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Every year, the forty days before Easter are giving you a special opportunity to loose weight, get in shape and prepare for warmer days in case you have to show something more than a sphere-shaped belly.

This time of the year is widely known as “Lent” (Fastenzeit) and part of Christianity to show respect to the last weeks of Jesus and his sacrifice he made. At least that was its original idea. In my case, this doesn’t play any role in my decision to perform lent this year, since I believe in science and nothing else.
It is my second time after 2009, which was a great success in retrospect, so why not repeat the whole thing? Can’t hurt, right?

Well so far 23 days of 40 days are already over, so let’s face a quick half-time summary about the first half of my… well… sacrifice?

First of all, the rules which define the things I have to refrain from:

• No meat – means: no meat, no chicken, no fish
• No sweets – nothing, nada, niente
• No deep-fried or other fat intense meals – burger king included
• No sugary drinks – exception: if I go out, cause you can’t drink water all night
• No alcohol, well I guess that’s an obvious one
• No Facebook

Wait. What? No Facebook? Well yeah, actually that was a spontaneous addition short after the start of lent, when my mate Andreas Grau proposed some kind of a digital lent. So I reflected my biggest time wasters and Captain Obvious told me, that this was Facebook, so it had to go.

So how do I feel at the moment? Honestly, I feel really good and so far I can stand the lack of nice things. The biggest temptation at the moment is a decent piece of meat. Oh what would I give just for a single bite off a juicy cheeseburger, sigh.
But what about the rest? Surprisingly, it doesn’t really bother me, not at all. Even the alcohol I don’t miss, and this was the toughest bit in 2009 during lent.

So, but how is it not to be part of Facebook, the big world spanning network, anymore? Am I dying of social deprivation, now that all interpersonal activity is happening on this platform? Hell no! In fact, being away from Facebook allows you to spend your newly acquired time, that you would have spent on the network otherwise, to get in touch with people who surround you, who are close to you, who matter.
Not to speak about the gain in productivity…

I am actually even considering to stay away from this platform for good. And I am talking as a formerly very addicted Facebook victim.

To sum up the first half of lent: Again, it is a huge success and I wish more people would do it. Not just because it helps your body and health but it gives you a good impression what enormous stream of temptations we have to face in our every days live and how this manipulates our behavior.
And after all, once you mastered 40 days of deprivation so you can finally taste and smell your preferred meals and drinks, you will never feel more alive than ever.