Maureen Monaghan
There are two schools of thought about Lent and both can provide useful dieting tools, depending on your personality. Some consider Lent to include every day from Ash Wednesday to Easter. So, if you are an all-or-nothing person like me, abstaining for the full period is the way to go. However, others will tell you that Lent is 40 days and the Sundays are not included. This interpretation works well for those who rely on the reward system as a motivator. If you behave yourself all week, you can have a treat on Sunday. However, that doesn’t mean you can store up treats all week and binge on the weekend. Either way, a six week period is a great time to kick-start a new diet or try out a new regime. By the end of the period, you’ll have seen some results and you might just feel like staying with it a while longer.