church in Italy; own work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>It\u2019s 8:30, the day after Ash Wednesday.<\/p>\n
And I\u2019m pleased to report some early success with Lenten weight loss:\u00a0 I\u2019m down half a pound after yesterday\u2019s, well, half-a**ed fast.<\/p>\n
OK, so actually, there\u2019s some context there:\u00a0 having gained weight during the summer and more weight during Halloween\/Thanksgiving\/Science Fair Season, I had already been dieting since New Year\u2019s.\u00a0 (Yes, the norm is to gain weight in the winter, not the summer, but summer is not just the season of being more active, but of taking walks or going on bike rides to destinations such as Dunkin Donuts or an ice cream place.\u00a0 And my son\u2019s science fair project had been about yeast, so he was baking lots of rolls.)\u00a0 And, while the dieting I pursued to take off baby weight in three instances, and at various other points in my adult life, had always meant a Weight Watchers-style points-counting, snack-reducing, generic reduction in \u201ccalories in,\u201d and that had kept me at a reasonable weight, that was no longer working after I hit age 40 or so, at which point the only thing that really worked (and even then, my weight inched upwards) were bouts of what I initially called a half-a**ed South Beach Diet and, this time around, I\u2019ve taken to calling a half-a**ed Keto diet \u2014 which means, in the first place, that I didn\u2019t obsess over the low-fat requirements that South Beach called for and now I don\u2019t obsess over the high-fat requirements of \u201ctrue\u201d Keto.\u00a0 And, turns out, the South Beach Diet author has a new book out, in which he pretty much says, \u201ceh, fat\u2019s not so bad, you should eat low-carb on a long-term basis, but you can still get weight-loss benefits without focusing on the \u201ctrue Keto\u201d fat vs. protein ratios and with, especially in the long-term, a higher ration of carbs.\u00a0 He says, true ketosis isn\u2019t really necessary for anyone except for those with certain medical conditions.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I haven\u2019t actually lost all that much weight.\u00a0 In part, there\u2019s a bit of a bait-and-switch going on:\u00a0 this and similar books promise that the key is cutting out carbs, but then they provide sample meal plans that turn out to pair no-carb eating with calorie reduction.\u00a0 So there was a bit of an ah-ha moment when I realized that I needed to cut down snacking rather than merely accustom myself to low-carb snacks.\u00a0 I had also set myself an initial goal:\u00a0 after I lose X pounds, I get to start enjoying low-carb treats.\u00a0 But I discovered that the snack bars I had been enjoying (Atkins branded, no less) were using a form of artificial sweetener (malitol) which is perhaps better than eating a full-sugar product, but not a \u201cfree lunch\u201d after all.<\/p>\n
So the weight-loss effort that I had hoped to have been finished with before Lent (for the pragmatic reason that I\u2019m not a fan of seafood and constructing meatless meals which are also low-carb is no mean feat), is still ongoing.\u00a0 Therefore, I am \u201cgiving up carbs for Lent,\u201d for what it\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n
I have also been attempting to get into a routine of exercising, and have been reasonably successful at the goal of going over to the cut-rate fitness center three times a week, after the kids have left for school.\u00a0 But at the same time, I\u2019ve gotten into the practice of getting up later than I used to, and getting a late start on actually, well, working \u2014 whether that means writing or another freelancer-y project or something housewife-y \u2014 so I have another Lenten resolve, that of getting up when the alarm clock goes off, rather than hitting the snooze repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Am I doing Lent \u201cright\u201d?<\/p>\n
Many of you would likely say \u201cno.\u201d\u00a0 (OK, many of you aren\u2019t actually Catholic, but among my Catholic readers, many of you would say \u201cno.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Lent isn\u2019t about self-improvement, after all.\u00a0 Getting up earlier than usual?\u00a0 That might be acceptable if paired with, say, Bible reading or rosary-praying.\u00a0 A change in diet?\u00a0 Maybe the version the college-me practiced would have been OK; then, my cutting out sweets wasn\u2019t about weight loss because the moderate weight loss I experienced wasn\u2019t really necessary and just moved me around slightly within the window of \u201csomewhat on the slender side but not overly much so.\u201d\u00a0 Granted, even then, it wasn\u2019t done for spiritual reasons (heck, I wasn\u2019t even Catholic), but more a matter of pushing myself to be self-disciplined about something.<\/p>\n
But I tend to be of the opinion that it\u2019s entirely acceptable to engage in a discipline even if you don\u2019t have a spiritual motivation to go along with it.\u00a0 I likewise reject the idea that abstaining from meat on Fridays must be \u201cspiritual\u201d and entail \u201csuffering\u201d and\/or \u201chelping others by choosing a meatless meal that\u2019s less tasty than the meat you\u2019d usually eat, and less expensive than otherwise, to give the difference to the poor.\u00a0 Not eating meat on Lenten Fridays is only partly about penance; it\u2019s also about doing a Thing that\u2019s shared with the entire Catholic church, even if that particular practice doesn\u2019t suit you individually.<\/p>\n
And, of course, this is more than just a Lent issue.\u00a0 It\u2019s a question I\u2019ve raised on other occasions (though I\u2019m not going to try to hunt down the links now):\u00a0 how important are spiritual practices to being a \u201cgood Christian\u201d?\u00a0 If I believe (or assent to) the doctrines the Church teaches, if I attend mass weekly and otherwise do my best to avoid sin, if I tack onto that some reasonable efforts at volunteering, is it also necessary<\/em> to add onto that a regular prayer life and\/or other spiritual practices?\u00a0 Or are these more what you\u2019d call \u201cbest practices\u201d that are beneficial for those who do them?\u00a0 And, after all, I\u2019d be happy to participate in the sorts of practices that have, in the past, been meaningful to me \u2014 a Vespers or other Liturgy of the Hours service, chant, other sorts of corporate prayer.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t really exist in suburban Chicago.\u00a0 (And no, I don\u2019t have the resources \u2014 that is, the Social Capital \u2014 to implement these at my local parish.)\u00a0 I attended a Stations of the Cross at my parish once, and the prayer booklet (from the 70s or so) was just really off-kilter and seemed at various points to have doctrinal error, though, I admit, that was so long ago I don\u2019t recall the details.\u00a0 And a rosary or the notion of \u201cspend some time talking to God\u201d just doesn\u2019t work for me \u2014 I spend my time instead, talking to myself about what I should be doing.\u00a0 Reading the Bible reflectively and prayerfully?\u00a0 Morning devotions?\u00a0 Tried it \u2014 I read for content and wasn\u2019t able to shift into what I imagined reading in a prayerful manner should be.<\/p>\nAnd there\u2019s, of course, another point of view as well \u2014 those who call for Lenten sacrifices to be directed at charitable works, that is, of the triad of \u201cfasting, prayer, and almsgiving,\u201d they deem as worthwhile the first two only insofar as it produces the third:\u00a0 use the proceeds from your reduced food purchases to give to others and use your prayer to motivate you to help others, or be a better person generally speaking (that is, pray to be better able to let go of grudges or be a better parent).<\/p>\n
So this is the point where I solicit reader opinions.\u00a0 Is there a mandate to engage in prayer of one sort or another?\u00a0 Is it scriptural, or just a sort of conventional wisdom?\u00a0 What say you?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s 8:30, the day after Ash Wednesday. And I\u2019m pleased to report some early success with Lenten weight loss:\u00a0 I\u2019m down half a pound after yesterday\u2019s, well, half-a**ed fast. OK, so actually, there\u2019s some context there:\u00a0 having gained weight during the summer and more weight during Halloween\/Thanksgiving\/Science Fair Season, I had already been dieting since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,57,1410],"class_list":["post-16628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lent","tag-prayer","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n
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