Don't Give Up Sweets, Friend.
For years Lent was just another excuse for me to restart a diet plan. Maybe I would give up sweets or give up eating after dinner or give up snacking in between meals. One particularly disordered Lenten Season I only ate one meal a day while running upwards of five miles a day. I wasn't nourishing my body, and I thought that was a good, honorable thing. It wasn't.
Perhaps I hoped it had to do with me cleansing and purifying myself in order to grow closer to God, but it didn’t. What I fasted from brought me into further confusion about what God wanted from me, hoped for me. God didn't desire for me to achieve perfect eating and a physically perfect body- nor does God desire that for you. God desires much, much more. God wants us to live freely, and be a slave to nothing- and make no mistake, many of us are slaves to diet culture's rules for what to eat, how to exercise and how to look.
It’s time for us to be truly free to seek out an authentic relationship with our Creator.
Maybe this Lent is an opportunity to pursue the freedom the Lord desires so deeply.
Scroll down for my Intuitive Eater's Lenten Journey Resource!
Below is a free resource for your Lenten Journey. Each day try one of the suggested activities in the box. Some take one minute, some take 30 minutes.
How to Use This Resource:
Choose a box- a- day in any order, kindly following what speaks to you as the days of Lent progress. Do them all or do 10 of them or do one of them ten times, but observe the small changes in your perspective slowly shifting- about your body, about food, about your relationship to yourself and to God- while practicing these activities.
*At first glance, you may think that some of the activities are not connected to your faith in any way. In those instances, consider the radical act of love that created YOU. The intentionality and purpose behind the creation of your soul and body. One of God's many gifts to you is your body. How we nourish it, care for it, honor it is a response to that gift- your body is incredibly connected to your faith.
An Intuitive Eater's Lenten Journey
Fast from eating standing up today. That’s it. Just sit down. :) | Eat a meal blindfolded. It sounds a bit crazy. Pay attention to the experience of eating without your eyes. What did you notice? | And consider the relationship Jesus had to food. What message does Jesus have for you with the “twelve wicker baskets” of leftover food? | Enjoy a special dessert from your favorite restaurant. Savor each and every bite. |
Share a beloved family recipe with your family- have them help you make it or make it alone. Think about happy memories you have with this food. | Write a letter/send an email to someone who may be lonely or isolated. Let them know they are not alone. | Donate ( or better yet, recycle) a diet centered/weight loss book you own. | |
Fast from weighing yourself today. Better yet, give away your scale! | Read John 2: 1-12 and consider our Lord’s first miracle. Ask yourself what Jesus might be sharing with you about celebrations with food/drink in this miracle. What sticks out to you about this passage? | Give away one clothing item that is no longer comfortable. | Purchase comfortable, correctly sized clothing that you might need (pants or underwear?). |
Fast from texting today. | Fast from your favorite social media today. Replace it with having one meaningful conversation with someone you love. | Write a “thank you” letter to your body for showing up for you today. It can be short and sweet or long and lovely. | |
Fast from saying/thinking anything critical about your body today. | Move your body in a way that brings you joy- a walk with a friend, a solo hike, yoga, stretching, or dance party…. | Choose one meal to eat uninterrupted- no phone, tv, or distraction. Give yourself full permission to eat each bite and enjoy it as a gift from God. | Write a note to a friend you admire for how gracefully and kindly they treat their body. Thank them for that example. |
Fast from making comments- positive or negative- about another person’s body size or shape. | Try a new food you have always wanted to try. | Delete 5 Social Media follows that cause you to compare yourself to others. | Look up “body neutrality” and consider how you could be more open to accepting your body as it is. |
If you track what you eat or your steps, fast from this today. Try to listen to your body’s needs without numbers, just for a day. | |||
Fast from the news today. | Listen to your body's natural hunger cues today. Consider the level of hunger you experience before choosing to eat. | Listen to your body. Spend 3 minutes in silence feeling your heart beating in your body without taking your pulse. | |
Have a conversation. Plan to talk to someone you love and trust about your insecurities or fears with food and your body. | Listen to your fullness today. Consider the level of fullness you experience before choosing to eat. | Read John 21: 1-14 and consider the abundance of fish Jesus provided the fishermen. Ask yourself what Jesus might be sharing with you in this miracle? | Pull up two of your favorite dance songs and dance wildly to them all alone. Let yourself jump, sing, cry, wiggle and waltz. Just appreciate your body and the joy the music brings. |
Cook a new food from scratch with friends or a family member. | Look at an old photo of yourself with the “perfect body” and stop comparing it to your "here and now body" using these five steps. | Watch Netflix (best Lenten task ever) and observe the types of bodies represented in the shows you watch. What impact might the media consume have on your own body image? | Consider your health. Make a doctor/dentist/ therapy appointment if you are due for one. Today’s the day. Just make the appointment. |
Thank you Kate.I am going to share this w/ my female co workers.It will bea great resource for us.