3 Reasons To Give It Up for Ash Wednesday

Albert Einstein said “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Now that we have officially blown all of our recurring New Year’s resolutions it’s time to get back to our senses.

Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the 40-day lent season leading up to Easter, is TODAY!  During Lent many Christians examine their hearts and make sacrifices that will help them gain a renewed focus of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and to be reminded that following Christ means dying to self every day.  

So here’s an idea - GIVE UP DIEting this year for Lent in exchange for a Christ Focus for your weight loss and wellness goals. Switching this focus may be the key to the real heart changes that will ultimately change our bodies.

Here are three reasons why:

1.     Dieters Gain More Weight: Scientific studies have shown that one-third to two thirds of all dieters regain more weight than they lost within four (4) years.  Restrictive diets are temporary fixes that make you focus on food even more, stress you out and in the end set you up for the likelihood of regain. - Whenever I dieted all I ever thought about was FOOD.

2.   Results Not Typical: Most diets promise you much of the same (in small writing, of course) “results NOT typical.” Yet we keep going back for more of this ‘promise.’  Meanwhile what has become typical is the soaring rate of overweight and obesity which has propelled lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cardio vascular diseases while diet companies prosper.

3.     There is no perfect diet: In a study examining diets with different proportions of carbohydrates, protein and fat, researchers found that it made NO difference what kind of diet people followed. By reducing calories they initially lost weight but after two years average participants had regained weight and were on a path to further regain.

  

What’s that tell you?  WARNING - Stop dieting! Stop going insane!

Do something different for Lent – rely on your faith to make lifetime lifestyle changes.  This begins with a change of attitude of the mind and heart where we:

1. Go to God. Create a new habit of going to God rather than food, shopping, people or things for comfort
2. Be Content. Practice contentment by being grateful for our daily bread 
3. Get God Power. Passionately pray and rely on God’s power rather than will power to gain the self-control and discipline to reach our goals (2 Corinthians 12:10).

So with dieting aside, here’s MY plan: I am going to give up and severely limit the laptop and texting time that affects my work/family balance.  This will carve deep into my evening and nightly tech time…HELP ME JESUS!! It’s silly and small but for me a sacrifice because I am addicted to my technology. I can already see I will be going through tech withdrawal and calling on his name. Pray for me PLEASE!! J But the point is I will be closer to Christ because of it and that is the root of wellness.

As you pray about whether you will observe lent consider a sacrifice that moves you towards a lifetime lifestyle of wellness because “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).