. Me, and only me knew that I had really given up chocolate during lent. I mean, my parents knew, but I always thought, also doubted me in some respect as I love my food a lot. The thing that struck me was that, if he / she / it existed, then apart from me, God was the only other witness to what I had done, which felt, well, comforting.


Dietary benefit

There's no doubting that doing lent benefits your diet greatly. Giving up something which is essentially poison to your body (I.E coffee) can only be beneficial.

Throughout the years, I have added items to my 'Lent List' so much so that the lent list has turned into the things I 'can' have. For example, my lent now consists of only being able to eat: fruit, vegetables, fish and water and any derivatives there of. For a full 'Not Allowed' list, see later on in this section.

Generally, the following are the benefits and also downsides of doing lent which I have experienced...

The main downsides are withdrawal symptoms from Coffee, Tea, Diet Coke, Meat, Sugar and Salt. These manifest themselves as headaches, dry skin and a lot of flatulence (which is also derived from fiber intake going up).

But these all pass. After the third week, my body has generally adjusted itself to the new diet and thrives on the change giving me...

Lower blood pressure, Higher sense of alertness, More energy, Regular bowel movements, firmer skin and of course, weight loss.

The most I have ever lost on Lent has been 2.5 stones over a 6 week lent period (lent is rarely bang on 40 days and 40 nights as described in the bible, it's sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, but usually longer, this is due to the church calendar which varies each year)

A further dietary benefit of doing Lent is, it feels like your body adapts to knowing the good stuff from the crap. Let me explain.

I know Lent might well be compared to 'just a diet with religion thrown in' but like many religious fasting periods, if you truly do it, it becomes a benefit to your mind as well as your body (and in some ways, if you believe in a holy trinity, that would lead also to your soul being involved).

I find myself being happy with just water on a night out where everyone else is getting drunk. I feel fine eating boiled rice with vegetables while everyone else tucks into a mixed grill. I truly feel happy not eating everything I decided to give up. And after a while, it isn't an effort. After 13 years, it isn't an effort after the first 3 weeks.


Mental and spiritual benefits

I guess any type of 'health kick' will enlighten the saddest soul, even a little. But whilst doing lent I do find myself feeling sharper of body and mind, I also feel more aware of my spirituality. I think more bout what I do and how it affects others, and I focus on the things which are easily forgotten in the rush and bustle of every day life.

One side occurrence that I have experienced are 'Lent Dreams'. These are basically dreams where I am eating something I have forbidden myself to have during lent, and it is only after it has passed my lips that I realise and get very upset that I have broken lent. I guess it's harder work mentally than I thought as these dreams make me feel quite upset, but yet elated once I wake up and realise no, I didn't eat a Mars bar smothered in peanut butter dripping with melted Galaxy bar chocolate.

I have broken lent on some foods before, through either being 'tricked' or through accident. Both of which make my blood boil, especially when people think it's hilarious to trick me, as if they 'need to have control' over my personal decisions. I have also been made to break lent on some foods through peer pressure from others. Something which is getting less and less. it's almost as if by me doing lent, I am putting a burden on other people.

I don't do it for attention, and usually when I explain what I am doing, people are genuinely interested, but there are a few people who almost get angry at me because I won't have a drink of alcohol or they tell me to "Just have some bloody chocolate". It's insane what a simple act brings out of people when it is something which doesn't directly affect them or their ability to choose their own actions. That has been the oddest side effect of doing Lent for me.


If it's so good, then why stop?

Million dollar question for me I guess. It's the one thing people ask on a regular basis. My dad especially who wishes I could keep on lent forever as he loves hearing the benefits I get from it.

In a nutshell, it's become a sort of subconscious decision to go back to the foods i have given up for Lent. I genuinely find it so hard to continue the 'Diet' (as some people insultingly call it). I eat a sunday roast dinner on Easter Sunday followed by the obligatory Easter Egg and usually have tea, coffee, bread, and a diet coke somewhere along the way.

Other foods filter their way back into my diet along the following two weeks, and two months later sees me back to my regular diet. However it is usually mid summer by this point and I naturally watch what I eat due to increased activity and if we're lucky, it's also hotter.

Another proposition is "Well, why don't you just do it when you start to put on weight?" Well, to me that would be like having Christmas presents in September just because you felt a little down. It's unseasonable, and to be honest, once a year is enough for me thank you very much.

For me It's not a diet for diet's sake, it's a fast to bring to mind how lucky I am, we are, for having access to so many beautiful foods. How lucky we are that for relatively very little money we can buy meat, chocolate, coffee, tea, bread.


This year 'Lent List'

This year, oi'll be mostly eatin'...

Fruit
Vegetables
Fish
Water

And any derivatives thereof.


The main body of what I won't be eating...

Meat (all except fish)
Chocolate
Bread
Milk
Cheese
Butter
Eggs
Alcohol
Tea
Coffee
Fizzy Drinks
Biscuits

And any derivatives thereof

I might also add, I won't be having chips or crisps, or anything deemed too easy to argue as being vegetables when in reality they are smothered in 'artificialness'.
I will however be taking a vitamin supplement as the switch over will be quite sudden.


When and for how long?

This year (2009) Lent is from Wednesday 25th of February to Sunday 12th of April which is 46 days by my count.


And you've written and posted a blog about this because??

Well, because, I have thought about writing a blog about it for the past three years after I hit the limit of what I can give up for lent. With the likes of Facebook, Twitter and so forth in full swing, I decided to put my experiences online, and you can check it out right here. If you like.