Yesterday was the first day of Lent, where Christians choose to commemorate the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness by giving up certain foods or drinks or abandoning bad habits.
Even for non-believers, Lent can be an ideal time to set a target and break a few habits which can be bad for your health.
Candy
You may think that three wine gum packs a week are a reasonable indulgence, but at 170 calories per pack, over 40 days of Lent you could give up 2900 calories.
Likewise, if you usually go through three packs of chewing gum weekly, giving your jaw a break over Lent would also spare you about 2900 calories.
Chocolate
If, you have resolved to give up chocolate for Lent, good for you. The average sized Mars bar contains 230 calories (as well as 12g of fat) and a Snickers bar contains around 218 calories.
If you are in the habit of snacking on these twice a week, you will be saving about 2500 calories if you give these up for Lent. As for chocolate being good for boosting your mood? So are friends.
Alcohol
Gram for gram, alcohol is nearly equal to fat when it comes to calories; one unit of alcohol contains eight grams of alcohol and 56 calories.
A medium glass of red wine (175ml) contains around 120 calories. If you give up your evening glass of wine, you would reduce your intake by around 840 calories per week or 4800 for the period of Lent.
Similarly, giving up a bottle of shine shine bobo and odeku (5%) after work, would save around 1750 calories a week and 10,000 calories for the period of Lent. You would also be doing your liver a favour!
Cigarettes
Coincidentally, the first day of Lent is also a National No Smoking Day in some countries. If you smoke, the single best thing you can do is to quit. Smoking increases your risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and cancer and causes around 120,000 deaths every year. It's also expensive.
It usually takes more than one attempt to kick the habit, but studies have shown that people are four times more likely to quit with support compared with those who go it alone. So contact your GP or practice nurse to get the support you need.
Not much of a sacrifice you might think. But calculate how much time you spend on Facebook. Many studies have linked "screen time" to an increased risk of heart disease and obesity. Instead of browsing on the internet, why not go for a walk?
Walking around 10,000 steps a day will burn off 300 to 400 calories, or up to 16,000 calories in total for Lent. It's good for the heart, helps with weight loss and can help lower your risk of cancer. It's also free.
Nollywood movies
we all know that nollywood movies are very addictive but we also know how many nollywood movies will end so giving it up for lent might just be what you need ! no mercy johnson for 40days !
ps.
you can also dump facebook for 9jabook.com which is attempting to rebrain nigerian youth lol !
Happy lent !
readapted for a nigerian audience
