I'm Giving up Alcohol for Lent!

I am not Catholic. I am married to an Italian guy and he was brought up Catholic, but he doesn't practice.

So why did I say I would give up alcohol for Lent? It seemed like a good idea at the time, even if I did make the decision when I wasn't drinking.

Lent started yesterday, February 22 and it goes through April 5.

40 days.
Lots of days in 40 days.


From everything you wanted to know about Lent: According to Catholic.org, Ash Wednesday starts the beginning of the Season of Lent. It allows Catholics a time of “penance, reflection and fasting” that will prepare them for Easter Sunday.
Ash Wednesday occurs 40 days before Easter and falls on different dates each year, depending on the date that Easter follows on for the year.

Okay, I probably have some things I should pay penance for. I can't think of them right off the top of my head, but give me a couple of weeks of not drinking and I probably will have a list. Reflection is always a good thing. During Lent I will be reflecting on how not drinking is positively affecting my athletic performance. That's my hope, anyway. Not drinking alcohol will be my version of fasting. I envision that cutting out the booze will help me lose the last 5 pounds I have sitting around my middle.

I know I have some abs down there, I would just like to see them, or one!



All those calories I will not be drinking over the next 40 days should help me in losing the weight. I'll post my ab picture as soon as I get a can (6 cans in a pack, right?)

The reason I picked this year to jump on the Lent bandwagon is that this year (again from Everything you wanted to know about Lent): Catholics will have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, a French priest who had ties to Jesus’ mother Mary and created the Total Consecration.The Total Consecration, which is made up of prayers and spiritual practices, occurs on the same day that Lent starts this year. Father Ryan Wayne Erlenbush told LA Times that the next time this will happen will be 2075.
Erlenbush said, “It’s a unique opportunity to do both, this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make it our best Lent ever.”

Bingo - It all came together for me. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lose some weight, give my body a break from the glass of wine at dinner and then another at the computer every night, and be part of a spiritual practice.

Right after I decided to give up my vino for Lent, I found out it was National Margarita Day!

I am going to celebrate on April 6.