Every year when Lent comes around, I'm reminded of my years working in an eating disorder treatment center. It was the time when my patients viewed the holiday as an excuse to indulge their disease. Over night, everyone seemed to become Catholic and want the special dietary rules to apply to them!
I decided to have a rule that other than the"fish on Friday" tradition, all Lenten sacrifices would have to relate to something other than food. After all, Lent is supposed to be a practice of sacrifice, and making it easier to live in your comfort zone is not really what Lent is about.
Here are ten sacrifices to consider that may indirectly have to do with food, but in a way that may allow you to come out of Lent with a new healthy habit that benefits you long after the 40 days it felt like a sacrifice.
Any behavior change is hard. The purpose of Lent is not to punish yourself, but to pull yourself out of living with a focus on yourself and turning it toward others. The healthier you feel, the more likely it is you will want to interact with others. And social support can, over the long haul, help to balance your hormones.
The beauty of Lent as compared to a New Year's resolution is, you only have to commit to 40 days. Then you can re-evaluate. There is something about the permanency of a New Year's resolution that almost insures its being broken. Lent is a way to try a new behavior on for size and evaluate if it works for you.
1. Give up negative self-talk
2. Put away excessive weighing on the scale
3. Instead of spending money on that nail job or that new eye shadow color, buy the fish oil. And take it!
4. Go to bed at a regular, earlier, hour.
5. Get up early and get to that yoga class on time.
6. Pack your lunch.
7. Limit your social networking time (Facebook, Twitter) and attend a new meetup group once a week. A group that has absolutely nothing to do with food, exercise, fertility, or PCOS.
8. Practice a daily random act of kindness.
9. Do something daily that has no purpose and is just plain fun!
10. Spend a little bit of extra money on organic household cleaning products.