Does Lent Have You Giving Up?
Forty days is a long time to go without. But WillPowders is here to help you shine your halos, slay old habits and make swaps you can brag about. Before you know it, you’ll be turning down the contents of the Easter Bunny’s Bootie Calls and the Easter Chick’s Chocolate Egg Basket!
Vices? What Vices?
Buckle up, Buttercup! Lent’s a time for dropping vices. But it’s not that easy, is it? Sugar, chocolate, wine, that family size bag of crisps, the odd puff of a vape? Yup, we’ve been there. It’d be easier to just carry on regardless, yes. But that’s not how change happens. A few crafty swap outs and careful switcheroos and you could tip the balance in your wellness favour. Hurrah!
Here are Twelve Disciples for Your WillPowders Way:
1. Swap Forty Days for Just for Today
Going cold turkey can be tough. Add in the thought of forty days of cold turkey and your brain might just rebel. If you can’t handle today, break it down further, just for the next hour, minute, ten seconds … (if it’s crisps or chocolate that are dogging you, try MCT Oil - swig!). And remember, it may be that Lent abstinence just isn’t for you! Give up ‘Torturing yourself for Lent’, instead (but do see below!). It’s the ultimate get out of jail free card! If it’s all too much for the nervous system, try plunging your face into cold water each morning for Lent. For many, this resets the nervous system back to rest and digest.
2. Swap Bars of Chocolate for Protein
Going for the big one this year and giving up chocolate? We salute you! It’s not cheating to have a WillPowders Chocolate Protein Powder. It’ll satisfy a sweet craving, feed the brain and give you all the velvety sensations chocolate brings you the other 46 weeks a year! To be fair, we’d say that none of our protein powders are cheating. They’re many things, but a bar of chocolate is not one of them. But, if you’re a purist, try a Chocolate Protein Coconut Bite instead - they’re definitely not bounty from a tropical island, not the slightest similarity there at all, vicar!
3. Swap Alcohol for Kombucha
You’re still getting fermented! Whereas alcohol disrupts the gut’s microbiome and can cause dysbiosis, sending your gut (and so your health) out of whack, a well chosen kombucha can benefit the gut microbiome. You might also be swapping flashing your boobs in a drunken moment on Friday Wind Down for peace of mind that you can return to the office on Monday morning with your dignity intact!
4. Swap Giving Up for Sunday Feasting
Before you overwhelm your nervous system with panic that six weeks stretches ahead with no life belt, stay calm. Lent’s not quite what it seems. Sundays in Lent are actually feast days. That means you can practice the trickier stuff for six days and go a little easier on yourself on Sundays. Phew! Scoffing Lamb Tagine or Moussaka come Sunday is hardly a hardship, now, is it?
5. Swap Eating for Fasting
Fasting curious? No better time to start than Lent! Choose a fasting and eating window length, say 16/8, and learn that hunger’s a temporary feeling! Many people report feeling energised and productive during fasting periods. There’s liberation in knowing exactly when you’ll eat so you can switch off that part of you that muses, should I have elevenses and a custard cream, or not? The answer is NOT. Fasting hours free-up brain space to execute that long neglected project. Eating hours afford you all the pleasures of meat, fish, eggs, veggies, pure fats, seeds, nuts and dairy. Lovely!
6. Swap Sluggish for Swooshed
Some people experience ‘keto flu’ while adapting to fasting. If you’re not eating quite as much or you have ditched a food vice for Lent, swap in a nootropic. You can even stack nootropics, for that extra frisson! Brain Powder’s caffeine will energise and L-Theanine will keep nerves calm. AH-HA, which contains Lemon Balm, a herb linked to mitigating stress and improving cognitive performance, could have those murky feelings buzzing off in no time.
7. Swap Stress Management by Sugar for MCT Powder
If you’re used to relying on a sugar fix to cope with stress, Lent becomes a stress challenge. Under stress, the brain sends signals to encourage carb scoffing. It’s a disaster if you’re trying to impress the divine with your self-discipline! Luckily, an angel invented MCT Keto Creamer in sachet form so that the force could be with you. MCT will feed your brain which is as happy to fuel with ketones as it is with glucose. No more stress signals! Hallelujah!
8. Swap Cortisol for Crying
Giving up a system that is awash with cortisol is never a bad thing. But you’ll need to give up late nights and random lie-ins to encourage your body to re-set your cortisol. Cortisol peaks in the morning to get you out of bed. Don’t confuse this get-going hormone by swapping and changing sleep routines. Get up at the same time each day for Lent, yes, even at the weekend. Switching up your TV viewing might help - give up slashers and thrillers, which induce stress hormones at night. Stick on a weepie. Crying can help keep your system in equilibrium by regulating breathing and heart rate.
9. Swap Friends with Benefits for Self-Made Oxytocin
If you’re giving up a situationship for Lent (and beyond, fingers crossed), consider swapping arrangements to get your oxytocin fix. This cuddling chem helps to bond us to others. But, if the hugging is good but the in between hugs angst ain’t easy, know that you can tickle your oxytocin awake with touch. Slow touch stimulates the C-tactile fibres in skin and we can touch to ourselves (despite what your grandma told you). Crossing your arms and stroking hands down the upper arms can help release oxytocin. Even better spark up your WillPowders At Capacity Candle, let the wax melt to oil and stroke onto your skin.
10. Swap Vegging Out for Dopamine Doing
A good old veg is a pleasure, so it might be one of the things you’re giving up. Swapping laying like broccoli for being up and at ‘em requires dopamine, the motivator hormone. Support your Spring cleaning with a dopamine hit. L-Theanine, which you’ll find in Calm, enhances dopamine release. Couple this with other dopamine-inducing biohacks such as soaking up some Spring sunshine, and you could be powering through the ‘to-do’ list!
11. Swap Eating on Your Feelings for Other Senses
There’s no doubt that nature got it right when she bunged a load of sensory receptors in our mouths and wired them into the pleasure centres in our brains. She certainly made eating a joy! But, with every advert seducing us with a tempting carb and bad fat laden snack, our other senses got pushed to one side. Swap eating on your feelings for distracting your mind with neglected or forgotten senses. Spin the decks and dance to your anthems, get a massage, take a swim, sniff your child’s hair (or the dog’s paws), take a walk in nature, put on the silk pyjamas and fondle the hem!
12. Swap Being Secretive for Peer Accountability
We’ve all learned the way to grip like a vice, ironically, on to our vices! Furtive doesn’t cover it! When you’ve buried the vape inside a tampon box beneath your car seat or Mum’s got a ‘Forbidden Cupboard’ where all the big spiders live (it’s full of chocolate), or so you’ve told your five year old, you know fine well you’re likely to indulge that habit. Swap accountability to yourself for accountability to a good friend. It’s hard to lie to them, right? And don’t forget, if it all goes pear-shaped and you dive nose first into cake and crisps, there’s always Rise and Shine to help you re-set and get back on the Pilgrim Path. The bestie will bring them round and confiscate your contraband.
Whatever you leave behind and swap in this season, WillPowders can help you biohack around it. Come Easter Sunday, you’ll be rolling the stone away and revealing a slicker you. Heavenly!
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