This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Leeds chapter.

It’s getting to that time of year again… the one where the vast majority of people, religious or not, try to decide whether they are going to attempt to give anything up for lent and if so, what? Now, I am of course one of those people. In the past I have given up cereal (Weetabix for breakfast still allowed – I wasn’t giving that up for anybody!), chocolate, biscuits, Dutch stroopwafels (caramel wafer biscuits for anyone who hasn’t heard of or had the pleasure of having these little treats), crisps and sweets just to name a few. I believe these to be pretty standard- apart from maybe the cereal- but anybody that knows me will know that giving up my precious snack of choice was my biggest challenge to date! However, I think now is time for a change. Lent may traditionally be focused around giving up food items due to the religious reasons behind it, but why not try and give up different bad habits that won’t make you reaching for the next best thing to curb your cravings.

Watching TV

I will be the first to admit that I watch too much rubbish on TV. I am a sucker for all forms of reality programmes, from Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents to Take Me Out. I am well aware that the amount of time spent watching hours and hours of programmes like this could be put to better use elsewhere. So now I want all of you to think how much TV you watch, how many hours spent on it and then replace these hours with the time you could have spent on your impeding essay or deadline. Scary isn’t it? Okay so this may not apply to all of you, but I’m pretty sure a lot of you are guilty of too much TV watching. So why not give it up for those 40 days and see how much of a difference it makes? If you are breaking into a sweat even thinking about it, thanks to the wonders of ‘on demand’ and the internet, you can always catch up with those very important shows you may have missed!

Social Media

I’m just going to put this statement out there: most addictive thing in the world. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine and a lot more occupy way too much of our time. You can be sitting in a lecture and I can almost guarantee that there is AT LEAST one person sitting in there on their phone, laptop or tablet scrolling through some form of social media. I can’t speak for anybody else, but I know I just pick up my phone out of habit and go on Twitter, for example, without even thinking about what I’m doing. I can spend hours mindlessly scrolling through timelines, feeds and pictures without even acknowledging the amount of time which has passed. Although forms of social media can be useful for getting your fix of the daily news, or even helping you with work in some way, that is not likely to be the main reason for the amount of time spent on it. Therefore, it may be soothing, and even less stressful to take yourself off it for just over a month. Think about how relaxing it is not using your phone on holiday…just distancing yourself from other people’s thoughts and troubles, not seeing dramas unravel before your very eyes and people badgering you for something or other. If there is anything important that you need to know, I’m sure a friend can relay the information onto you. It’s just 40 days, how much could you really miss?!

Swearing

This could be potentially very difficult, as I don’t think people realise how much they swear. Even if it’s just an innocent slip of the tongue when injuring yourself or making a mistake, for example. However, if you are a self-confessed potty mouth, why not take up the challenge? I personally have nothing against swearing, but I think it would be interesting to see how some people would cope with trying not to. It has become part of most of our vocabulary without us even realising, so how would you give something up that has become so natural? It’s like making up a no swearing rule in a drinking game; everybody ends up ridiculous drunk as a result. But maybe it will be easier to take on while sober. It’s worth a shot, even if it is just for the entertainment for your friends to see you attempt not to fail!

Make-Up

Now before you all panic and think this is a completely unrealistic task, I think it would be acceptable to make an exception for nights out and special occasions. I don’t think anyone would be able to brave the night with a completely bare face or, even worse, a date! However, it could be liberating not wearing make-up during the day. I can go days without putting on even a miniscule amount of make-up (admittedly these are days where I spend all day in my house holed up in my room probably writing an essay or being really hungover), but it is possible all the same. I enjoy not having to go through the (sometimes laborious) task of putting it on! I think about how free my face feels without the mask of foundation I have to put on to look even half decent. It may be scary at first, but it would have its benefits – think about how good your skin could be by the end. You wouldn’t even have to wear the make up to cover any spots!

Alcohol

This I think would be the easiest one on this list to give up. People always say you don’t have to drink to have a good time – so why not finally make it a reality? Yes, sometimes being sober around a group of very drunk friends isn’t exactly the best thing in the world, but think about how much material you would have on them. You would be the person in the morning that can remember every stupid thing your friends did, remembering a boy or girls face exactly that maybe one of housemates would rather forget and -most importantly- you would get to be the person who broke the news to them. However, there is the flip side. You would have to be on your best behaviour and not do anything stupid as you would no longer be able to use the amount of alcohol you drank as an excuse. But, think about how it will feel being hangover free when all of your friends are dying the next morning, think of how productive you would be able to be, too! It can also benefit your health, and for those of you trying to lose weight, it would be the perfect way to drop those few pounds that have stubbornly been refusing to leave your body. It’s a win- win in my opinion.

So with shrove Tuesday fast approaching, and of course bringing with it the start of lent, why not consider these alternative options of things to give up? To me they seem a lot more difficult that giving up some kind of food, but they could also be more rewarding too. So the only question left is: are you up for the challenge?!

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Leeds lifestyle

Alternative Things To Give Up For Lent

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