Dr Eva Orsmond: Give up yer aul food sins this Lent

Instead of giving up something this Lent why not take up a healthy diet instead?

LENT may traditionally be a period of abstinence, but this year while you are giving up, why not take something up at the same time — good eating habits. I may as well be honest here. Before I started to write this article, I had to investigate the tradition of Lent, what it meant and where the common idea of ‘giving something up for Lent’ came from.

In defining Lent, I came across words such as penance, abstinence and fasting.

I already knew of the practise of not eating meat on Fridays, and as a Christian myself, I understand that this is a time for praying and for spiritual growth.

But traditionally this 40- day Lent period is a very productive time for people on their diet in my clinics. It may be primarily a spiritual period, but in practical terms, how can we actually use this mindset to benefit our bodies?

I’d like to think that with the idea of less attachment to material and perhaps addictive things, that we can focus on making beneficial changes for the good.

After all, I’ve heard that it takes 21 days to break a habit (or to make a new one), so after 40 days, you should be covered. Even if this idea is not clinically proven, it’s worth a try.

The community effort of not having chocolate or alcohol around this period helps to get numbers down on the scales.

We all know that it’s easier said than done to give up something.

During Lenten fasting, the majority of people experience cravings for things like chocolate, and with shops bursting with chocolate Easter eggs at this time of year, it can be particularly tough.

You may question the benefit of avoiding your guilty pleasure for 40 days. (I love chocolate myself, so I think this would be the hardest thing for me to give up!)

But maybe looking at the calories you are saving will encourage you to try it. For example: ÷ GIVING up that glass of wine at dinner during Lent would save you about 5,080 calories. This is a total of 1.4lbs of weight that you could prevent from gaining during the 40-day period. ÷ REPLACING regular sugar in your tea or coffee with stevia is also an easy way to reduce your sugar intake over Lent. If you have three cups of coffee or tea a day with sugar this would save you about 48 calories a day. Implementing this change for 40 days could create a routine that becomes a habit of a lifetime. If you follow this for a whole year, you will in fact avoid gaining five pounds. ÷ SWEET treats are another popular thing to restrict from your diet during Lent. The fact is we tend to treat ourselves to sugary foods a little too often. Chocolates and biscuits have empty calories with no added nutritional value and they have become part of our daily snacking in Ireland. We have also seen an increase in portion sizes in recent years. But a chocolate bar or three chocolate biscuits can actually give you an extra 250 calories a day — this is a 2.8lb gain. And there are other ways of treating yourself that could do less harm and add extra nutritional value to your diet.

You could for example try my recipe for oatmeal waffles with strawberry syrup. These are packed with goodness and extra fibre that will keep you fuller for longer. IT HAS been scientifically proven, and I usually see this in my clinics, that if you actively do not make changes to your current lifestyle, you will probably be 1-4lbs pounds heavier next year.

Lent is therefore the perfect challenge to help you understand calories and consider your current intake.

I think it’s worth a try. Lent could also be a positive way for you to master a controlling influence in your diet, for example a specific food that you crave.

This requires great self-restraint but it can teach you a great life lesson. Whenever you seek to remove a habit in your life, you have a guar- anteed opportunity to replace it with a new one and hopefully a much healthier one. You then realise that many of the foods that seem to control you are actually not your ‘wants’ or your ‘needs’.

Denying yourself one of these ‘wants’ for 40 days at a time can help you put things into perspective and give you the necessary discipline to change your habits for good. It is a great exercise to compose a list of your old unhealthy habits as well as a list of the new healthy habits that you plan to start applying during Lent.

By incorporating the spiritual significance and religious tradition behind Lent into your eating practises, you can set yourself a personal challenge and use the opportunity to develop healthier habits.

So what will you give up for Lent? Orsmond Clinics are located at Baggot Street and Loughlinstown in Dublin; Oranmore, Co. Galway; Newbridge, Co. Kildare; Kilkenny. For more information call 01 282 7500, or email info@ orsmondclinics.com. Visit the website at orsmondclinics.com